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Published: July 12th 2015
Bergen to Flam
and the views of the fjords beginAfter a late bedtime trying to sort out a major computer issue we were again up early to collect our Avis rental car. Learnt the new road rules, speed limits of 50 or 70kph and it is compulsory to drive with lights on. The roads are very narrow and windy and it takes ages to get from A to B. Also there are kilometres of tunnels some as long as 26kms hence the need for lights.
Picking up the car was easy but getting out of Bergen was tricky because the car did not have a USB adapter for our TomTom. So it was back to Leanne the map navigator and Graham the driver, reading the signs and finding our way out of Bergen. For a while it tricky but in no time we were zooming along (on the right hand side of road) towards Voss and Flam. We had read about the famous Flamsbana Railway, one of the steepest traintracks in the world on normal tracks, where almost 80%!o(MISSING)f the journey has a gradient of 5.5%!<(MISSING)br>
The train runs through fantastic nature, past the Rallar road (badly flood
Bergen to Flam
Water views and now the snow capped peaks are starting to appear damaged), steep mountains, huge waterfalls, through 20 tunnels and has a few stopping points – all this happens in just an hour. Also in that time the train takes you from the ocean level at the Sognefjord in Flam, to the mountaintop at Myrdal mountain station on Hardangervidda, 863 meters over the ocean. National Geographic Traveler Magazine named the Flam Railway as one of the top 10 train journeys in Europe and Lonely Planet named it the best train journey in the world in 2014. So of course Leanne thought this was a must do hence our trip to Flam.
When we finally arrived the place was crawling with tourists. Went to purchase return tickets and found the next available return trip departed at 5.25pm and returned at 7.40pm. Well we thought hard about this because we had a two hour drive to get to our pre-booked hotel. Decided to sit it out as it was a one and only opportunity. Did a bit of walking and eating to pass the time.
Finally boarded at 5pm. The train was hot with no aircon and most of the windows closed. The journey was good and made up for the
Bergen to Flam
No that is not Bradley fishing - it is someone who really knows how to fly fish! long wait. It is a truly remarkable feat to build a railway up this steep slope through huge granite mountains. The scenery was magnificent – snow covered peaks, huge waterfalls and beautiful ferns. The train stopped at one of the waterfalls and the mist drenched all those who got off to take photos. Arrived at Mrydal Station, stopped for 10 mins and then did the same trip in reverse back to Flam. It was a great experience but one that took a lot of patience to see it through.
After phoning the hotel to let them know of our late arrival we started the 1.5 hour drive to the Walaker Hotel on the Lustrafjorden near the town of Solvern. SO this was where we really needed a Tom Tom.
Road signage in Norway is confusing or at times non existent. Also the names on the map are sometimes spelt differently on signs. So we zoomed down the tiny little single lane road sitting on the 70km speed limit – too windy to go any faster and just when we thought we had found the ferry crossing we ran out of road at a boom gate that said ferry
Bergen to Flam
and then a BIG waterfall came into view right beside the road - couldn't pass up this photo opportunity. closed. We asked a guy who was fishing at the jetty what was the go? He told us we were on the wrong road and we had to go back ten kms and get the correct ferry. Followed his instructions, found the road and got on the ferry with 2 mins to spare. Drove for what seemed hours on a desolate mountain road down into a valley where we arrived at the most beautiful little village and the Walaker Hotel and what a gem it was. It had been a hotel since 1640 and 9 generations of the current owner have owned and run the hotel. We had an awesome room in the old part of the hotel. The staff were awaiting the arrival of “the Australians” and we were offered a wonderful three course meal with matching wine etc – all this starting at 10pm we were amazed at the service. At midnight it was still twilight and we enjoyed a walk in the beautiful gardens along the fjord before hitting the sack and literally passing out with exhaustion. The days just seemed to keep getting better - loving Norway.
Sunday July 5 – Urnes Stave Church, Jostedal Bergen to FLam
The farmers were really working hard cutting hay and trying to get it in before the next downpour Glacier and Geirgangerfjord Ferry
Breakfast the next morning was a local food tasting feast. Apple juice from the local fruit farm, brown goat cheeses, local honey, Flam bacon and specialty sausages, hot smoked fish from Alesund, and so many other delicacies. We thought we may as well try the lot so breakfast took quite a while – we didn’t care because we didn’t want to leave this wonderful little piece of heaven. Ah all good things come to an end and we checked out. Didn’t go far – just 30 metres across the garden to catch the 15 minute ferry ride to Ernes. The reason for doing this was to visit the UNESCO listed Urnes Stave Church. The church is the oldest preserved stave church in Norway. Built in the 1130’s it has 4 previous churches under its foundations so it is a very significant site. It is built from dried oak trees which have been coated with a special tar mix to protect the timber – done a great job so far!
The church itself was truly beautiful because it was all done in wood. The carvings on some parts of the Church are the same Celtic
Flam Village
Gardening Norwegian style - hot day (23 degrees) and a hot man on the whipper snipper inscriptions as those we saw in the Book of Kells exhibition at Trinity College in Dublin. The Irish and the Vikings of Norway share a long history! The ceiling and walls are covered with wood shavings in a rich brown colour and in some parts of the church the original colorful artwork remains. One thing that was quite interesting was the open space under the floor which was used for burials. They banned this in the 1800’s because of the ‘unpleasant smell’ – imagine trying to concentrate on singing a hymm! There was also one painting dating back to the 1600’s which had been sprinkled with ground glass to create the effect of woven silk. Glass back then was very rare and this is an extremely rare piece of art. After listening to the guide, looking at the amazing woodwork and sitting in the pews of this thousand year old church, we looked at each other and decided that this is why we need to travel – you just don’t know what you don’t know.
So we had to back to the 21
st century quickly to catch the next ferry and that meant a very brisk walk down the
Flam Village
The river is constantly fed by melting snow causing serious flooding. They are currently repairing damage from last year's big melt with a lot of water in the river from late snowfalls this year hill. 20 mins later we were on our way back to Urnes to pick up our car and drive north over the Jostedalsbreen National Park with its beautiful glaciers, through Lunde to Stryn. The Jostedal Glacier was truly stunning. The glacier sits perfectly in view as you drive along the road and we just wanted to keep photographing this amazing glacier.
Driving on we stopped at Gudbrandsjuvet Canyon walk. More rushing water eating away at the rock etc – the walkway was really well contructed making it easy for people to enjoy the water pouring into the canyon as well as the ferns and tiny plants..
Continued on our amazing drive to catch the Hellesylt to Geiranger ferry to cruise along the Geirangerfjord. Well yet again we misjudged the driving time because of the slow speeds on the little windy roads and missed the early ferry – not to worry as there was another. When we arrived in Hellesylt the place was a mass of people partying in the streets celebrating a summer music festival. Navigated our way around them, found the ferry and waited patiently in the car queue.
What an amazing one hour cruise the
Geirangerfjord turned out to be – so glad we had the opportunity to experience it. The ferry crew provided a running commentary about the fjord, the names of the waterfalls, explained the history of the abandoned farms high up on the steep fjord slopes, as well as providing details about the size of the fjord etc. It is a branch of the much longer Storfjorden Great fjord which comes 60 kms inland. The Geirgangerfjord is 16kms long and more than 600 metres deep. The big cruise liners come in from the coast all the way to the end of the fjord finishing in Geirangerford. The beautiful Seven Sisters waterfalls were really spectacular. The ferry docked right outside our hotel and there was a cruise ship sitting right alongside. To our surprise we had a balcony room with a view looking straight down the fjord –dinner and drinks on the balcony - a great way to finish another wonderful day.
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