Flam-bay!
Trip Start
Nov 05, 2006
1
32
48
Trip End
Ongoing
Flam,
Norway
Monday, August 25, 2008
It took 5 & 1/2 hours on the train to the first destination, Myrdal. I have to say it's one of the most beautiful journeys I've ever taken, with lakes, Norwegian woods, and mountains either side. It was only when we reached the small town of Finse, 1222 metres above sea level, did I realise that the train was snaking up through the mountains upwards.
Myrdal, 866 metres above sea level, was the start of the beautiful Flaamsbana railway journey. The entire village consists of a B&B, and a station shed with a bathroom, cafe and souvenir shop. The scenery more than made up for the less than thrilling village though. And when the landscape is that beautiful, who wants to be shopping anyway. The train ride on teh Flaamsbana is 12 miles long and takes roughly an hour. Because of the stepp descent, over 2838 feet, the track winds around the mountain, sometimes turning back on itself and through tunnels constructed between 1923-1940.
The highlight of the trip was stopping off at the Kjosfossen waterfall. If it wasn't spectacular enough of a sight, some Norwegian music started to play and I noticed a blonde girl was singing and dancing in the waterfall. It was the most bizarre thing, and I wonder why someone somewhere felt that this was a) a good idea or b) necessary.
Reaching the village of Flam, I was expecting to visit the Flam Railway Museum and maybe check out a few of the souvenir places, after all, tourism is what keeps areas like this alive, right? Apparently not, as I had exactly 7 minutes to work out where the boat left from and board it.
The cruise, which was 2 hours long, travelled through the Sognefjord, and the Aurlandfjord and Naeroyfjord. The scenery was of course breathtaking, but I was more intrigued with the way the light fell, clouding some areas of the fjord in darkness and the others in bright light. It made for some interesting photography opportunities before my camera decided it couldn't possibly take any more pictures. (I'd brought a new memory card especially for this purpose but it seems to have a fault as it keeps coming up with 'write error')
I don't think I've seen so many waterfalls, ever, although I did feel that I'd either been here before or seen this before. Whether it was the same sights being presented from different vistas, or maybe just too much (!?) beautiful scenery in that short space of time, I don't know, maybe I'd become accustomed to see it?
Disembarking the boat, in Gudvangen, I was feeling the need to stretch my legs a bit, but the timetable didn't allow for this. Straight onto the bus, the journey continued. The bus carried us up the Stalheimskleiva Road, which turns and twists around 13 steep hairpin bends. We had a few close calls when not one but two buses tried to pass us, this could have ended in us literally falling off the mountainside but our driver was clearly experienced in negotiating this treacherous journey!
Arriving in Voss, the adventure sports centre of Norway, we boarded the train back the Oslo. Another 5 1/2 hours later, this made the entire day a non stop journey of 14 hours. It was epic, it was beautiful, it was expensive but a once in a lifetime opportunity. I wouldn't have changed a minute!
