Detour to Flam

waterfalls and Norwegian houses

crossing the same ford as a couple of days ago because of the detour

the plateau was all like this - lakes and snowy mountain tops

from the road down into Flam

on the train

there's a stop on the train to photograph a waterfall and ethereal music plays (sort of Norwegian Enya) and these 2 girls in red dresses dance on the rocks

houses on the plateau

photos taken from the car window as we zoom through...

...the posts are for when it is all snow covered in Winter

Malcolm at the waterfall, without the dancing girls!

August 15th

Flam railway

Woke early this morning in the tropical heat to the chattering sound of a flock of Norwegian blues.  Either that or it was freezing and the air mattress was going down!

We left the camp site before 7.00 as we planned to be in Flam around 10.00 to go on the famous railway.  We stopped on the road, at a lakeside, to make breakfast when the sun was warming the day.  It was supposed to be cloudy but the best day for the next few days however it was a clear blue sky all day.  Unfortunately the one route to Flam was impassable because the tunnel was closed.  We had to do a detour so the trip to Flam actually took 8 hrs!

Our detour took us up onto the plateau called the Hardanger Vidda which was a beautiful place full of lakes.  We were on a mission so couldn't stop but it would be a great base to do some walks from.  We got lunch in an old hotel (set up for skiing guests in the winter but serving lunches etc) and got to Flam about 3.00 just missing one train.  So we had a coffee and a Norwegian 'Danish' (these are fantastic - I haven't had 2 alike yet and they are all good!!)before the railway trip.  This train goes from sea level up to the plateau - taking about an hour each way and winding its way up the mountainsides.  The train was packed with tourists, mostly Asians but a busload of Indians too.  Most people got off at the end of the line (Myrdal) to catch a connecting train to Oslo (it's on the Oslo-Bergen line)- which I have travelled many times back in the day.  We returned back to Flam.

We are camped tonight near Flam beside a river whose water is rushing down from the snow caps of the mountains of the Hardanger Vidda.  Rain is predicted for tomorrow :-( but at least it is not so cold here.