First of all you get the train from Bergen to Myrdal. It’s a 2 hour journey and we spent the first part with crossed fingers as all we’d had for the past couple of days had been cloud and rain.
As you can see by the time we got to Myrdal station the clouds were almost gone
Myrdal station is the start of the Flåm (say Flom) railway and its (as well as this whole trip) is a tourists heaven. It’s a 20km train ride with a gradient of 1 in 18 for a good 80% of the journey (that means bloody steep btw).
Basically the train takes you down to Flåm which is in the Aurlandsfjord, a branch of Sognefjord (the worlds longest fjord). There are covered tunnels that cling to the side of the mountain...
As well as a stop at Kjosfossen, where you get 10 minutes to take photos and listen to a lone trumpet player. I have no idea why they thought it was needed but we scanned the cliffs and can only assume he was hiding or it was weird tourist tape thing to add ‘atmosphere’
You also get to see the 21 hair pin turns on the old road up the steep Myrdalsberget mountain.
and a lot of other waterfalls and areas of avalanche damage.
after about an hour or so you get to Flåm which is populated by a few houses, a dock and the obligatory set of old looking houses/barns housing various cafes and tourist shops. Saying that they do an interesting Lemon Meringue pie in cheesecake form which was well worth it.
Once you’ve had a look around, relaxed on the beach for a bit....
its time to get on the 2 hour boat journey through Aurlandsfjord from Flåm to Gudvangen. It’s a beautiful ride and in the sunshine the fjords look truly stunning...
You also get to see the ‘never failing to amaze me’ sight of various individual farms and communities that perch themselves on virtually inaccessible points around the fjord. This next photo (and I’m not sure if you’ll get to see it properly) has a house perched 3/4’s of the way up the mountain, accessible only by a boat and a tiny trail that winds its way up the mountain.
I’ve recently seen a DVD about remote farms in Scandinavia and I can honestly say that I think they’re a bit nuts. You might not believe it but they transported all the stuff to build the houses by hand and pulleys. Obviously this was in the time before TV’s and helicopters!
Even though I think they’re a bit nuts for doing it, there’s a tiny part of me that looked at this...
and thought what a fantastic idea it would be to live there, I truly could become an eccentric old cat lady then!
Once you get to Gudvangen, you’re picked up by a fleet of tourist buses for the hour journey to Voss. Now the ‘highlight’ of this part of the tour is the 13 steep Stalheimskleivane hairpin bends.
it is pretty impressive that the coaches can make their way down the bends, but after 5 hours of fjords, sunshine and trains, it was a little underwhelming. Especially as the scenery on the way to Voss is pretty but not necessarily outstanding. Once you get back to Voss its another 2 hours on the train back to Bergen. I don’t know about Rachel but I know I missed most of the scenery on the way back through unintentional snoozing. By the time we got back we were both exhausted! A definite recommendation though, even if you have to share it with other tourists!
Thanks a lot for taking me Rachel, I had an excellent time x
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