Adventure of the Seas Day 9 - Alesund, Norway, Driving to Trollstigen (Part 2)

In part 1, we got off the ship, got the rental car and started our self-drive.  From Alesund to Valldal was more than 90km.  Now, we set off from Valldal and head towards Trollstigen.  This would be the route, only 28km.  But you shouldn't rush this drive.  The scenery would be beautiful.

We stopped twice for photos in the journey between Valldal and Trollstigen, as you will see in this blog post.

Here is why you shouldn't rush this drive.

People lived here.

Often, I saw cars turning off the road.  Remember not to drive too fast!

Hmmm, maybe we weren't the only ones heading up the Troll road.

Reinheimen National Park and Conservation Area
We drove along and suddenly saw a carpark with coaches and some cars.  It looked like a place where tourists stopped to see something.  So I stopped.  This was an unplanned stop, which was well worth it.

What were we going to see?  The trees looked nice and green.  A welcome change from Iceland.  I gather that the climate in Iceland is really harsh.

Oh, this was cool.  Some bridge leading us to somewhere.

This almost looked like some of the tree-top walks we have back in Singapore.   We live in the tropics and the natural vegetation is that of the tropical rainforest.  Very hot and humid where we come from.  The weather in Norway was very pleasant during this time of the year.

Nice Zig-Zag. Looks like some water in the distance.  We could hear the water.

Indeed, a small waterfall!  Now, this is something we do not have in Singapore.  Natural waterfalls.

Check out this small waterfall!  She was rather intense.

These were fellow cruise passengers.  A couple of tour coaches had arrived.  Take note, in Alesund, the full-day ship-tours to Trollstigen were completely sold-out.  The cost was about USD180 per pax.  My parents were not able to get a place on this tour, so they had to go for another tour.  Fortunately, in the port of Molde, the Trollstigen tour was offered again, so my parents could go for that one.

Book your ship's tour to Trollstigen early, if you want to get a place! Otherwise, you can opt to self-drive like us, assuming you have enough time in port. All peering down.

After a very short photo-stop, we were on our way again.

If you think that the roads looked narrow, they were.  I was trying to keep to one side of the road.  From this picture (taken by my wife in the front passenger seat), it looked as if we were falling off the road.  Don't worry, that didn't happen.  The right side mirror was most useful for the driver (i.e. myself)  as I could use the white lines on the road as markings.  I stayed close to the markings, but didn't touch them.

Drive cautiously, especially where there are bends and blind spots.  Don't be overly distracted by the beautiful mountains!

Oncoming car.

Like this one - blind spot ahead.

Driving over a bridge.  Lots of water.

Somebody lived here, I think.

Just admire all the pictures of the drive, randomly taken by my wife.

Look at that natural stream of water.

And we came to another point which looked like there were some touristy plaques.  So I stopped.

The scenery was amazing.

Great place to take many photos!

There was still some ice.

Location map.

This vegetation looked a bit like what we saw in Iceland.

See the waterfall in a distance.

Heading back to the car.

We would continue to drive along that road.

And we head off again towards the Trollistigen Visitor Centre....

And we have arrived.  The famous hairpin turns would be after the Trollstigen visitor centre, if you are coming from Valldal.  Recall, we drove to the Trollstigen Visitor centre from Valldal.



Onwards to my next post - Trollstigen Visitor Centre and the various viewpoints.