A Norwegian Holiday (Part 16)
The Flåmsbana (The Flåm Railway)
The Flåmsbana or the Flåm Railway is the iconic train from the picturesque little fjord village of Flåm, at the inner end of Aurlandsfjord in south-western Norway, to the mountain station of Myrdal, high up on the Hardangervidda plateau on the Oslo — Bergen railway line.
The Flåmsbana has been rated as ‘one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world’. In fact, in 2014, Lonely Planet termed it ‘the world’s most beautiful train journey’. Extending from Flåm, at the inner end of Aurlandsfjord, a branch of the famous Sognefjord, to the mountain station of Myrdal that nestles in the midst of snow-capped mountains at 3000 feet altitude, it is one of the steepest standard gauge railway lines in the world. An admirable feat of railway engineering, it was constructed between the years 1923 and 1940. It traverses a distance of 20 km and passes through 20 mountain tunnels. Eighteen of these 20 tunnels were excavated manually. One of the tunnels at Vatnahalsen is U-shaped, allowing the train to zig-zag up the mountains! The train covers the 20 km distance from Flåm to Myrdal in about one hour.
Boarding the Flåmsbana
It was drizzling steadily when we reached Flåm from Gudvangen. We had barely half an hour after disembarking at Flåm from our yacht before boarding the Flåmsbana. Although no large cruise ships had docked at Flåm when we arrived there, the place was still rather crowded.
We made our way hastily to a busy restaurant in the spitting rain and packed lunch to be had later in the train. Although in a bit of a hurry, I could not help stopping briefly to watch a large granite globe floating and rotating on a bed of water. I remembered reading about this intriguing phenomenon, which is explained easily by basic physics, and was fascinated to see it.
We made our way ahead to Flåm’s open railway platform, located at the foot of misty mountains, and were, soon, let on to the platform to board the train. We found convenient seats and settled in. On the Flåmsbana, specific seats are not assigned when reservations are made.
On Board the Flåmsbana
A short while thereafter, our train left Flåm for Myrdal. Letting out a long hoot of its whistle, the legendary train sedately chugged out of Flåm station and, almost immediately thereafter, started its steep climb up the mighty mountains.
The carriages of the Flåmsbana train were airy, spacious and beautiful and featured wooden panels and ochre-coloured, foldable, cushioned seats lending a warm, vintage feel. The train has only one category of seating, arranged in a 3–2 configuration. It had large, clear windows, liberal leg space and adequate storage area for stowing luggage. There was on-board Wi-Fi and the toilets were quite neat.
We, soon, left the charming little town of Flåm. Ascending the formidable snow-capped mountains further, we went past sheer cliffs and deep valleys. As the train rode up the mountains, the views out of our window turned spectacular.
The steep mountainsides were draped in arboreal greenery. Wisps of clouds embraced and kissed the misty mountaintops. Numerous waterfalls, large and small, could be seen cascading like silvery streaks all around from the tall mountains. They leapt majestically off rocky cliffs in many places. At the bottom of the valleys, bubbling mountain streams flowed merrily; at many places, their water had an ethereal blue colour. Meadows and paddocks in surreal shades of green swathed the valleys and hillsides. At many places, the landscape was ablaze with fields of stunning wild flowers in brilliant colours, lending a celestial touch to the mesmeric mountain scenes. The bewitching vistas seemed straight out of the pages of a fairy tale!
Tiny pastoral settlements with hutments and verdant fields could be seen in small clearings in the midst of the forest at some places as our train trundled ahead, clinging to the mountainside. In sharp contrast to these idyllic scenes, roaring torrents sped ferociously ahead through rocky ravines at others.
Alongside the Flåmsbana and some stretches of the Oslo-Bergen railway track, runs a small road, the Rallarvegen. This is the original ‘navvy road’ used by construction workers to transport construction material while the Flåm and Bergen railway tracks were being built (‘Rallar’ is a Norwegian and Swedish term for a travelling construction worker). 120 km long, it is, now, preserved and used as a popular cycling track.
About half an hour after we left Flåm, our train made its only scheduled stop on this route (all others are request stops!). This was at a magnificent waterfall, the Kjosfossen waterfall. About 100 metres in height, this roaring cataract presents a stunning spectacle as it thunders out of the Reinunga Lake in the mountains above it. Other lesser waterfalls could be seen tumbling gracefully down the misty cliff faces around us as well.
As our train creaked to a halt at the spectacular waterfall, we got off onto a wide platform-cum-viewing gallery to instantly get soaked in the cloud of spray and foam flying off the raging torrent. The fine mist of water hitting us, the deafening roar of the magnificent waterfall and the spectacular view of the spume and raging waters combined to create an absolutely incredible sensory experience.
As we stood there in total wonderment, the strains of an eerie song slowly floated down from the mountains. And, soon, an apparition in an ochre robe appeared on a rocky ledge by the side of the waterfall and danced slowly to the music. Well, this is just an amusing touristy ‘attraction’ staged at the Kjossfossen waterfall stop! It is supposed to represent Huldra, a forest spirit in Norse mythology, who seduces and lures men into the forest with her song and dance!
We returned to the train half-heartedly and, before long, our train resumed its journey uphill to Myrdal. Passing more misty mountains, gorges, forests, rivers, waterfalls and pastoral scenes, about half an hour later, we reached Myrdal station.
It was drizzling and misty in Myrdal as well as we alighted from the iconic Flåmsbana after an unforgettable ride. We waited in the rain, which, thankfully, did not intensify, for about half an hour in Myrdal. By 4 p.m., we boarded a connecting train which arrived at the adjacent platform. This took us via Voss back to Bergen. We reached Bergen via Voss, after a journey of about two hours and twenty minutes, passing some more supremely beautiful scenery.
Exiting the station, we went and had an early dinner. Meanwhile, having noticed that our shoes were not sufficiently waterproof in the rains, we scouted around in some shops to get another set of shoes more suited for Norway’s extremely wet weather. We were, fortunately, assisted by a very helpful salesgirl in one of the shoe shops who recommended to us a spray to be applied to our shoes which made them waterproof, instead of purchasing a new set of expensive shoes. Her suggestion proved to be quite good and it worked like magic to protect our shoes from rain and keep our feet fully dry and warm! After purchasing some more hardy rain gear as well, we made our way back to our hotel and rested awhile.
Although a bit exhausted after a day-long journey, I ventured out again later that evening to explore Bergen’s famous waterfront on foot.
(To be continued in Part 17)
