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Published: October 7th 2010
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What a train ride............ the Bergan rail! 8 hours of untouched scenic landscape, with the occasional small village here and there and its highest point in Finse where we reached 1,222 above sea level. We left most of our luggage in Oslo because we were going to return there in a few days. Poor Belinda realised at the highest point above sea level that she really didn't pack appropriatley with only a thin cardigan to keep her warm lol, but the train ride went really fast and before we knew it we were in the west of Norway, the second largest city, Bergan.
Now one thing that I still fail to learn is that Sundays are a bad day for any traveller. Loads of things in Europe are always shut and public transport is at a minimum. Of course, the bus that comes every hour drove straight past us. (I won't mention that it did have something to do with the fact that we were standing on the wrong side of the road! ha ha ha) and then we had to take a very expensive cab ride to the top of the mountain where our hostel was. Luckily we arrived late
at night so we did not need to worry about having something to do. They had a great living area where everyone came to sit after dinner and Bel and I improved our skills at UNO.
The following morning we caught the bus down the mountain to check out the city. It is rather small and one day is all you need. The Unesco Heritage site Byggen is very similar to Copenhagens Nyhaven with its coloured houses standing next to each other but these ones are crooked and look much older. I stumbled upon an art studio with the artwork of
Audun Hetland and my eyes were drawn to a particular copy which I purchased. Best of all the wife of Hetland who was now in her 80's served me and she explained that the print was the result of dream that her late husband once had. She went on to talk about her many adventures her and her husband shared as they travelled europe while he painted. When I told her that I was currently living in London she was quick to show me a few of his prints from Portobello Road and talked with a huge smile on
her face about the crazy people they saw. It was soooooooo nice to hear her stories. I felt very priviledged, like I now had a story to pass on.
To my dismay we also stumbled across a fur shop of a different kind. Every animal fur you could imagine was stocked including 3 very large , ENDANGERED SPECIES Polar Bears. I walked around with my mouth hanging open. To my bafflement I walk up to the girl in the shop and said 'Do you sell alot of these furs?' Her reply was YES! and then she proceeded to tell me how she hated working in the store but it was difficult to find jobs in Bergen. She sid that the Polar Bears are the most expensive and you also need a special licence to keep the fur. I was disgusted but then hypocrytical because I had to get a pic of me wearing a rabbit fur hat! Not sure what to think of all that! The rest of our day was filled with ice-cream, Sushi, and a steep walk to the look out over the city and a sleep near the cities waterfall.
The following morning we were up to
do the Norway in a Nutshell tour which entails catching a train, a bus and 2 hour boat ride and another train all the way back to Oslo. We decided to take our time and do it over two days, stopping for 1 night in Flåm. The 2 hour boat ride took us straight through the Fjords.
Where do I begin? They call it a gateway but I am more inclined to call it a little peice of heaven. Fjords are found in locations where current or past glaciation extended below current sea level. A fjord is formed when a glacier carves a U-shaped valley through the land, and the sea fills the valley floor. This forms a narrow, steep sided inlet connected to the sea. As you travel through the valley you can not help but feel engulfed by the dramatic peaks and towering mountains covered in trees. Every now and then you see a little speck of red that is actually a house. The water is perfectly still and your reflection in the water is as clear as the day. You go a bit camera crazy but of course the occasional Japanese tourist that decides to spend their
time feeding the seagulls chips always outdoes you.
The boat ride took us to Fläm which is a very busy little tourist town. Tourist information unemotionally informed us that out accommodation was 4 km away after they asked if we had a car. Again my walking fears began to hit a high but we had no choice, there was no other accomodation available in the entire town. So we started our walk, a bit confusing in the start but after a few helpful passers by we were on the right track following the river all the way along. The walk itself was very enjoyable, even if I do say so myself. The houses look like they have just been plucked out of the tv series Little House On the Prarie. We kept an eye out for the Fåm church because our bed for the night was close by....... it seemed to take forever especially when we tried to hail the tourist train down to give us a lift and he just waved on by lol, but we finally found it and walked up the side of the house to meet the owner. She spoke little english and directed us past
a very old shed bulging with old cars and bits and peices and then pointed up a hill....ARGH!.... more walking. Half a km up and in the middle of no-mans land was a cabin. Hidden amongst bushes. I must admit, I did think OMG and then how scary it would be at night but we headed up there and as soon as we stepped in all my concerns flew out the window. A gorgeous cabin that could sleep loads of people, kitchen and lounge area and step outside to the most amazing view ever!
To the left the valley stretched to a waterfall cascading over the mountain and to the right was the town with a small church and a running river following itself down through the crease of one mountain and another. The sound of the waterfall was like peacful music and I knew I was going to like staying here.
Once settled we walked 5km back to Flåm main town, got some groceries and worked out that there was actually a stop we could take on the Flåm railway which dropped us right near the cabin.. We headed back, cooked dinner and enjoyed the view from the balcony.
Bel had a sleepless night as it was her grandfathers funeral back in Oz, by the morning we both felt keen to explore. We went for a walk deeper into the valley, took some wicked shots then headed to our own personal flam stop to go back into the main town. There is video footage that shows Bel hailing down the train , which was very funny, we did have cocerns that he would not stop.
The reason we had to go back into Flam was because we then had to catch the flam train back to Oslo. The railway is one of the top 5 scenic train tours to do in the world. They even stop at points to allow photo taking. For the tourist lovers we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and then amongst the spray appeared a women dancing on the rocks lol. According to local legend, a ghostly female figure has occasionally been seen in this spot and apparently she now appears everytime the tourists are around!
The whole way along you see nature at its best, hikers in their element and cameras sticking out of every possible window! Only Bel and I will ever truley
get the funny side of sharing the train cabin with a tour group of retired americans that felt the need to vocalise the steps of every person, place or thing on the journey and I still laugh about it now. Come to think of it....... maybe we were just delerious from the cold and hiking exhaustion.
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