To Flaam by Way of the Flaamsbana

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From Oslo to Myrdal to Flaam - 07:05 -13:20 October 8, 2009

I had picked up my train ticket after clearing customs the day before. Knew the trian was a level below Departures at the airport ... and of course went to the wrong track. Climbed back up ... I am carrying all I will own for the next three months on my back ... asked and was informed that there were two railway companies operating trains into Oslo Central Station ... clear as mud ... am on my way and reach the NSB track.

HORROR!! First train of the big adventure and have already missed the %^%$# train.

OK...back up the escalator to get a new ticket ... NSB does not open the wicket till 07:30. Talk to a man about off shore drilling ...finally the woman opens ... my rticket no longer valid .... if I do not get to Oslo by 08:11 the rest of the ticket to Myrdal and Flaam will also be down the toilet. %$#(*&^$%^.

The second agent has a train going into Oslo ... I have three minutes to buy a second ticket for the airport to Oslo stretch and make the 08:11 connection of my original ticket. Stick the ticket into the automatic entrance ... where's the ticket ... a man helps this blundering inemptness!

He is taking the same train. I sit with him.Am out of breath and dry mouthed. He tells me about his daughter in Fort Lauderdale. I am calming down ...but not too much ... still staring the 08:11 in the face.

Arrive Oslo.
Down the stairsfrom one track.
Avoid construction.
Up the stairs for the correct track..
Find Wagon 7, seat 108.
MADE IT!
Why the mix up with the time? Maybe the reason will become clear...it is not clear now.
Lesson learned ... write the numbers down on a piece of paper to see it in vivid black and white!

Kept notes as the train progresed out of Oslo and thru the suburbs stopping along the way. As I am sitting in seat 108 I am envisioning the operatski who assigned me this seat. Imagine sitting and waiting for “an incredible train journey and most spectacular attraction” and all you are staring at is a wooden support panel with windows stretching behind you and out of your range of vision in front of you. I moved. Sat in the unassigned seat until a couple boarded who had this LOVELY pair of seats.

The train travels out of Oslo as far as Myrdal. Myrdal is a simple stop, change of trains if you are going to Flaam and a wait if the approaching train from Bergen is not on time. Each train waits for the other so the seven minute anxiety window of getting from the Oslo train to the Flaam train was unnecessary.

Took a myriad of shots: backyards with trampoulins, small industries interspersed with homes and housing, balconies with lawn furniture facing the rail lines, constant presence of small bodies of water, painted wooden houses in pleasant proportions,gasoline station called Jet, tumbling brooks, rock strewn river bed, wet blak rocks faces,, thin stringy waterfalls, farm houses, sheep, fields, hay bails, continuous fencing on both sides of track, and lots of long tunnels. No picture of those! Most of the shots were of such poor quality that they are not even worth keeping.

By 10:00 thirst overcame me and I went to the snack bar for ... a bottle of water.
Twenty seven NOK or $4.90 later my throat was soothed but my mind was reeling at the price. The bottle is my souvegnir ....no silver pendant; no elfin figurine, no the bottle and therose paper weight?, ... of the train ride ... that and the extra 85NOK ticket plus the original 338NOK ticket stub.
I am trying to gcome to grips with the numbers.
Two locals have already told me, “You don't get much for 500NOK”.

In Finse, at an altitude of 1222m, cross country skiers approached the station ... on skiis...ON SNOW!

Signs of snow had been in evidence further back ... you know ... the kind of snow that falls in the morning and has disappeared by lunchtime. The higher the train climbed the more snow lay on the ground. By the time Finse was reached drift clung to the sides of barns and the foundations of houses were buried. And there were cross country skiers!

The decent was apparent. The valleys ...or fjords deep. The greens spectacular in the mist and rain. The train stopped at Kjosfossen where excess water from the falls is directed too the power station via a huge water tunnel. It is a nice waterfall ... having been to Iguazu Brazil/Argentina, I am jaded ... now THAT is a waterfall! Grandness aside ... hydro power is essential and Kjos Falls does the job.

Once down at sea level after more spectacular ... it is a spectacular attraction ... views, the snow disappeared and Flaam is adrip with rain and overcast with clouds. The peaks of the mountains and the end point of the fjord visible from my hotel room are obstructed by clouds.

And now for some facts copied from the brochure about the Flaambana:
-80% of the railway line has a gradient of 55% or 1:18
-begun in 1923 and tracks were begun inn 1936
-steam train travelled theline in 1940 and electric trains came in 1944
-20 km are coveredin one hour
-20 tunnels total six kilometers
-all the tunnels were dug out by hand

Arrival at Flaam was wet. After asking two people I trudged to Heimly Pensonjat. Breakfast is included in the price but no meals are served. The room is spacious,has a fantasdtic viw of the fjord, and has a lovely hot hot hot shower.

I walked back to the wharf, meeting the same woman,also a visitor, that I had seen before and as she was walking away from the wharf I joined her in a smallthe small walk. as we went along we exchanged info. She is on a car trip from Moskow. Her mother is waiting he rin the hotel. They are both waiting for the Flaambana to go bac k to Myrdal and the car. After meeting mother, I was invited to stay with them in Moskow

The 'season ' really does come to a close at the end of September. Restaurants stand empty. The souvegnir shop is closed and Information is only open from 11:00 to 16:00. he same is true of the little museum that tels the story of the building of the railway. Have to catch that on another day.

Finally partaking of a recomended goulash soup in the Furukoa snack bar...restaurant in mothballs for the winter... I continue to be amazed at the prices and the taste of the food. So far spices detected range from salt to salt to salt ... or no salt no salt no salt. Don't order the goulash soup ... too much tomato, not enough sugar to cut the acid, small serving in a shallow bowl with one miniature dinner bun. The chef has either never been to Hungary or he does not have a hungarian grandmother or cookbook!

Back in my room I turned up the heat, asked and received hot water for my instant coffee in my cup and settled down in my space to blog, eat the last granola bar and drink my kaffi.

Slept well till 05:00. Had to be ready for the bus at 09:30. Breakfast was served from 07:30 till 10:00. The breakfast buffet was almost identical to the one offered at the Gardermoen except a small plate with slices of cuke, wedges of tomato and slivers of red pepper. Havong been to the grocery store I understood why I could count the number of red pepper slivers ... on red pepper totally enveloped in saran wrap cost $3 ... the avocado was $7... Everything went well and I managed to catch the bus on time. I was on my way to Gudvangen to take the ferry back thru the fjord back to Flaam.
From the Flaam website:
“Aurland Harbour District comprises four pleasant harbours: Flåm, Aurland, Undredal and Gudvangen, nestling securely in the innermost part of the famous Sognefjord. Big cruise ships squeezing through narrow fjord arms surrounded by snow-clad peaks and waterfalls cascading down mountainsides, are a beautiful but usual sight. The 204 kilometre-long Sognefjord, which is the longest and deepest fjord in the world, have been a highlight and a main attraction for cruise tourists along the Norwegian coast for many decades. “

The Sognefjord ferry sits in the harbour at Flaam. When I saw it I hoped it was still running, but the seasonn has come to an end.

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Photos

Finse
Highest elevation - 1222m - of the Flaambana

Myrdal
Seven minutes -12:53 to 13:00 - for train change.

Flaam
Sprinkles, drizzle, fog, mist, showers, overcast or rain are all words that portend wetness.