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Published: October 26th 2007
Following our two week trip to Croatia, we decided the week back at work was too much - so it was time for another trip. This time we were heading off to Norway for four days. Our aim was to do the Norway in a Nutshell trip from Oslo to Bergen, taking in the mountains and fjords that make Norway so famous.
It was to be a bit different from our recent trip to Croatia were we lived in shorts and t-shirts. The temperatures were to range from about -3 to 7 degrees. Time to pull out what warm clothes we own - which wasn't much given Queensland never really got that cold.
We flew into Oslo after the 1hr 50 min trip from London and then made the 2 hour bus trip from Torp airport into Oslo itself. It was actually a really nice bus trip - all the trees are changing colour given we are in Autumn and it definitely added to the scene.
We arrived in Oslo and proceeded to locate our hotel not too far from the train station (which we needed to get to the following morning) and close to the centre of
Our trip across the country begins
Just outside of Oslo on the Bergen Railwaytown. We were to spend very little time in Oslo and I have to say I am rather glad. I didn't think it had very much to offer in terms of touristy types of things. So we spent the Thursday afternoon just going for a bit of a wander around. At this point I do have to say it was rather chilly and rugging up was necessary.
As the night rolled around we went for a wander in hope of finding somewhere to have some dinner. no we had been warned that Norway was expensive - and yet it still shocked us. Keeping in mind however we had just been travelling Croatia where everything was so nice and cheap. Basically we came to the conclusion that a dinner out at a restaurant wasn't really feasible given our budget - so off we went to Burger King. Now while this was to be the cheapest meal we could find - I have to say at £20 for two burger meals, we bloody savoured by far the most expensive whopper we have ever eaten.
Friday was to be a long and yet most anticipated day for Ange and I. We
The weather was kind to us
crystal clear skies, crisp air, and not a breath of wind had really been looking forward to our trip through the mountains and fjords.
We woke Friday and made our way to the train station in the cold and dark to board our train for the first stage of our trip - a five hour trip from Oslo to Mydral, which is one of the Bergen Railway's many high-mountain stations at an altitude of 867m. The train we were to board actually makes the 500km trip from Oslo to Bergen, but we were to make a good touristy day of it and get off at Mydral and start stage two of our journey.
The train itself was simialr to the Eurostar in terms of space and comfort - unfortunately Ange and I were given reserved seats that had limited window space. This annoyed us no end given the money we were payign for the trip. It just happened that every couple of seats they have the support beams that limit some window seats. But we were not goign to let this ruin our trip too much - we still had an ok view and in between various stops some other seats did come empty and allow us to jump
From Oslo to Mydral
on the Bergen Railway - slowly making our ascent around a bit.
The trip from Oslo to Mydral was amazing and to top it off we had amazing weather - crystal clear and pretty cold so the chance of good snow coverage as we got higher was very good.
Now while the photos can only show you so much (given the photos were taken through a window at high speed) - the view was amazing for us as we winded our way through the valleys and started the ascent up the mountains that seperate the east from the west. We passed a lot of pretty scenes and villages but it was as we got higher and worked our way through Geilo, one of the biggest alpine skiing centres in Norway we truely started to see what Norway had to offer in terms of natural beauty - and we were starting to see snow. As we passed Geilo and worked our way up to Finse station at a height of 1,222m we suddenly entered a winter wonderland - topped off with the views from Finse station over looking the Hardangerjokulen glacier.
From here we started a decent back down to 867m and the train station at Mydral.
At this point we got off the Bergen Railway and jumped on the Flam Railway for the tourist train trip down to Flam at just 2m above sea level.
We made our way from the high-mountain plateau through the Flam valley to the village of Flam. The train itself stops along the way for tourist to get out and see the Kjosfossen waterfall that cascades 94m. While this was a scenic part of the trip - given it takes 50 minutes we were a bit dissappointed that you actually go through 20 tunnels in this time (which they don't tell you about) and shortens the amount you can see.
We arrived in Flam for the next part of our journey from Flam to Gudvangen via boat and along the Sognefjord - the "King of all the fjords" which is the worlds longest and deepest fjords. Apparently the fjord alternates between great depths of up to 1,300m and shallower sections of only 100m. We were really looking forward to this part of our trip - and from what we could see from the port at Flam, we weren't to be disappointed. The boat trip was two hours long and
Our first sighting of snow
way in the background on a mountain far away - as you'll see we got a little excited about the snow a bit prematurely as cold as we were in the elements, the scenery was amazing - with the calm waters, amazing cliff faces, snow caps, autumn colours and little villages.
Oh and I forgot to mention - through out the whole day and defintiely at this point - I have never seen so many spectaclular waterfalls. They were cascading down from everywhere.
Upon arrival in Gudvangen, we boaded a bus that was to take us through the valleys to the town of Voss, where we boarded another train for the last couple of hours into Bergen. While we did get to see some nice scenery on this part of the trip too, night fall did set in and gave us a chance to rest after a long day.
We found our hostel in Bergen and settled in for a sleep to spend the Saturday just cruising around the city of Bergen. Bergen itself was a pretty harbour town and sold as the gateway to the fjords. While it did have some pretty points - it did once again fail to really offer that much to see, and given the time of year we were here things were limited. We decided
to take it pretty easy this day and just wander around and visit the amazing stalls in the fish markets. Also once again, things were very expensive and limited what we could or wanted to do. We had contemplated to make our way up one of the seven mountains surrounding the city by riding the cable cars, but as the clouds rolled in over the mountains we didn't think the cost was worth not seeing anything.
We woke Sunday after a fairly laid back day around Bergen the day before for the long day of travel ahead. Our first task was to arise early and catch the Bergen railway back to Oslo - a seven hour trip which would allow us to see the part of the trip we missed when we got off at Mydral and also see the great sights of the moutain pass again. This time we had better seats. While we still had amazing views, it wasn't on par with Friday - this day was overcast and less snow was around except at the highest points of the trip.
So after a good, yet long train trip back to Oslo, we killed some time
in rainy Oslo for two hours before the two hour bus trip out to Torp airport. By the time we had boarded our plane bound for London at 10.30pm we had been in transit for 15.5 hours. Yet things were to get worse. We arrived early into Stanstead airport only to be docked at a domestic terminal for the plane was to work a domestic run in the morning - yet we were all international passengers. So there goes our early arrival as we had to wait for a bus to come and get us and ferry us to the right terminal. This was followed by a good two hours in queues through customs as so many planes had arrived in at the late hour (and the airport only had a few staff on). So we had missed our planned 11.30pm bus back to London - instead we made the 1am bus (just). Two hours later at 3am we finally walked in our front door. So 20 hours in transit we were home - only top have to get up in 4 hours and go to work.
Needless to say while we loved our trip, we are glad to
be home for a few weeks till our next trip.
Next stop Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast in Italy to check on our wedding location options in Positano. Pretty excited!!!!
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Napat
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Nice! I love Norway