Saturday 8th July
The ferry trip from Balestrand to Flam went smoothly. The journey took us a bit further along Sognefjord before we turned into the much narrower Aurlandsfjord and on down to Flam. The scenery today was rather more dramatic than yesterday, made so obviously by the narrower passageway.
We found our apartment easily as it was right in front of us as we got off the ferry. It was a lovely huge apartment with great views over the Aurlandsfjord. Mark had little time to spare so he set off to catch th Flåm railway and do his downhill bike run. My scenic cruise along Nærøyfjorden didn’t depart until 3 pm so I had the luxury of a bit more time.
My 2hr afternoon cruise along Nærøyfjorden was very pleasant and this fjord was even narrower than Aurlandsfjord, which we had journeyed this morning, and this meant there was some rather spectacular scenery and huge waterfalls. It was a very large and luxurious boat for sightseeing and was packed with people, almost half I swear were Indian/South Asians and most of whom seemed to know each other. It was almost as interesting watching their dynamic as the scenery!
There was the option to take the 2hr boat trip back to Flam or take a 20 minute bus trip. I had opted for the bus and, luckily, realised I was on the wrong bus just before it departed. That would have been a nightmare as I would have ended up miles away from Flam and with little way to get back. I had simply followed the hordes of people but obviously the wrong hordes. Crisis averted and I arrived back to the apartment at around 6 pm to find Mark safely back as well.
Mark’s bike ride went well, well, at least he and the bike rolled down the mountain. The same can’t be said for all the technology he had taken with him. Everything failed. So there actually is no visual record of him completing this bike ride. He loved the experience and would recommend this for any experienced cyclist. The initial part was a bit hairy but, once past the 21 hairpin bends, the ride flattened out making it easier to enjoy the scenery.
We found each other for dinner though and went to the Aegir MicroBrewery and this was a great venue. It was one of the best meals I’d had on this trip and Mark thinks he had one of the best beers for the trip, so that’s that then! We were chatting about Flåm over dinner and we both wished we had one more night here. With hindsight, I would have ditched Balestrand and had two nights in Flåm so, keep that in mind if ever you’re planning a trip over this way.
We’d had a rather full day and have another busy one tomorrow with travel via the Flåm Railway and on down to Oslo so it was just home after dinner for a relatively early night.
Sunday 9th July
Today was essentially a day of travel with two train trips; one was a 1 hr and 20 km tourist train trip from Flåm to Myrdal and the second was a conventional 5 hr train from Myrdal To Oslo.
The Flåm railway is one of the most popular attractions in Norway as the journey tales you past spectacular scenery, a magnificent waterfall and through 20 tunnels, 18 of which were carved out by hand. It was a great experience and one I’d highly recommend
