Day Twelve - A trip on the Flåm Railway
This was a definite must-see while we are in this part of the world, but we kept running into roadblocks booking a trip, mainly because we could not pay for the booking online. This was due to the fact that the verification code was sent via SMS or phone, neither of which we could access. Even the friendly young woman at the Vik tourist info couldn’t help us. So we decided to head down there and take our chances on a later trip. Luckily we managed to get tickets, and because it was later in the day, it was cheaper than if we had gone earlier! It was well worth the hassle, as this is one of the most amazing train journeys in the world!
The Flåm Line is a 20.2 km railway between Flåm and Myrdal, running through the valley of Flåmsdalen. Flåm, where we stopped on our way up from Olso, is located on Aurlands fjords, an arm of Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway. The elevation difference between Flåm and Myrdal is 866 metres and it passes through ten stations, twenty tunnels and over one bridge. It is primarily a tourist attraction, but it does connect to the Bergen Line, which also goes to Bergen and Oslo. Of the 20 tunnels, 18 were excavated by hand, each metre taking a month!
The scenery is, to use a phrase I have used too many times here, absolutely breath-taking. The requisite waterfalls abound, including a 93 metre one, Kjosfossen. Here you are warned not to fall for the seductive siren song, designed to lure you to your demise. It was challenging to capture the grandeur of the views when you are on a moving train.
One interesting spot was Myrdalsberget, which is part of the Rallarvegen. This is a gravel road which is popular with cyclists, taking you from Haugastøl down to Flåm, a total of 123 km. It is also called the Navvy Road, after the navvies, workers who constructed the railway. Some 20 000 cyclists tackle it every year. At Myrdalsberget there are 21 hairpin turns to traverse. Not for the faint of heart!
Today was also a day in which we experienced many forms of weather! Pouring rain when we went into Vikoyri to seek help at the tourist info, low lying clouds and fog, sunshine, rain and even snow as we drove the road from Vik to Flåm and back!
We had stopped at the Extra grocery store for a shop for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast, since we knew we would be back late from Flåm. Once home we put together a lovely dinner of salad, fried rice, carrots and pork chops with raspberry chocolate ice cream for dessert, all washed down with the Grand Cru Riesling we had brought with us from Colmar. It was yummy! Taught Geoff and Pam how to play Circular Rummy before we hit the hay.