I’ll start by sayings a job well done to Slartibartfast. It really is a very magnificent landscape and a pleasant cruise from Bergen to Flam and the answer is still 42.
Anyway, we left Bergen early in the morning for our cruise to Flam up the fjords. It was overcast and raining as usual but the weather forecast had promised some clearer weather. After a couple of hours, we finally reached the mouth of the Sognefjord with it’s high mountain peaks on each side covered with snow and the weather had cleared up slightly, although the wind was freezing. We then spent the next few hours cruising up this fjord through the rainy, misty landscape before turning into Aurlandsfjord which was nicely covered in mist as well to continue on our way to Flam.
Upon arrival in Flam, it was nice and sunny which made it perfect for some picture taking and 360 action –
As quickly as the sun had come, it was gone, replaced by rain and then what appeared to be half melted snow. It was in this weather that we boarded the Flam Railway for our 20km journey to Mydral Station. The Flam Railway climbs from Flam 2m above sea level to Myrdal 866m above sea level, which makes its one of the world’s steepest unassisted climb railway lines.
As we started to climb, it started to rain then we entered a tunnel. Upon exiting, we had risen another 100m or so and the landscape was covered in snow and the rain had turned to snow. It was actually SNOWING! We then stopped near the top of the line at what would have been a very spectacular waterfall except it was still almost completely frozen. Whilst looking at our frozen waterfall it started to lightly snow which I found very exciting. As you’ll be able to see from the picture included, when we reached Mydral station it was covered in snow along with the rest of the surrounding landscape.
After waiting about an hour at Mydral, our train to Oslo arrived and we spent the next 3 hours travelling through a snow covered landscape before entering a tunnel and emerging to a lush green landscape with a beautiful lake (as pictured below). This trip was said to be one of the most spectacular rail journeys in the world and I would agree with this statement. Riding through the snow covered landscape at speeds over 100kms/h is pretty spectacular and it gives you an idea of how nice the area would be in summer with the many waterfalls and valleys to see. Next time I come to Norway, I’ll take the train from Oslo all the way to Bergen as you’re suppose to get some spectacular views of the fjords from the train.
Once we arrived in Oslo, we were keen to get to our hotel as we’d spent the whole day travelling from Bergen and were very tired. Sleep was required to enjoy another new city the following day.
Farvel
