Rauma Railway, Herdalssetra

Herring report from our Trondheim hotel:  At breakfast this morning, herring was offered five different ways:  mustard, sour cream, tomato, sour vinegar, and curry. 

  

I tried the curried herring.  It tasted as you would expect.  Curry and herring.  An unusual combination.  Yecch!

We took the train from Trondheim to Dombas where we stayed for an hour, during which some of us visited the tiny town.  This is troll country (guess which is the troll):

We then boarded the Rauma Railway up and up through incredible countryside.  The scenery was truly stunning with alpine peaks, large numbers of waterfalls, and giant vertical rock faces:

 We moved from taiga to tundra and saw much of the yellow-tan lichens which make up the bulk of the reindeer diet.  We got off the train at Andalsnes and picked up our bus which then made an astonishing trip on the “notorious” Trollstigen the Troll’s Footpath, a road which winds down the mountains with 11 hairpin turns. 

  

You can see summer “homes” used as shelter for goat and sheep herders:

 We crossed one fjord on a ferry:

We then visited a “summer farm”, Herdalssetra, where the sheep and goats from a farm lower down come up to graze and produce milk during the summer.  The farmhand quarters are quite basic, with no electricity or running water:

  

The “famous” brown cheese is made here by hand, stirring the almost-boiled milk for 6-7 hours over a wood fire to boil down the milk.  Today the temperature here felt like the high 50’s with a cold drizzle.  Cheese making does not look like a desirable job:

 We then went to the town of Geiranger where we will spend the night.  Geiranger is a tiny town at the tip of a fjord which is so picturesque and lovely that cruise ships stop here!  There were three in harbor as we approached.

 It’s hard to get used to the long days.  At ten PM it feels like 4 PM and the light plays with the idea that bedtime is approaching.  Going to bed while it’s light out is strange.  

Up some of the famous fjords tomorrow.