And Outside The Rain Fell...

Today was a day when I was enveloped by nature.

Seldom does a day start immediately after the previous one ended, and here, by 6.30 am, we were boarding the train to Bergen, heading to Myrdal, from where we were to begin our fjord cruise.

Oslo to Bergen had been described by people we knew as the most scenic journey by train we would witness in all of Europe. And how!

Having slept until around 10, catching up on lost sleep, I woke up to scenes lifted straight from an LOTR description. Steep black mountains jutting out of the plains, its sides lined with trees in autumn bloom - every possible shade of yellow and green. The hills had a crystal clear river flowing by its side all through. Waking up to a sight like that, my first impression was that of an enormous giant, wearing a dark green fleece coat and a silver sheath by his side. The river meandered, filled to the brim, and looked icy to the touch.

A few miles on and the landscape completely changed, and effect was quite dramatic. In a few minutes, we were passing by snow capped mountains, with glacial river streams falling down by the sides. Thousands of water cascades fell by all sides, the effect mesmerizing.

The train chook-chooked away between crystal blue lakes, their frigid water lapping the banks as glacial cascades fell into them. To top it all, the person sitting next to us was the president of the Bergen-Oslo rail link himself, who spoke fondly of having recently celebrated the 100th year of operating the line, and was curious as to how we felt watching what we are. He gave us a beautiful rail calendar, a souvenir that is bound to create a lot of in-fighting unless we reach an amicable solution, that marked the Bergen-Oslo line through the seasons - the bright green spring from may, the orange hues and waterfalls of September, the frigid sheath of ice of January, the wonderful melting snow of April.

Opening the emergency windows, bitter cold wind streamed in as we passed tunnel after tunnel, some miles long, opening to exotic views of cascading waterfalls, snow caps and swiftly flowing rivers. I fell in love. It was absolutely paradise.

It soon started drizzling as we reached Myrdal- a little town straight out of a fantasy novel. A wood log cabin and a tiny cafe marked the station, and our dark green train from Myrdal to Flam stood on the other platform. Around us, rain drizzled down gently amidst bright green trees.

Buying tickets to our next line, this scenic one hour journey from Myrdal to Flam has been voted the most scenic train journey ever. An engineering marvel, it descended 800 metres to sea level cross a steep gradient and 20 tunnels, the largest 6 miles long. Wow.

Words are difficult to describe this journey, but here, we passed by truly what Norway was - shifting panoramas of thundering waterfalls and lush green vegetation, with rivers descending into the sea at Flam, Norway’s most exotic fjord cruise.

As the train descended into the valley, it stopped by at scenic spots for the shutter bugs to go crazy, and a stop at the mighty Kjosfossen falls was the hallmark of this journey. Churning down the hill with ferocity, billions of gallons of frothing, icy glacial water thundered down the valley, our train at a brilliant vantage point where the froth hit our faces hard and the mist rising up the hill drenched everything in sight. It was a sight to behold.

We passed by quaint towns with black roofed houses and waterfall after waterfall, eventually landing down to sea level at Flam. Here, the Sognefjord began, sea water coming back many hundreds of miles into deep crevices, with towering black mountains on both sides. Our cruise ship, the Fjord1 was to flow between this scenic journey to Gudvangen.

Standing on the deck, with icy cold wind blowing across my face and through my hair, this I felt was a moment that could not even be captured on film. And towering hills on both sides, with hundred of tiny rivulets crashing into the sea from the mile metre high mountains. You really must visit this someday.

Passing through incredibly narrow gorges through the canyon-like fjords, we were in Nærøfjord, the deepest arm of this fjord and perhaps the most dramatic one. We also came across the Undredal chapel, Scandinavia's tiniest church, which was a pleasure to watch. The serene two hour journey lulled me to a short nap in between, after which I went to the front deck, standing in the frigid cold air as evening bent on, munching on bread and carrot. Carrots are probably the most nutritious thing I’m eating on this journey.

Docking at Gudvangen, and out of Norwegian kroner for the next leg, the kind bus driver allowed us to get in, as we promised to pay her at Voss. It's the first time I’ve witnessed a lady driving a bus, and this Stalheimskleiva road trip twisted and turned through an incredibly narrow road offering views of several waterfalls. She drove with amazing dexterity! I was tired, and the one hour trip far too soothing to the eye, and nearly everyone on the bus fell asleep.

Landing at Voss and paying her in NKr and thanking her profusely, we walked around Voss, visiting the camping site (too expensive!). It was a beautiful town, a huge lake by its side, snow capped peaks around it and gentle rain falling down. We wanted to camp here for the night, but too expensive for us, we headed on the next train from Voss to Bergen, had a dinner there of Cup Noodles, “jugad-ing” boiling water from our store paying 2 kroner for a cup, had noodle sandwich and boarded the train back to Oslo at 11pm.

Technical problems meant that we had to switch from the train to a bus at Voss at 1 am in the night, and back to train at 4am, but little did it matter cause I was sleeping far too quickly and far too peacefully in practically seconds. There are even rumours that the buses were ferried across a lake in the night, but I was too dead tired to figure that bit out.


Another day gone by, and inevitably, every journey is now 24 hours of action packed adventure, and not just the customary 18. Next stop, Oslo. Phew.