We woke to a beautiful sunny day, looking out at the mountains beyond the small village of Eidfjord just next to our ship.
In the morning we took the bus on a circuitous trip alongside the mountains and in many places through winding tunnels inside the mountains to the Voringsfossen waterfall where we had coffee and apple cake in the historic hotel above the falls. The waterfalls are quite spectacular, crashing down over a thousand feet in the ravine and a rainbow in the mist. It is not a good place for one afraid of heights!
We then went up to the reservoir that feeds a huge hydroelectric plant in Eidfjord. Just beyond the reservoir you can see the glaciers that provide water for the reservoir. This area is largely above the treeline, with many small alpine plants. The trees as one descends are scrubby white birch and then pine closer to the fjord. It is next to a huge national park, the largest in Europe, and is very popular for Norwegians to visit, for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter.
When we returned down, we went on a small boat cruise from the end of the fjord along the steep mountainside and many waterfalls streaming down from the melting snow. It is strange that in many places, you can't see the water coming into the fjord - it disappears completely into the huge piles of boulders along the shore.
After lunch and a nap, we took the "Troll Train", a little tourist trolley that goes up to ancient iron-age burial mounds and then stopped at a 12th century stone church, the oldest in Norway.
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| Lunch onboard at Eidfjord |
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| Rainbow over waterfall |
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| Voringsfossen waterfall |
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| Reservoir and glaciers |
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| 12th century stone church |
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| View of fjord from above Eidfjord |
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