Down into the fjords I go!

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Total faillll haha. I bought 30min internet time yesterday so I could post this last night and the stupid internet wouldn’t work. Boo-urns. Thankfully I got my money back this morning -I’m copy and pasting this from last night, so pretend I wrote it yesterday:

I started things off with my usual excitement this morning by sleeping through my first alarm haha - thankfully I had a back-up plan. Nevertheless, I had one hour to get ready, walk to the metro, get into Oslo, get my ticket, and get on the train. SUPERSPEED.

I did it though =) Good thing I had packed last night.

Train from Oslo to Mydral was fun. The lady beside me spoke to 5x in Norwegian. First time was hello, but the other 4x were each actual sentences lol. You would think by the end she would’ve picked up that I have no sweet clue what she’s saying… but apparently not haha. One time she wanted to see my menu, I understood that. And the last time she asked if I was getting off at Mydral. I’m so smart.

The views were great on the train - unfortunately they were mostly on the other side of the train haha. Hopefully when I come back from Bergen to Lillehammer I’ll be sitting on the “nice” side. The views were great because you’re gradually climbing up into the mountains, so you see down into the valleys plus you see the snow up on the mountaintops! I felt at home - I miss snow haha. The best view was definitely when we passed the glacier - it’s quite melted at this point, but still beautiful.

Once at Mydral a whole whack of tourists tried to figure out where the Flam Railway stop was haha. I love watching lost people… I’m mean.

I didn’t have to wait long for the train - it’s this super old style which was really cute! The train was totally packed, so I had fun sitting backwards on the descent. The railway’s so famous not only for the views, but also because of the rate in which it descends the mountain - in less than an hour it goes from over 800m above sea level, down to 2m above sea level. Spiffy.

The views were fantab - looking down into the fjord and the valley, tons of little waterfalls all along the mountains, and one huge waterfall. For this larger waterfall they actually stop the train and let everyone get off to take pictures which was neat. They randomly have some girl singing and dancing to Celtic music in the waterfall which was quite odd… idk, maybe it’s just me but it kind of detracted from the experience. I love listening to the roar of the water tumbling down, and to have her dancing around was just weird.

Anyway, we arrived in Flam - haha, there is NOTHING here. It’s honestly the train/bus station, place for a couple boats to dock, a grocery store, a handful of cafes and hotels, and a souvenir shop. Woohoo! I knew that coming in, but they really weren’t exaggerating when they said there’s nothing here.

The hostel is pretty spiffy for being in the middle of nowhere! Sadly, I’m impressed by their key-system - there is none! It’s this wireless chip thing you wave in front of the detectors… pretty next-level stuff. The rooms were very big, with a sitting area and table, and in-suite shower and toilet. Aaaaand they had a full kitchen area. All the hostel I’ve been in have been pretty nice, but this one takes the cake so far.

I got some food at the grocery store - yay for hostels with full kitchens! I made myself some lovely chicken, ate some noodles, and bought some yogurt. I seriously miss eating all my dairy products haha… sigh.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around the fjord… it’s breathtaking down here. The colour of the water is this gorgeous blue-green-turquoise and it shimmers in the sunlight. At the end of “town” you can walk along the shoreline, down into the fjord so I went on a little adventure down that way. Truly beautiful.

After my walk, I plopped myself down on a giant rock at the mouth of the fjord and watched the tourists come and go. Notable observations: First there was the Chinese family - the Dad stripped down to his swimsuit and went for a dip. Oh my, that must’ve been a cold one. He legit went in to the fjord too - not just his feet, like a full-out dive and swim. Crazy man. Then there was the American group of teens playing Frisbee - they kept missing and it would land in the duck pond. The girl was also high-maintenance when it came to her photos. There was a little Norwegian boy who kept running in and out of the water, followed by his little sister who was buck-naked and couldn’t be happier haha. Tra-lala-lala. Another group of teens (Norwegian this time, I think) came by with their Lab puppy - dogs are too cute when they swim. That dog was in heaven.

I ended my night starting to read “Man’s Search for Meaning” (good book so far) while overlooking the fjord from atop my rock. Again, I could get used to this.

And to end on a funny note, I walked past an old van on my way down to the fjord - one of those hippy vans… and it actually had a sign in the back window: “If the van is a-rockin’ don’t come a-knockin” =)

On that note, I leave you until Bergen. Tomorrow I’m taking a boat cruise through Naeroyfjorden, from Flam to Gudvangen. I then catch a local bus (ah, adventures!) to Voss, where I catch the train into Bergen where I’ll be spending the next couple days.

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Photos

Leaving Oslo
We passed a kajillion waterways... ah, lovely

Snowy mountain tops
As we neared Mydral, we passed a glacier and many snowy mountain tops. Meanwhile, I'm sitting on the train in shorts - awesome!

Top of the line - Mydral
Starting our descent on the Flam Railway, looking down into the valley.

Passing the other train
There's only one part with a double-track on the line, so one train has to wait for the other to pass.

Flam
In all it's glory.

Flam Flowers
Ah, so purty.

The fjord!
Can we tell I love the word 'fjord'