ROAD TRIP Day 17 and 18 - Troll Country!

If someone says to me "troll", I would probably think of “Harry Potter” - where Harry, Hermione and Ron fight a troll in the girl´s bathroom; I would also think of “the Hobbit” - where Bilbo rescues the dwarves by starting a fight amongst the trolls so that they are distracted and do not realise that the sun is rising and are turned to stone. In Norway, I was reminded of another troll I “knew”: in the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Remember the Three Billy Goats Gruff? Three billy goats wanted to cross a bridge to get to the greener grass on the other side. I guess no one told them that the grass is always greener on the other side! Or perhaps there was just no grass on this side and they had to cross over to survive. Anyhow, they knew that there was a nasty troll living under the bridge and that he would jump out and eat them if they tried to cross. So they go in turns, the smallest one first, then the medium one, and the big brother billy goat or in some version the Big Granddaddy Billy Goat last. The first two con the nasty troll with tales of a bigger goat yet to come, and he falls for it. Trolls are not known for their high IQ levels, that is for sure. I mean, even if a bigger goat were in fact coming along soon, what´s to stop the troll from eating the small one first anyway? As an appetizer perhaps? Instead he waits for the big brother goat, which charges at him and throws him over the bridge with a splash. But apparently, the English versions have villanized the poor ol´ troll. The troll was apparently not at all evil and nasty and smelly. He was just hungry. So what´s a poor hungry troll got to do to get some goat? ...Have you spotted my soft spot for trolls? A couple of weeks in troll country would do that to you!

Our first troll in Norway

Because that is apparently what Norway is. Troll Country. Or is it just some parts of Norway? I´m not sure. There are loads of books for sale about the Norwegian legends and myths, but I never stopped to look or much less, buy because they were usually in some sort of tourist trap. Anyway, just south of Trondheim seems to be where troll country really starts. There you´ll find Trollheimen (home of the troll), Trollstigen (troll road) and Trolltunga (troll´s tongue). That is, however, not to say that trolls are not to be found anywhere else. We had barely crossed the border into Norway from Sweden in the North when we were greeted by the sight of a giant grinning troll by the side of the road. And he was, by no means, unique. Having a grinning troll stand guard at gates seemed to be quite the norm, if not the rage. Although, assuming one accepts the version of the legends or fairy tales, or whatever you want to call them, that trolls are not necessary nasty, perhaps they less in a guarding capacity are there to welcome visitors.

Anyways, heading south from Trondheim, one begins to understand somewhat the birth of legends of trolls. Norway has more than a hundred peaks of over 2000 metres and for each of these, there are probably another five of over 1500 metres next to it. 

Some of the peaks in the region

These are located south on Trondheim. I am, unfortunately, completely ignorant of the names of regions and districts in Norway, and will therefore not be attempting to specify this in any way other than to say that the highest of the mountains are of course, not located along the coast, but further inland. And inland we headed. On the evening of Day 17, we slowly made our way through the mountains and past the peaks. Late at night, when the sight of another car was rare, we seemed so far removed from civilisation that it felt like there was nothing but us and the peaks in the world. As the light faded and the shadows and silhouettes appeared, the impressive peaks and rock faces took on a somewhat more imposing and almost menacing quality. From there, a small step of the imagination was all it would take, for a giant troll to leap out and wander the each.

We were lured into troll country because of Trollstigen, the troll road, along one of the so-called “tourist roads”. While I would confidently say the landscape along the Road 63 was very impressive, I cannot recall any specifics other than the spot by the river where we stopped for a few photos, a pee and a hair wash. The mountains, for one, were very impressive, with their steep rocky faces and thousands of waterfalls and streams. When we eventually reached Trollstigen, or the troll road, I did not immediately recognise it for what it was. All I saw before me was a huge rock face, scattered with waterfalls. Then I noticed the little dots moving along the face, and realised that those were mobile homes and caravans – these were more often than not, white and therefore easier to spot against the rock than the smaller and darker cars. Then, I found the thin ribbon that was the road zigzagging up the almost vertical rock.

Trollstigen

One of a dozen waterfalls at Trollstigen

The drive up Trollstigen, was less enjoyable than looking up at it from below. The road was just wide enough for two cars to pass each other comfortably. But cars were the minority on that. The many campervans and caravans trying to pass each other on the steep and narrow road was enough to stress out any driver. Add to that the waterfalls at every corner and the amazing views. I have no doubt that almost every car had a least one occupant with a camera yelling at the driver to slow down or stop, attempting to capture every single magnificent scene on the way up.

I also suspect that most of the people were there just for that part of the drive. We saw maybe three cars ahead of us as we headed down Road 63 towards Trollstigen. That is to say, we were overtaken by three cars while we stopped for a few photos, a wash and a pee. And yet there before us, as though magically conjured into appearance, were hundreds of cars. Alright, maybe it wasn´t quite a hundred, much less hundreds, but it sure seemed like it. I suspect that a lot of them had come north from Geiranger or thereabouts, and drove up just to check out Trollstigen. So, they must have driven down the rock, turned around and headed back up again.

 The drive changed my mind a bit about campervans or mobile homes. Throughout the trip thus far, the thought had occurred to me several times, that the next time we make a trip like this through Norway, a mobile home might not be a bad idea. It is much easier to find a place to park a mobile home than to find a place to pitch a tent, and there were many a night that we drove along looking for a place to stop when we wished we had a campervan instead of a tent. And there was often fresh water available to tank up with at rest stops and parking lots. What more could anyone ask for? Well, perhaps a slightly narrower vehicle, I decided as I watched yet another mobile home squeeze pass us with half an inch to spare on one side, which trying not to look at the steep drop barely a foot away on the other side. I realised when we reached the top that I had been holding my breath for a lot of the climb, and I was not behind the wheel. I could not imagine trying to do that drive in a wide vehicle.

View from the top.

When we got to the top, aside from an awesome view, we also got our first taste of mass tourism in Norway. If there were a hundred cars on Trollstigen, there were a thousand parked at the viewpoint visitor centre at the top, plus countless tour busses. I later made the connection between those busses and the cruise ships anchored at Geiranger and assume they must be carrying cruise passengers on a day trip. Wherever these people may have appeared from, I do not think that it is much of an exaggeration to say that they numbered more than the total number of people we have seen on the road thus far, Trondheim being excluded from this equation. Leaving the view point, heading through the mountains and down through the country, we were somewhat apprehensive about what lay in store for us in the “South”. We were inwardly cringing at the saturation of tourists we fully expected to encounter. We joked about turning the car around and heading back up North for the rest of the holiday. Actually, I think we were only half joking about that.

Patch of snow = tourist magnet

Then something happened that pushed those dark gloomy thoughts from our head. The car in front of us had slowed to a crawl. Somewhat annoyed because we could not see any reason for a hold up, we grew impatient. When he eventually got going again, I burst out in delighted laughter as I realised why he had to stop. There were sheep on the road! They were just strolling around on the road, obviously stressed by the cars following closely behind and even more stressed that they (the sheep) could not outrun them (the cars). They were so funny! A bit further up, we stopped for a short walk to a patch of snow/ice on the ground (left). When we set off again, the sheep were in front of us again. They were apparently just wandering from side of the road to side of the road in search of a patch of edible grass. Stressed out though they seemed to be by the cars, they did not seem at all inclined to get off the road. I had previously seen randomly wandering sheep on the road and wondered how their farmers find them again and was told that sheep apparently go home on their own to sleep. 

On the road with sheep

Are the green tags GPS chips?

Occasionally the odd one does get lost, of course. For those occasions, the sheep are also fitted with a GPS locator!

After our encounter with the road blocking sheep, we continued the journey south light hearted and happy.

Day 1 (Sun) –Visited with Anya and Daniel at Daniel´s parents´ place at Sandsjöfors. Stayed in the summer cabin at Uppsjön

Day 2 (Mon) – Campsite in Stockholm

Day 3 (Tue) – Campsite in Stockholm

Day 4 (Wed) – Sala Silvergruva, Övre Hedesundsfjärden (the site of one million mosquitoes) 

Day 5 (Thu) – Close to Hällan (the imaginary horse)

Day 6 (Fri) – Campsite close to Docksta

Day 7 (Sat) – Via Ferrata, dinner at Bjuröklubb, camped somewhere along the E45 between Storforsen and Jokkmokk (broken tent incident)

Day 8 (Sun) – Crossed the Artic Circle, Jokkmokk, Gällivaare and Kiruna. Stuga at Alttajärvi, about 20km south of Kiruna

Day 9 (Mon) – Kiruna, golf at Björkliden, crossed the border into Norway, camped on the edge of the fjord a few kilometres outside Narvik.

Day 10 (Tue) – Lødingen, Ofoten

Day 11 (Wed) – Ballstad, Lofoten

Day 12 (Thu) – Drove to Å and back to Ballstad, Lofoten. First Impressions of Norway

Day 13 (Fri) – Ballstad, Lofoten (diving day)

Day 14 (Sat) - drove north to Stø, windy rocky campsite. 

Day 15 (Sun) - whale watching tour with Arctic Whale Tours from Stø, camped outside Narvik at Day 9 spot

Day 16 (Mon) - driving day, passed Nordland National Park, Saltelva river, stopped at Fauske for dinner, camped along the E6 close to the turn-off towards Torghatten, Brønnøy 

Day 17 (Tue) - Trondheim, Søvasskjølen, camped somewhere just before Sunndalsøra by Sunndalsfjorden

Day 18 (Wed) - Road 63 "the tourist road" to Trollstigen, Geiranger, camped at Olden Camping by Oldenvatnet (Lake) at the foot of the Jostedalsbreen (Jostedal Glacier)