Geiranger to Hjelle - Norway (Day 5)
The next day, we vacated the place and stopped by the
Geiranger town for a tasty hot chocolate breakfast at Geiranger Sjokolade where
we also grabbed locally made chocolates.
After we landed at Hellesylt, then we drove towards Stryn
and then onto Loen area. The Loen area is also at the edge of another fjord.
The Loen skylift is an attraction
that area that we wanted to visit. But, we decided to check out the Olden area
and do the Skylift on our way back. Olden area seemed very deserted devoid of
any restaurants or eateries. Our intention to visit Olden was to go to the
Briksdalbreen Glacier, but the timing didn’t work out well considering the time
it would take to visit the Glacier, do the Loen Skylift and continue to Hjelle
where we had our hotel reservation for the night.
By the time we came back to
Loen Skylift, the sky became overcast, but we still decided to do it. First
stop was the fine restaurant at the top that had really delicious offerings
with a view of two amazing fjords with a tall peak in-between them.
We drove back to Stryn, picked up some pizza for the dinner
and drove to Hjelle. This drive was mostly along a lake and there were several
locations alongside with amazing views of the snow-covered peaks in the
background and the fjord waters in the foreground. One notable location would
be the Jostedalsbreen National Park Visitor center and the solitary church
nearby. The picturesque location cannot give different views across all seasons
and weather patterns. Even a quick stopover (like we did) seemed sufficient,
but not be missed!
Hjelle hotel
wasn’t that far from here. By the time we checked in and had our pizza dinner,
we still had enough sunlight to hit a trail in that serene little town. We
passed through a local school with kids playing after-school soccer. The very
sight of the school and the surroundings was so peaceful.
Next is our longest ferry ride in a
fjord to get to Hellesylt. 2.5hrs of amazing ride that curved several times
giving everchanging views of the mountains around, some snow-capped and little
towns at the foothills of those mountains. The location of some of the towns
squeezed into those what appeared as narrow valleys seemed that the only way
out would be by the waterways in the fjord. There were plenty of waterfalls of
different heights and breadths and the entire environment would make won yearn
for a longer ferry ride that would last forever! As always, all these fjord
ferries has a tiny restaurant inside with hot drinks and delicious choices of
food, tastefully done!
Because it
was overcast, for a while the view was fogged out, but there were instances of
moving clouds that gave us glimpses of the gorgeous view that we were hoped
for. Only thing was that it didn’t last too long, but the flurries, fog and the
moving clouds literally gave the feeling of sitting on top of the clouds! One
paragliding enthusiast wanted to utilize the brief openings in the cloud and
tried his talent with his bright red glider that gave for another beautiful
sight. There are some trails at the top that we tried to explore, but the
weather soon got very bad with flurries turning to snow.
We passed through a local school with kids playing after-school soccer. The very sight of the school and the surroundings was so peaceful.
The trail was going
along another fjord, passing through some farmlands that appeared like a
private road. But, in Norway, all private roads can be accessed, showing how
welcoming the locals are for tourists. We went until we got a good view of a
nearby waterfalls and returned to hotel, calling it a day.
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