I am off to the subway to catch the train. Good news is I get on without a hitch. Bad news is I get off to early and have to walk on the famous cobblestone streets for approximately 10 minutes. Oh well. We depart the train station for the 5 hour trip. It sounds bad, but this is downtime to read, blog and sort through pictures. Plus you get to see the beautiful countryside. We make one of the scheduled stops about half-way through the journey. The train conductor informs us we will all be getting off the train. What? This can’t be happening. What about the infamous train ride on the Flamsbana which I have been dreaming about for months and paid for in advance. Are you kidding me? Sure enough we are getting off and being bused to our final destination. The reason…a fire in a tunnel. In this region, the mountains are extensive. Therefore, a lot of tunnels exist whether by train or bus. Obviously, we can’t go through a tunnel if there is a fire. We fill the bus and head towards Flam.
The countryside as we near Flam is spectacular. The bus stops for us to take a snapshot as we enter into the valley. It is breathtaking. When we get to Flam, you quickly realize (just like my research indicated) that this is a tourist hub where passengers are being picked up and dropped off to their various destinations. Big passenger ships come and drop off passengers for the day for excursions into the famous fjords. About 7pm they all leave and the town is quiet and still. So basically, it is literally “nuts” during the day with tourists scurrying about and “calm and serene” at night after they load up on their respective ships. And, I learn from the locals that the ships I witnessed aren’t the “big” ones and this flurry of tourist is not near what it will be in peak season (July-August). I thank my lucky stars that I have avoided the madness of the “peak” season.
After I settle into my quaint hotel, I hit the tourist information center to get a listing of the activities in the area. In addition, I ask about how I handle getting a refund for my prepaid ticket on the Flamsbana Railway. Everything works out. My ticket is honored and they let me ride the train up and back. I choose the 5:30 departure so that my day tomorrow is free for other activities. Plus I have to get to Stigen in the afternoon. The train was great. This train line is not a cogwheel train- it’s held to the tracks only by steel wheels, though it does have five separate braking systems. The line is 12 miles long on a scenic high altitude track; goes through 20 tunnels and stops at one of the best waterfalls, Kjosfossen.
Enjoy!
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| Entering Flam Valley |
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| The Flamsbana Line |
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| kjosfossen Falls |
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