Trains, Buses & Boats, Oh My.

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Geo: 60.9036, 7.20172

We sleep pretty good throughout the night. A slight cough seems to be the only trace left from my sickness. I'll test it today as we will be out from 9-6. We try out the free breakfast at 8am. It's fine for me since I don't eat much for breakfast; cereal, fruit, juice and coffee and I'm good. Karen, being more adventurous, tries the herring, goat cheese, warm rye bread with cranberry jam in addition to her regular favorites.

Arriving at the Flam Railroad about 9, we hang out around the gift shop waiting for the train. While we're waiting for the train, here is some info on it.

The Flåm Railway is the steepest adhesion railway on standard gauge tracks in the world, with a variation in altitude of 2550'. The line twists and turns through steep inclines, tight bends and tunnels that spiral in and out of the mountains. Construction of the line started in 1924, and first opened for steam trains in 1940 and for electric locomotives in 1944. It takes approximately an hour to cover the 20 km through the steep and narrow Flåm valley. With views of mighty waterfalls and majestic mountain peaks, the train moves at a leisurely pace and stops once.

The train shows up at 9:30 and Karen and I just walk through with everyone else, showing our pass. No questions asked. We use the same method on the bus and the boat. Having seen that the Flam Company is having communication issues among its employees, I figure to capitalize on that and sure enough, no one asks nothing about nothing. Problem solved and we always get a good seat.

The railroad ride up to Myrdal is pleasant. The Flam Railway is one of the steepest train lines in the world on normal tracks, where most of the journey has a gradient of 5.5%! (MISSING)The train journey runs through fantastic nature, past steep mountains, breathtaking waterfalls and through 20 tunnels. In the span of a single hour, the train climbs from ocean level at the Sognefjord in Flam, to the mountaintop at Myrdal mountain station on Hardangervidda, almost 3000' above Flam. We stop briefly for 10 minutes at the Kjosfossen Waterfall. Mom won't get off the train to see it but I do. With the falls so close to us, there is a lot of mist in the air, so much so that it makes photographing difficult but the attempt is made. I guess Karen is content to peer out the window from inside the train. Actually, our car that we're riding in is still inside the tunnel just before the waterfall so I have no idea what she's looking at. When the Flambana Train reaches Myrdal, we exit and board a waiting standard DB train to the town of Voss where we spend two hours walking around the town. Mom checks out the local shops, finding a purse and later, I use the toilet facilities at the train station while waiting for our bus. There's a charge of 10 NK to enter and only a credit card will work. While inside, others outside are pulling on the door and trying their cards. I wait for silence then slip out quickly, allowing the door to close behind me, much to the disappointment of a fellow traveler in dire need of entry. It's my only entertainment.

The bus arrives and Mom picks us out some good seats. The ride is once again an hour long with the first 45 minutes a normal bus trip. Then we start down the steep and spectacular hairpin turns of Stalheimskleiva. The road has 13 steep turns. We also see views of the Stalheimsfossen and Sivlefossen waterfalls while the driver goes very slow down the one way road, making some attempt to explain the sites in the best English he can muster. Hey, it's better than my Norwegian.

At the base of the Stalheimskleiva lies the pier at Gudvangen. We exit the bus, wait 20 minutes and then, without issue, board the ferry for a two hour cruise, the last segment of our day trip. Even in the grey drizzle, the fjords are beautiful. The water here is very deep, often 2000' or more. We sit out on deck and I take some pictures and sip on a hot chocolate. This is the Nærøyfjord, the wildest and most beautiful of the arms of the Sognefjord. We cruise down the fjord through an incomparable setting of steep, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls and agricultural landscape, where small farms cling to the mountainsides. Frankly, we've seen so many waterfalls in Norway they've become commonplace. The fjord is 17km long and at its narrowest point is just 800' wide. The trip down Nærøyfjord is reported to be one of the most dramatic fjord trips in Europe, probably because it's the narrowest fjord and it's surrounded by 6000' mountains. Towards the end of our ride, Mom leaves the upper outside deck and moves inside to the more cozy cafe where she buys a coffee. We finish the day back in Flam around 6 and drive back to our motel.

At their little restaurant, we try the pizza. It's not the best we've ever had. Pizza and drinks, $50. I was warned that Norway food was expensive. Returning to our room, I write some on the blog while Karen takes a shower. Today I'm finally feeling better but now she's not feeling good. I think she has the same sickness that I just got over. She goes to bed.

This is as far north in Norway as we are going to go on this trip. Tomorrow we start back towards Copenhagen, Denmark. We should make it about half way there tomorrow.

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Comments

[Boom&Min]

Mom looks great! Carry some sugar free cough drops with you Al. Hope you feel better soon??