Flåm, Norway
I was up early to watch as the boat travelled down the Sognefjord: the longest (294 kms) and deepest (1038 m) fjord in Norway (aka the ‘King of Fjords’). Pretty.
We dock into Flåm and the thing to do is to take the famous Flåmsbana train: a branch line off the main Oslo-Bergen train line that we were on a couple of days ago. The Flåmsbana train descends from Myrdal at 866 m and is one of the stations we paused at on that trip.
Today we travel UP from sea level at Flåm to Myrdal. The train takes 1 hour to travel a tad over 20 kms - through 20 tunnels. It took 17 years to build, 18 of the tunnels built by hand.
Train stops for 5 minutes at Kjosfossen waterfall. We pile out into the rain to get a photo! It has a fall of around 225 m.
From Myrdal we returned by train as far as Berkevam (I left on the return train and MF stayed to collect a bike at the station before taking a later train). He could have ridden the entire way including the Myrdalsberget with its 21 hairpin bends (part of the Raller Road or Rallervegen constructed in 1893 and now a popular cycle and walking route) but elected to take the train back down to Berkevam also.
Of course I was walking: 12.8 kms back to Flåm - in constant drizzle and rain. MF passed me later (wet as a shag!).
It was predicted rain all day. And rain it did.
Nevertheless, the road route was far more interesting than the much-touted rail route. There were so many gushing waterfalls and glacial blue rivers. Breathtaking scenery despite the rain. Mind you, it would have been nice if the rain had let up a bit!! Very hard to get out the camera without it getting wet!
A quick stop at the Flam Kyrkje. The church is a wooden longchurch from 1670. The church nave has been decorated some time in the 18th century with pictures of deciduous trees and different kinds of animal.
Nearby are old salmon bridges that were used for easy access to the river in the 1920s and 30s but no longer used.
I was most certainly soaked by the time I got back to Flåm!!
I was also 'under the pump’ to be back in time for our designated bus tour. Just made it - stripped out of soaking wet clothes and into a hot shower first.
We drive along the Aurland fjord on the Aurlandsfjellet: a very popular road because of the views but incredibly narrow and traffic has to back up on the corners to let ongoing traffic pass.
This snow road is normally open from the 1st of June to approx. 15th of October. It was opened in 1967 and runs from Lærdalsøyri to Aurlandsvangen over the mountains and the highest point is 1,306 metres above sea level. The road is closed in the winter and snow lies on the mountain throughout large parts of the summer, so the name "the snow road" is truly apt.
There is an alternative route via the Laerdal tunnel (Lærdalstunnelen), the longest in the world) at 24.5 kms (opened in 2000).
We drive up to the Stegastein viewpoint (opened 2005); it sits at 650 m and we are above the clouds - very beautiful - but definitely no view of the valley below. We return back down to Aursland.
40% of the land in Norway is timber (mainly birch, pine, spruce) used for housing and we certainly see plenty of trees.
Along the way, we pass several buildings which are grass-roofed (consisting of seven layers of turf/grass and birch bark) - the typical construction for houses before the 14th century; now slate is used for roofs.
On our return, we sort out our wash of our wet clothes and hang them out to dry - and then visit the onboard hot pool! (MF managed to lose his ship ID card in the sauna in an unretrievable spot down a grate (!) and had to visit Guest Services on Level 1 decked (sic) out in his swimmers and towel to be issued with a new card …).
We have a lovely meal at one of the ship’s restaurants and watch the world go by (when it’s not enveloped in fog!).
The ship starts to list more significantly than we have experienced so far - we have come back out of the Sognefjord and into the North Sea again: a good time to go to bed!
Total walking: 14 kms
Should have taken rain cape I sent you
ReplyDeleteI would have been blown away in the wind!
DeletePoor Andrew riding on roads with snow .. mad but amazing scenery!!! Jenny
ReplyDelete