I debated booking the popular Norway in a Nutshell tour because the idea of spending hundreds of dollars to take 5-8 modes of transportation in one day seemed absurd. My persistence paid off, because for the same absurd sum of money I managed to find us a tour that had only 3 transportation modes – the Sognefjord in a nutshell tour.
After a 6:30 breakfast, we packed up our bags and checked out of our hotel to head to the boat dock where we boarded our boat to navigate down the Sognefjord.
This fjord is among the longest (traversing 50% of Norway’s width from the Atlantic to the Swedish border) and deepest fjord in the world. We were going to travel much of it, from Bergen to the tiny village of Flåm.
As we traveled, we noted that winter has certainly not released its hold on most of the area given the snow-peaked mountains lining the fjord.
Along the way, we passed impossibly picturesque villages, apparently comprised of a dozen buildings clinging to the side of the mountain just above the water line. I can’t imagine what people do for a living in these areas (other than apparently make brown cheese which, as far as I can tell, isn’t food…it’s like the texture of velveeta and goat cheese mixed together, and it tastes like burnt sugar, a hint of dairy, and maybe something else that I can’t quite place, but not good).
We disembarked in Flåm at 1:30 and had until 4:00 when the train would depart. We thought we’d walk around the 350-resident village for a bit, and then realized at 1:50 when we finished walking the whole village that we needed a more ambitious plan to kill time, so we headed out for the Flåm church, 1.9 miles away.
The walk was peaceful, albeit eerily devoid of people. Such tiny villages are a foreign concept to me, and I can’t say I understand rural life any more now than I did before.
After walking back, we boarded the Flåmsbana train. This train traverses incredibly steep terrain, and the track includes a spiral through a mountain to get from the valley to the top. It’s really insane to see the mountainside fall away behind the train and to watch the snow get deeper and deeper with elevation gains.
After an hour of this unique (and so screechy) train, we disembarked at Myrdsal, a town that used to have a population of 100 but after the railroad come, lost all 100 of those residents. The town also has no roads – it is only accessible by train or, in the winter, by snowmobile. Sounds thrilling!
We boarded the Bergen line train back to town, then went for a nice dinner. I have come to learn that I really like fish stew (when it doesn’t have shellfish, of course). This wasn’t as good as the curried fish stew we had in Iceland, but it was awfully tasty.
We are back at the hotel, getting ready to board the overnight train to Oslo. While I’ll never understand why, traveling is exhausting, so despite sitting for most of the day, I’m really ready to get some sleep. Not so sure that sleep on a train will be the most restful, but it’s the only option we have so we will make the most of it. Tomorrow we have an 8:00am flight to Trømso and then a connection onward to Svalbard, where todays snow will let up and a cold front will move in. 🥶
Vacation Days 