Heading west to Bergen

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Bergen is an iconic travel destination, dear reader. The city is one of those rare places on Earth where one feels overwhelmed by a feeling of euphoria for just having arrived here. Famed as the gateway to Fjordland Norway, the city itself is surrounded by seven fjords and seven hills, and I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll even discover seven Norwegian trolls! Swarming with tourists during the Scandinavian summer season, who would miss the opportunity to head west to Bergen?

To recap briefly, I took the train from Oslo for an extremely pleasant nine hour commute heading west through magnificent scenery. As the journey progressed the scenery keep getting better. A little tip is to take the first train leaving at the crack of dawn, and only pay half the standard fare for the journey. I was booked for a three day stay in the Intermission hostel that's only open for the peak tourist period in July to mid August. It was an amazing experience to say the least, and definitely a first for me. So what's the gig then at this hostel? Well, basically it entails cramming 64 travellers into one admittedly large room, with bunks three high ... and I do mean high! The first night I was directed to the top bunk, from where I promise you don't want to fall out of bed, unless singing Free Falling in your sleep. It must have been about fifteen feet off the ground, and a bit of mountaineering is required just to climb into bed. I descended from the summit around midnight for a quick loo stop and was collared by the staff member, who asked that I move to the bottom bunk. When I woke up next morning, I was fronted by a guy who'd been out late who claimed I was sleeping in his bed. Talk to the staff, I suggested, but I did feel bad for the mix up inconveniencing my travel friend. He told me later that he spent the night on the couch, after an admittedly big night out.

Anyways, once the bedding dilemmas had been sorted I got into the swing of the hostel's friendly community atmosphere, and enjoying the sights of Bergen certainly adds to the magic. The Bryggen quarter's colourful wooden buildings on the wharf are one of the most famous images in the world, and they are now protected buildings despite coming close to being condemned in the 1970's. Right on the Bryggen waterfront is the Torget fish market, where I blissed out to seafood meals day and night for three days. Shrimp, salmon, crab by the bucketload ... you name it and it's all there at affordable prices. The tourists flock to the market to enjoy a seafood meal in picturesque surroundings, and it's all part of the Bergen experience. There's plenty of other things to keep a tourist occupied in the home of Norway's most famous composer Edvard Grieg. I can see how the great man was so inspired living amidst these magnificent surroundings.

But of course, everyone comes to Bergen as a jumping off point to the western fjords. The legendary Norway in a Nutshell tour is a one day trip that absolutely crams in the sights, and is a highlight of my trip to Scandinavia so far. The train retraced my westward journey for two hours to link up with the famous Flamsbana railway, which descends 900 metres during a breathtaking one hour journey through several tunnels and precipitous declines that give the train's brakes a real workout. We even piled off to take photos at the spectacular Kyosfossen waterfall. Once arriving at our destination Flam we had three hours to explore the beautiful village, the gateway to Sognefjorden fjord. I took the opportunity to explore the railway museum, then went for a long walk along the fjord while waiting for the 3:00pm departure of the ferry.

The crowd clambered on board and we set sail along the length of the magnificent fjord. I love nature, it makes me feel at peace! Europe is a wonderful travel destination, but it's so easy to fall into the trap of shuffling from city to city. All of the beautiful Europeans cities are full of culture and magnificent architecture, but for me the beauty of nature is the tonic that rocks my soul to it's core. So if that's your thing, western Norway is absolutely not to be missed. I was starting to feel very Zen as the cruise progressed, and to top it off I enjoyed the most expensive beer of my life. But in these surroundings an amber ale never tasted so good. Two hours of jagged peaks and streaking waterfalls was just the tonic to bring on a feeling close to bliss.

But we weren't done yet, as our bus journey back to the train line took us down a precipitous pass with absolutely mind boggling views of the valley leading out to the fjord. The nutshell tour is a wonderful adventure jam packed with glorious sights, and we didn't arrive back in Bergen until 8:30pm. The only downside is that it was too late to get another delicious seafood meal, with the market stalls already packed up for the day in anticipation of another early morning start. It's been a fantastic experience visiting western Norway and getting an introduction to the magnificent fjords. I think I'll go out on a limb this time, basically all of you should be here now!

A prophet is never known in his own country." Old Testament

As I continue my travels, until next time it's signing off for now

Tom

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Photos

Sognefjord highlights
The beautiful fjord is a natural wonder.

Bryggen quarter, Bergen
The famous wooden buildings on the wharf.

Magnificent views
Taking the bus down to the Sognefjord.

Bergen central
Statues and colourful buildings.

Cruise ship on the fjord
At anchor and taking in the views.