Tunnels, Waterfalls and more
Talk about the best scenic railways in the world. After this trip, I’d pick the Flam in a heartbeat. But we didn’t know that right away. First we had to arise at 5 a.m., check out of the hotel, walk through downtown Oslo lugging our wheeled-luggage and backpacks, and board the Bergen train. We had a reserved seat on that train and two hours later found the colorful little Flam steam tramway train easily--we just had to walk across the platform a few steps after dismounting from the Bergen train. (One of my worries had been the scant eight-minute connection between the two trains.
It turned out my fears, as usual, were groundless---eight minutes was ample.) The train arrived precisely on time, as did all other modes of transportation in Norway!
We boarded a car with unreserved seats, and I found myself facing a jovial young Chinese student. He spoke excellent English, and as predicted by my kids (who accused me of always chatting with strangers and finding out their life histories within minutes,) today was no exception. I quickly learned he was an economics student at a London university. He pointed to his father, seated across he aisle with a group of elderly Chinese tourists. The group was an official government contingent from Mainland China, he explained, and he was their official English interpreter. He seemed a bit
chagrined at his role of squiring the elderly group around Europe. They were doing a whirlwind tour of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, England and France and then heading off for Turkey, all in three weeks! He whispered he couldn’t wait until he got back to London! I thought he was lucky to be seeing all these places for free.
The Flam Railway, true to its reputation, wound through spectacular scenery— revealing snow covered mountains, tumbling waterfalls, tiny farms and villages nestled in the hollows beyond the many tunnels we passed along the route. We stopped several times for photo ops and dismounted from the cars to observe waterfalls up close and personal, snapping many shots and comparing the results on our tiny digital screens.
At the end of the line our destination was the tiny village of Flam. There a ferryboat would guide us through the first of two famous Norwegian fjords. The first, the Sognefjord, is the deepest, longest and one of the most spectacular of the Norwegian waterways. The second was the famed Geiranger Fjord which we would sail through later on the Finmarken.
[Go to Norway Part Four]
