Monday, 23rd
We checked out of our cozy hostel and headed for the station to catch up our early morning train to Myrdal. It was about a five hour journey by train (far by European standards!) and then to catch a connecting train -Flamsbana to reach Flam.
At the station G disappeared and surfaced after a while carrying trinkets, water and some apples. We made ourselves comfortable and at home in the two seats assigned to us. Trying all possible levers to make the seats tilt so we could stretch our legs. Behind us were two strange fellows. As the train pulled out of the station, we got really lazy and curled up on the seats. The strange fellows like most naughty kids kept kicking us from back or generally irritated us with their antics. G for most part of the journey wanted to punch one of the strange fellows. The scenery outside was just stunning. We passed the countryside and the hills at a leisurely space. After a while I walked to the pantry car to make ourselves some tea. The pantry car was very stunning with the look and feel of a fine dining restaurant. The lady at the counter was serving hot meat balls and potatoes to her customers. Boy, was I hungry!. I proceeded back to our seats and saw G grinning and waving a large chicken sandwich. Now we dint have one in our stock, so a little surprised I was. G mentioned that after I left an old lady came by and gave the sandwich to G and another packet of food to the strange fellows. Damn of all the time in the world I choose to go to the pantry car, I miss free food.
Generous G and I shared the sandwich along with our own treasure trove of food and tea. For a while the train did seem to run at a bit leisurely pace and we worried about missing our connecting train to Flam.
The Myrdal station was a quaint picturesque setting. The Flamsbana chugged in a little later after we reached Myrdal (although that is not how it is supposed to be) We later realised that this tourist train was actually asked to wait till our train had not entered Myrdal. Very neat!
There were no fixed seating, so moment the short train came we climbed the first available compartment with a leap and took two seats. The strange fellows were also in our compartment and smiling vaguely at us. I guess we were all of the same age group and the rest of the people in the train were fairly the senior citizen categories. This route is the steepest in the world, runs through tunnels, across waterfalls, rivers and likes. The next 20 km were straight out of a picture book. A lazy sun peeping out of triangular hills. A river flowing through and triangular houses on large patches of green and a variety of colorful flowers dotting the patch. (you know what I meant? It is just magnificent)
Our first stop was at the foothills of a glacier. The sun shone bright an the glacier was sparkling like diamonds against the patches of brown mountain and a ink blue sky. There was a little lake at the foothill which had taken the color of the sky. Blue it was. There was a certain nip in the air and slightly windy.
This is where the strange fellows and we exchanged hellos. They had names. Gorka and Gonzalo from Spain.
Our next stop was right next to a waterfall. There was a man made platform where we stood and were watching and clicking the waterfall in all its beauty. We were so close that it felt like a light drizzle around us. As we were all chattering and smiling suddenly the place filled with some wonderful seductive music. And then to add to the drama a girl in red appeared from a little cave near the waterfall and started a very petite dance. As hush fell over the audience, she disappeared in that cave and re appeared (a double) from a cave high above doing the same dance to the music. A very smart marketing move by the tourist train company. They were showcasing Scandinavian folklore through this dance, music and a mysterious lady. She as folklore goes is Huldra, a wood nymph, seductive creature, feminine form with a cow tail. She entices travelers with her beauty and music to follow her into the woods and marry her, so her tail will fall off.
We continued with our descent into the valley through a series of long tunnels made in the hills, supported with rocks and wood. In a matter of time we descended about 1200 feet and reached this beautiful place called Flam, nestled in the laps of fjords.
We had no prior bookings at Flam and relied on our guide book for information and off course the information center. However our new friends from Spain were putting up at the Youth hostel, so we followed them in hope we may get accommodation there. We crossed a little wooden bridge over a clear stream of water where the colorful pebbles at the bottom looked like precious gemstones.
The old man at the counter was particularly grumpy. But he was kind enough to give us a cottage. The dorm was all full and we did not have any camping gear or else we would have camped under the starlit sky. The campus of the hostel was green and a very large space. The south side was staring into a mountain wall and that's where our lovely old fashioned wooden cottage was. The place had a functional kitchen, a bunk bed, a small table and chair. The window overlooked an open picnic area with stone benches and seats.
After some tea and exploring the facility we decided to step out in the fresh air and turn our lungs pink. As we walked towards the gate we bumped into the Spaniards, who were also going for a stroll. We exchanged notes and continued our walking. We climbed a hillock, sat on the edge, threw pebbles at the water below, came down the other way, watched a cruise ship unload people, cattle graze, and walked aimlessly. The feeling of doing nothing and absorbing the views and locale was very very interesting. They did not know much English and we didn't know any Spanish. But it was fun with the mix up of words and sign language. This place was interesting, the train station and the shipyard were adjacent to each other. We walked to the coffee shop for some coffee. This place was in the shape of a train with compartments, wheels, windows everything and the coffee was also very nice.
I think any amount of words, prose to describe this Flam will ever be enough.
It was dusk as we approached our hostel. They invited us for dinner at their cottage. We changed and carried our food for the potluck dinner. The menu was soup, spaghetti in tomato sauce, ham, cheese and bread. Though the soup was lumpy and the spaghetti lacked salt, I think we had one of those very memorable dinners with friends on foreign shores. After some humor, awkward silences, misinterpretations and some Cuban rum, we decided to call it a night. More so, because the grumpy man from the counter did not like the idea of guests mingling at that time of the night. We moved back to our cottage and slept a happy sleep.
Tomorrow is another day.
We checked out of our cozy hostel and headed for the station to catch up our early morning train to Myrdal. It was about a five hour journey by train (far by European standards!) and then to catch a connecting train -Flamsbana to reach Flam.
At the station G disappeared and surfaced after a while carrying trinkets, water and some apples. We made ourselves comfortable and at home in the two seats assigned to us. Trying all possible levers to make the seats tilt so we could stretch our legs. Behind us were two strange fellows. As the train pulled out of the station, we got really lazy and curled up on the seats. The strange fellows like most naughty kids kept kicking us from back or generally irritated us with their antics. G for most part of the journey wanted to punch one of the strange fellows. The scenery outside was just stunning. We passed the countryside and the hills at a leisurely space. After a while I walked to the pantry car to make ourselves some tea. The pantry car was very stunning with the look and feel of a fine dining restaurant. The lady at the counter was serving hot meat balls and potatoes to her customers. Boy, was I hungry!. I proceeded back to our seats and saw G grinning and waving a large chicken sandwich. Now we dint have one in our stock, so a little surprised I was. G mentioned that after I left an old lady came by and gave the sandwich to G and another packet of food to the strange fellows. Damn of all the time in the world I choose to go to the pantry car, I miss free food.
Generous G and I shared the sandwich along with our own treasure trove of food and tea. For a while the train did seem to run at a bit leisurely pace and we worried about missing our connecting train to Flam.
The Myrdal station was a quaint picturesque setting. The Flamsbana chugged in a little later after we reached Myrdal (although that is not how it is supposed to be) We later realised that this tourist train was actually asked to wait till our train had not entered Myrdal. Very neat!
There were no fixed seating, so moment the short train came we climbed the first available compartment with a leap and took two seats. The strange fellows were also in our compartment and smiling vaguely at us. I guess we were all of the same age group and the rest of the people in the train were fairly the senior citizen categories. This route is the steepest in the world, runs through tunnels, across waterfalls, rivers and likes. The next 20 km were straight out of a picture book. A lazy sun peeping out of triangular hills. A river flowing through and triangular houses on large patches of green and a variety of colorful flowers dotting the patch. (you know what I meant? It is just magnificent)
Our first stop was at the foothills of a glacier. The sun shone bright an the glacier was sparkling like diamonds against the patches of brown mountain and a ink blue sky. There was a little lake at the foothill which had taken the color of the sky. Blue it was. There was a certain nip in the air and slightly windy.
This is where the strange fellows and we exchanged hellos. They had names. Gorka and Gonzalo from Spain.
Our next stop was right next to a waterfall. There was a man made platform where we stood and were watching and clicking the waterfall in all its beauty. We were so close that it felt like a light drizzle around us. As we were all chattering and smiling suddenly the place filled with some wonderful seductive music. And then to add to the drama a girl in red appeared from a little cave near the waterfall and started a very petite dance. As hush fell over the audience, she disappeared in that cave and re appeared (a double) from a cave high above doing the same dance to the music. A very smart marketing move by the tourist train company. They were showcasing Scandinavian folklore through this dance, music and a mysterious lady. She as folklore goes is Huldra, a wood nymph, seductive creature, feminine form with a cow tail. She entices travelers with her beauty and music to follow her into the woods and marry her, so her tail will fall off.
We continued with our descent into the valley through a series of long tunnels made in the hills, supported with rocks and wood. In a matter of time we descended about 1200 feet and reached this beautiful place called Flam, nestled in the laps of fjords.
We had no prior bookings at Flam and relied on our guide book for information and off course the information center. However our new friends from Spain were putting up at the Youth hostel, so we followed them in hope we may get accommodation there. We crossed a little wooden bridge over a clear stream of water where the colorful pebbles at the bottom looked like precious gemstones.
The old man at the counter was particularly grumpy. But he was kind enough to give us a cottage. The dorm was all full and we did not have any camping gear or else we would have camped under the starlit sky. The campus of the hostel was green and a very large space. The south side was staring into a mountain wall and that's where our lovely old fashioned wooden cottage was. The place had a functional kitchen, a bunk bed, a small table and chair. The window overlooked an open picnic area with stone benches and seats.
After some tea and exploring the facility we decided to step out in the fresh air and turn our lungs pink. As we walked towards the gate we bumped into the Spaniards, who were also going for a stroll. We exchanged notes and continued our walking. We climbed a hillock, sat on the edge, threw pebbles at the water below, came down the other way, watched a cruise ship unload people, cattle graze, and walked aimlessly. The feeling of doing nothing and absorbing the views and locale was very very interesting. They did not know much English and we didn't know any Spanish. But it was fun with the mix up of words and sign language. This place was interesting, the train station and the shipyard were adjacent to each other. We walked to the coffee shop for some coffee. This place was in the shape of a train with compartments, wheels, windows everything and the coffee was also very nice.
I think any amount of words, prose to describe this Flam will ever be enough.
It was dusk as we approached our hostel. They invited us for dinner at their cottage. We changed and carried our food for the potluck dinner. The menu was soup, spaghetti in tomato sauce, ham, cheese and bread. Though the soup was lumpy and the spaghetti lacked salt, I think we had one of those very memorable dinners with friends on foreign shores. After some humor, awkward silences, misinterpretations and some Cuban rum, we decided to call it a night. More so, because the grumpy man from the counter did not like the idea of guests mingling at that time of the night. We moved back to our cottage and slept a happy sleep.
Tomorrow is another day.
1 comment:
u ate way too many apples on the trip
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