Further north and West to Geirangerfjord

We drove along the Sognefjellswegen where the scenery is much more mountainous. The highest point on this route (road RV55) as 1434m above sea level, and the highest on any mountain pass in Northern Europe. This is way above the tree line, and a bleak rocky landscape. No animals or birds are in evidence, and still very large amounts of snow everywhere.

As we descended a little, we saw a large monolith, and some buildings, and a car park, so we stopped to investigate. The 32 metre column is the Saga Soyla, which represents the history of Norway from 872 (when it was first united) until 1814 (the first national assembly). The buildings are the Elvestere hotle, so we took this opportunity to get a cup of coffee.  When we stepped inside, we couldn´t quite believe the interior decoration. There were traditional rural furnishings in several of the rooms, which included hand carved tables, painted dressers, chests and clocks, an old, sleigh, chairs made of saddles, and painted cooking vessels.

We passed through Lom, the first sizeable town for a while; it actually has a bookshop and a police station! They have a zip wire there, which goes under the bridge, giving a thrilling ride over the rapids, of about 100m.

There are lots of stave churches, waterfalls etc in this area, but we would never have time to visit them all.

At length, we reached the campsite at Geirangerfjord - no easy drive as there are numerous hairpin bends. On our arrival the P & O cruise ship Azura was in the fjord, and although it is absolutely huge, is is completely dwarfed by the mountains along either side.

For the first time we saw oystercatchers - a little group of these birds came and ate from our hand.