Back to Bergen and Beyond

We have made our way to Oslo now, by a flight to Bergen for a pleasant overnight stay, then a terrific, scenic day on a ferry and some trains to make our way to Oslo.

In cool and cloudy - but dry - weather, the Norled ferry left Bergen and threaded its way between a myriad of Norwegian islands to the Sognefjord, Norway’s biggest at an average 5 kilometres wide and an incredible 1,000 metres deep for over 100 kilometres of its 200 kilometre length.

The scenery was amazing, especially as we sailed away from Bergen and then as we reached the upper reaches of the fjord, where the cliffs were steep and dotted with some spectacular waterfalls.

We disembarked at Flam, a tiny town that nowadays owes its existence to the Flam Railway, the classic train ride we were about to take.

But first we took a quick look around the town and its quite interesting railway museum, along with thousands of people from a cruise ship that was berthed in the fjord. No point complaining, though, when a bit over a week ago we were invading similar tiny towns from a cruising behemoth ourselves.

The Flamsbana itself was a very scenic twenty kilometres up steep hills, through hand-hewn tunnels and with incredible valley views on both sides of the train.

About half way up is Reinunga Station, with the Kjosfossen Waterfall and a quick floor show - music and a lady in an elegant red dress dancing in the nearby hills near the falls. Actually, it was a long way off, so it could just have easily been a man in an elegant red dress.

The Flam Railway terminates at Myrdal, where we boarded a regular train for a long four hours or so to Oslo, which we reached late in the evening. The day had been very long but completely enjoyable.Read more