Cruise Day 5–23 May

I have seen and heard enough waterfalls to last me for the rest of my days.  Spring is in full blush, and so the snow melt is accelerating and water is cascading down the mountains in hundreds of streams, large and small.  In this part of Norway the one sound that is constantly with you is that of falling water.

Today was a lovely sunny day, reaching 26C – so was able to venture out in shorts and without a jacket for a change.  We docked in Flam after having travelled overnight the 110 miles length of the Sognefjord, the second longest in the world and with depths up to 4000 feet.  Flam is a little tourist village tucked away at its end.  People used to farm here, but now tourism is the main industry.  There is a hotel, several cafes and lots of souvenir shops.  About 400 people live locally.  It is certainly a picturesque spot.

The main attraction is the Flam Railroad, the world’s steepest non-cog train.  It is 20 km long, rises 863 metres, and has 20 tunnels along the way.  The journey takes an hour.  Some stunning scenery back down the valleys along the way.  near the top there is a spray stop at Kjosfossen waterfall.  End of the line is Myrdal which has a B&B and a few cottages.  It is a junction with the main Bergen to Oslo line, so I will pass through there again tomorrow.  Quite a few had hired bikes at the dock and brought them on the train.  They then freewheeled down the mountain road back to harbour.  I setted for the trai basck, but got off at Hareina station to visit the old 1667 Lutheran Church there.  It was a pleasant 3.5 km stroll back to the ship along the river.

Lunch and a nap:  then I spent an hour wandering the dockside shops and sitting in the sun.  We sailed at 6.50pm, back along the Sognefjord, ten to the open sea and south to Bergen.

Took fewer photos today, as I have become convinced that the camera just cannot capture the sense of wonder and magnitude you feel as you stand in the shadow of a  1200 metre granite mastif that rises sheer above you.  Nor does it seem to really catch the beauty of  the scenic depth of the valleys.  I guess these are all things that are really meant to be experienced rather than reduced to 2 dimensional pictures.

A few things I have noticed: 

• Europeans eat huge amounts of gelato / ice cream; and it is cheap;
• Soda (pepsi and fanta) are more expensive than at home, and dearer than draught beer;
• Dutch and German women speak very loudly ;
• When people don’t know each other’s language, they tend to use English;
• People seem to be better informed about Australia than I have previously experienced;
• Queues mean nothing to many people; they just barge up to the counter and staff seem reluctant to refuse them service.
• The tourist dollar has become very important in these tough economic times.

Other things I have noticed are too politically incorrect to mention!

Today’s photo selection is here.