May 21 - Norway in a Nutshell, part 1

Today, we left Anders and Ragnhild, and began our 471 km journey across Norway towards Bergen. We were up at 0530 for breakfast, and were then driven to the main train station downtown by Steiner (next door neighbour to Anders and Ragnild), arriving there at 0715. A little before 0800, we boarded Coach 6, and found our reserved seats (#’s 77 & 78). The train pulled out promptly at 0811, and once out of town we were skimming past the country-side at 100+ km/h along broad twisting valleys and small towns. As we gained elevation, it wasn’t long before we started seeing remnant snow patches and snow covered mountains. By the time we reached the tree-line, the mountainous landscape was entirely snow-covered, and yet there were still numerous ‘hyttes’, villages and ski areas. We eventually reached an elevation of 1222 m above sea level at Finse, and then began our descent to Myrdal at 866 m.

We reached Myrdal just before 1300, and transferred to the ‘Flambana’ (Flam Railway) for the 20 km trip down to sea level at the town of Flam. We arrived in Flam at about 1400.

The Flam Railway travels down precipitous mountain sides with numerous waterfalls, twisting around sharp curves and through 20 tunnels (many of which were excavated by hand), and switching valley sides to avoid potential avalanche risks. Almost 80% of the railway line has a gradient of 55%, or 1:18. Construction of this railway began in 1923 with the first tracks laid in 1936. The first train (steam) ran in August, 1940 when the line was opened temporarily, and for electric trains in 1944.

As the train descends to Flam, there are numerous farms and farmhouses spread across the lush green valley bottoms and in meadows hanging off the sides of the valley. Many of these farms date back to the 17th century. Some settlements have been occupied for over 1000 years. The cascading waterfalls along the valley margins feed a river in the bottom of the valley as it rushes to the sea at the head of the Aurlands Fjord.

At Flam, you are situated at the head of the Aurlands Fjord, a southern arm of Sognefjord, looking north. The steep-sided fjord rises to over 1500 m from sea level, straight up to sporadically snow-capped edges. There are lots of places to hike between Myrdal and Flam.

We stayed at the Fletheim Hotel in Flam. Our room faced out on the fjord as did the dining room so we were able to watch the light change down at the end of the fjord as we ate dinner. Quite a treat indeed! Dinner itself was a delicious buffet with the usual varieties of seafood and wonderful breads offered.