Norway - Leg Two

After an overnight stay in Oslo, we got up early to take a train from Olso to Myrdal and then from Myrdal to Flam.

On the Oslo-Myrdal train, which took about 4 hours, we passed some amazing scenery. Beautiful lakes, turning to desolate scrub, turning to glaciers and mountains.  We ascended from sea level to 1,222 meters (you'll have to do the math there).  The train stop in Finse was at 1,222 meters and was the highest train stop in the country.  Finse (and many other towns along the way) is only serviced by the railroad.  We saw many little towns seemingly made up of ski-in/ski-out cabins which are just there for recreation (cross-country skiing, etc) through the Norwegian Trekking Association.  Despite being on a rail line, it did not seem that there were many inhabitants in the higher altitude towns.  I suppose living on a glacier is not all that easy.

During this train ride, I took another look at the family history materials my parents had sent me.  I sketched out a family tree, and figured out the main towns in Norway and Sweden where great-great... grandparents had hailed from.  From my estimation, the Norwegian contingent was from an area about 2 hours northwest of Oslo.  The train route probably took us to points about an hour away from there.  Considering how little development was out there, it's possible that the scenery was much the same for me as it was for them.

Finse:

At the train snackshop, Ben discovered they were using lefse as hotdog buns and got us some to try.  Sorry, no photo.

This train ride ended in Myrdal. From there, we got on the Flam Railway which is one of the steepest railways in the world, descending back to sea level in 20 kilometers.  The train passes through 20 tunnels, which were manually excavated when the railroad was built between 1923 and 1944.  More absolutely stunning scenery.

And when the train stopped, there we were in the tiniest little town, Flam.  The town sits at the end of Aurlandsfjord, which is a tributary of the Sognefjord which is the world's longest fjord.  It doesn't look very wide, but it must be pretty deep, because a new cruise ship arrives each day.  We visited the train museum where the best part was Ellie signing her name in the visitors book.

Then we found the local (amazing, but seriously expensive) brewery and finished with a dinner at our lovely hotel.  Ellie was the photographer on the picture of Ben and me.  Pretty good, eh?

The next morning, we were able to take a long walk on a path along the fjord (yep, Ellie took another great picture of Ben and me!), and then a short hike up the hill behind our hotel to where some cows were grazing.  Then, it was time for the next transportation adventure...