Fjord Adventure (Eventyr på de norske fjordene)
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2008
1
7
8
Trip End
Jul 06, 2008
Flåm,
Norway
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The sun rose very early in this country. By 3AM, the street lamps were all extinguished, and the intense sunlight gave the illusion of late morning. The long summer hours were really affecting my euphoric mood. I was now beginning to understand why some psychiatric schools of thought were advocating the use of 10,000 Lux of light therapy in the treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I rushed to the hotel lobby to check out, then proceeded to the automated machine to collect my train ticket to Flåm, which I had already purchased online in Houston.
Tip #1: If traveling by train to the heavily-visited fjord region of Norway between June and August, it is advisable to pre-purchase all tickets online (www.nsb.no) before departure to secure a seat. Then take the e-mail receipt, proceed to any train station automated machine in Norway, type in your reservation number and phone number as the password, and a ticket will be printed immediately. No need to interact with any personnel.
Multilingual Ride
For an extra surcharge, I sat in the NSB Komfort Class, which included a separate compartment, access to a power outlet for my laptop, free newspapers in Norwegian, and unlimited coffee and tea
Aurland Village and Aurland Fjord
. For the first 4 1/2 hours, some of the most spectacular sceneries of Norway unraveled before my eyes. In the Komfort Class wagon, there was a communal area for drinks and socializing. I naturally gravitated to that area, and before I knew it, I was making friends with fellow Norwegian passengers, who gave me their business cards and encouraged me to contact them upon returning to Norway in the future. At first, they were speaking English to me, but upon learning of my interest to practice Norwegian, we found ourselves conversing about the daily aspects of life, the country's economic success, and the mystical Viking history in Norwegian. There were also elderly tourists from Russia, Italy, Japan, and Germany on the train, who were experiencing difficulty with English or Norwegian, so I jumped right in to help them with their requests to the train staff. All of them were surprised to find out that I had studied their languages in the US, especially the Russians. They thanked me profusely, and we had a chance to chat about each other's impressions of this beautiful country.Tip #2: If taking the 8:11AM-12:53PM train from Oslo to Myrdal heading to Flåm, sit on the LEFT hand side of the train for the best landscape views of moutains, forests, lakes, glaciers, and quaint villages. The pristine panorama will be unforgettable!
Unique Norwegian Engineering
I thought Norwegian engineering was utterly impressive when connecting from Myrdal to Flåm.
View of Fjord From My Hotel
For 210 NOK (US$ 42 one-way), one would get an exciting 20-km journey on the Flåmsbana train, complete with 180-degree hairpin tunnels and magnificent view of rivers cutting through deep ravines, waterfalls cascading down the side of steep, snow-capped mountains, and mountain farms clinging precariously on dramatic cliffs. The train made a five-minute stop at the biggest waterfall, Kjosfossen, where according to Norwegian sagas, a beautiful temptress, who once lived behind these falls during the age of trolls and Vikings, would lure men to the rocks with her singing. I almost missed the train while searching for this Norwegian music idol.Tip #3: For the best, unobstructive vistas, grab the seats on the LEFT hand side of the train. The right side offers an unattractive, obstructed view of the side of the mountain.
Flåm (pronounced Flome), Norway
After a descent of 1400 m/4200 ft from the small mountain train junction of Myrdal and after traveling on a steep gradient of 55%, I finally arrived in the quaint fjord town of Flåm (population 400 in 2007). The tall majestic mountains dipping into the mirror-like fjord, the dense, serene forests, and the fresh air enveloped my senses upon disembarking from the train. Although there were many tourists passing through this town just to board the Fjord Cruise (225 NOK/US $45), I decided to stay an extra day to do some biking and hiking in the magical Norwegian woods. Indeed, I would highly recommend renting a bicycle from the Flåm Tourist Office (50 NOK/hr or US $10/hr), getting a train ticket back up to Myrdal (210 NOK/US $42) with a bike transport supplement (80 NOK/US $13), and the 40-km (25 mile) downhill ride past waterfalls, bucolic villages, and along a glacial brook would be priceless! The other option, which I also did, was to ride along the shore of majestic Aurland Fjord to a slightly bigger town, Aurland, 10 km (6 miles) away
Freedom
. The easy bike path constantly embraced the tranquil, shaded banks of the fjord, and one would finish the ride with a vision of what paradise would be like.Retracing Norway's Past (Å forfølge Norges fortid)
In search of Norwegian history, I took the bus from Flåm to Borgund, where the legendary Borgund Stavkyrkje (Borgund Stave Church) was located. The ride to Borgund was even impressive, as the bus went through the Aurland-Lærdal Tunnel, the world's longest tunnel (24.5 km/15.2 miles in length) carved through a massive mountain. However, it was the Stave Church that took my breath away. Embodied in an ancient armor of wooden shingles and turrets with bells, this timber church was built during the winter of 1180 AD, during a time of great activity in Borgund, Norway. The Viking Age had come to an end, but the Norwegians were still a seafaring people. The old wooden church that predated this Stave Church had rotten timber woods, so a group of highly skilled Norwegian craftsmen had to build a new church, in which the timber would not be in contact with the damp earth. Great wooden posts, or staves, were slotted into the ground frame and hauled upright to form the main structure. Surrounding this church was a sacred cemetery. However, it was common Norwegian practice to bury the dead under the church floor until the 19th century. Stillborn infants and babies who died before being baptised, were still placed in coffins under the church floor, even in recent times. The solemn façade of this historic structure, set in a picturesque alpine valley, rekindled movie images of J.R.R.Tolkien's wooden fotress of Rohan, Middle Earth. The only thing missing were trolls and elves.
Visiting Norway without making a stopover in Flåm would be a great travesty. I was very impressed with the bucolic landscape and the slow pace of life in this tiny village of 400 people. But tomorrow, I would have to board the train for the last leg of my trip in Norway: the legendary, striking, idyllic city of Bergen, which was the former capital of the Viking Empire, surrounded by de syv fjell (the seven mountains) and nestled in a quaint, picturesque harbor...
