Thursday June 5th

We had an early start today as we had a train to catch.  It was a day of trains, planes and automobiles or at least buses, trains and ferries as we made our way from Bergen to Flam – bus from the ship to the Bergen Railway Station then a train to Voss.  

At Voss we boarded another bus which took us to Gudvangen where we caught a ferry which took us up the Naeroyfjorden and down the Aurlandsfjorden (both tributaries of the Sonjefjorden - lots of fjorden here) to the village of Flam.  

One thing that the Norwegians excel at is building tunnels.  The train from Bergen to Voss passed through many tunnels, the first of which was 7km long. It was difficult to get much in the way of photos as I would just get a photo lined up and we would be in a tunnel before I could press the shutter.

Parts of the bus trip to Gudvangen were spectacular especially the section from Stalheim down the Stalheimskleiva into the Naeroy Canyon.  This road is one of the steepest in Europe an winds its way down through many hairpin bends past two beautiful waterfalls into the valley below.  

The ferry trip from Gudvangen to Flam was no less spectacular with extremely steep mountains on both sides of the fiord which were covered with waterfalls.  It reminded me a bit of Milford Sound in NZ but the cliffs are probably higher and the fiord narrower.  There was still quite a bit of snow on top of the cliffs which made the while view that much more breathtaking.

We had been warned that there would be a cruise ship in Flam when we arrived, but I hadn't realised that it was almost in our hotel. 

We are staying at the Flamsbrugga Hotel which is only about 50 m from the shore of the fiord, which is also where the cruise ships dock. The ship left at about 6.00pm so I still had quite a bit of daylight in which to enjoy the amazing view. 

As luck would have it there is another ship due in tomorrow.  These ships are not small ones, like the one I travelled on, but huge things with 12 decks used by passengers and I guess one or two below that. 

Flam itself is a very small village which today serves as a stopping point for cruise ships which bring tourists to see the amazing views and to travel on the Flam Railway (which we will be doing on Saturday).  I find myself wondering how the village can cope with regular influxes of 5000 people from a shop plus the many others who come on a day trip by bus or ferry.