Europe India Trip: Day 17 - Fjellstova to GierangerFjord & back [Apr 29, 2023]
Seeing the best Fjord GierangerFjord, meeting some bikers from Belarus & then getting stuck in Fjellstova due to snow
This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip . Please read the post for more context.
I was up & as Harry had mentioned the previous day (refer to my previous post), snow greeted me. I decided to have my coffee with the snow view.
I had a catchup with Harry who said the snow does not look that bad so I decided to continue with my plan to ride to GierangerFjord & back. After getting ready, I went to the Fjellstova restaurant to eat & ordered a chicken panini as it was cheap at 79 NOKs. Later, I also clicked a pic with Hilda, the owner. It was morning time, snow & no customers. So Hilda had time to have her coffee in peace :). We also chatted for some time.
I personally found bathrooms of Fjellstova to me a major attraction. It was spotless clean, the door between the toilet & bathroom created perception of a mirror & it played music when you enter the place :).
After writing my blog post & talking to Hilda, I started leisurely at around 12 PM. The ride to ferry for Linge was nice. I spotted rain & snow but I dont remember anything particularly ‘frightening’ :).
I remember post ferry crossing, I did have moments of fear due to heavy snow. The roads were all clear, except at one tunnel entrance where the snow was not cleaned enough & it did take me with surprise. I applied brakes & became slow, but did not have enough time to switch my gears low. My bike did not stop though. I did check in rear window & there was no car behind me.
Slowly I reached the final hairpin bents to descend to Gieranger. I remember the place had a lot of fog. The viewpoint had people stopped but there as no view. So I decided not to stop at it.
Another parking spot came & there was a car stopped there. I decided to stop there & take pictures. The fjord definitely looked amazing & I was glad I decided to come to it.
I rode all the way to Gieranger ferry point but since it was offseason, most shops & cafes were closed. I eventually ended up riding further down to the Jokery grocery store & parked there. The views looked pretty nice there.
The next day was labour day so I decided to buy some groceries from Joker & had a coffee too (it was cheap for 20 NOKs but well, the taste was as good as the price :) ). There were public toilets but all of them were paid.
I then rode back to the ferry point just to check the prices. Apparently, for a 2 way ferry, it costs 345 + 175 (discounted return price) but there was 25% discount running in April. I decided to skip as it was fairly foggy & I was not sure what views will people see. Plus, by the time ferry comes back, it will be 6:30 PM & road conditions may become icy. The person at the counter did suggest to take one way ferry with the bike (which costed around the same) but I decided to skip anyway.
I remember having coffee at the only coffee shop open next to the ticket office & it was a decent coffee. My version of flat-white - 2 espresso shots with milk - usually works well & it worked here as well. I then asked them for toilet & they did have it free for customers. I think it was 22 NOKs to pay for the toilet, half the price of coffee. So that is the hack I would recommend if you visiting Gieranger.
I then rode to the view point at the height & this time, it wasnt foggy. So I decided to take pictures & do a small video.
While I was walking back to the parking, I met Nalia & her friend. They were bikers from Belarus, living in Poland & were touring Norway. Nalia was very happy seeing a biker & she took some pictures with me. She said, they thought it is way too cold to ride a bike in Norway & I was like - yes you are right, I dint research this well enough before coming :-D.
Nalia asked me to ride safe & she mentioned, she dint find any snow on the road so it looked safe. I liked the fact that she is concerned for a fellow biker :). I told her that I had ridden the path in the day so I know it fairly well & ya, it did look safe. With that, I left the place.
I started to ride back & stopped at Stoerfjorden . There was a cafe/restaurant at the. view point but it was closed too (guess I was a bit early in Norway).
I also did a quick video of it & kept riding.
I reached the ferry point to Linge & it was all good. I was dreading icy roads but nothing frightening till then.
While, all this while, I did not have to wait long for the ferry, this time I was unlucky. I was at the point at 5 PM & the ferry was scheduled to depart at 5:40. It also started to rain. There were no coffee shops open around the area. There was a Joker grocery store & I just decided to get in there to escape rain mostly. I ended up buying a bungee chord from there :-D
To my surprise, post ferry crossing, the weather became pretty bad with rain & snow. I had to stop a few times to clean my windshield due to snow deposit.
Somewhere, I had figured that my right front indicator had stopped working so putting hazard light on became a bit of an issue as oncoming folks might get confused with just one indicator blinking. So I could not use the hazard lights all the time. I would only use it when I realize I had traffic coming from behind. I was a bit scared also to stop & take pictures but I guess I captured a bit on my GoPro.
Since I look through the windshield, I remember that entering tunnels sometimes become a problem as the temperature inside tunnel is warm which leads to quick condensation on the windshield & rear view mirrors. I remember it had happened a few times that day & I had to stretch my next to look over the windshield. I remember feeling pretty scared at the moment because the rear view mirror also stops showing. It does get better in like a minute but that one minute becomes a bit of a challenge.
I had told Harry & Hilda that I would be back by like 5 PM. I was thinking if they would be concerned but I did not see them while I got back. So I just decided to head back to my hut. It was an eventful day & I was looking forward to leaving the next day to North - maybe Molde, or Kristiansund. I spent time messaging a few Airbnb hots in the night & I was able to get a place for 400 NOKs. Little I knew that I would get stuck the next day, but that is for the next post.