July 18 Flåm railway

The day dawned softly and slowly - fog engulfed the mountains and shore in a gentle grey-out. It was stunning and moody. 

After a sumptuous breakfast feast we lined up for the bus for what unfurled as a really touristy day and probably the main selling point of this particular tour for most people. It started with an interesting bus trip through verdant countryside to Gudvangen where we boarded a lux ferry for a cruise along the World Heritage Naeroyfjord. 

The scenery was quite stunning but sadly there was no commentary/information about what we were seeing.  We drifted slowly through both deep and wide valleys under the watchful gaze of soaring mountains and dazzling snowy peaks, past waterfalls and rocky screes and pulled into ‘chocolate box’ villages along the way. All very picturesque. 

The ‘cruise’ delivered us to the world-famous Flam on the banks of the fjord. This is a real tourismo destination. We had 2 hours to kill - which is OK if you want to shop or hike up the valley walls. We wandered, took pix of flowers! had a bite to eat and a leisurely beer and wine before lining up with what seemed like hundreds to board the train for the next leg - the Flam railway.

Built as a goods line in 1940, the Flam railway is only 20km long but takes an hour to climb more than 800m to Myrdal through deep gorges and beside roaring waterfalls many of which plummeted uninterrupted for 100s of metres. We peered down into valleys where goats graze in summer - the farmers make delicious brown goat cheese with their milk. Local folklore tells of Huldra, an underground spirit who captivates travelers with her song and lures men into the mountains. We saw ‘her’ at the mighty Kjosfossen which had a free fall of 100m. Staggering to contemplate the sheer power of the water hurtling over rocks as it plunged down the mountainside. It was breathtaking - and wet!! Quite awe inspiring.

When we reached Myrdal at the top of the line, we changed trains and went tearing at breakneck speed back towards Voss almost 1 km down the mountains diving through tunnels and under avalanche ‘protectors’ - slotted wooden cage structures. An interesting day, a stunning country!