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From Bergen to Oslo we did the “Norway in a Nutshell” itinerary which was suggested to us by tourist information. There seems to be a variety of itineraries around Norway which consist of convenient transport connections that you can get information about and pre-book. First of all we took a train from Bergen to Voss which spent a lot of time in tunnels. The scenery we saw out the windows was nice when we saw it but it was a relief to be on a bus from there to Gudvangen. It was my first glimpse of the Norwegian countryside and even in the pre-winter drabness it’s easy to see it’s a beautiful country. From Brett’s photos in the summer the brown grass is green, the grey sky is blue and the red buildings are still red.

From Gudvangen we took a ferry along Naeroy fjord which, along with Geiranger fjord, has been UNESCO listed since 2005. It’s notable for its narrowness, with the narrowest point being only 300m across. It was a chilly ferry ride out on the top deck but worth the view as we cruised past cute hamlets of colourful houses nestled between the shoreline and the 1,700m high cliffs. The boat trip took us to Flam, a small town whose tourist industry apparently started in the late 19th century with Brits coming to fish for salmon. Today most tourists pass through between ferries or cruise ships and the scenic Flam railway that snakes its way up the mountain from an altitude of 2m at Flam to 866m above sea level at Myrdal.

We spent a night at a small guesthouse outside the newer tourist town and walked further up the valley to Flam church. In the graveyard you could clearly see some of the older established families, with certain family names appearing much more often than others. One grave which piqued my curiosity was one that read (in English):

Owen O’Neill
born in Melbourne
10-2-1961
He loved the Flam valley and died here
16-9-1982

Assuming that the Melbourne mentioned is where I’m thinking, what is a young Aussie guy doing buried in a small graveyard next to a rural wooden church? For this mystery the almighty Google and Wikipedia have no answers.

The next morning we took the train up the mountain but we didn’t walk back into town to get on, instead we walked to the small station nearby and flagged it down, as you would a bus. It was so much more exciting than just getting on at a normal station. And yes, I do get excited by the small things. I forgot to write about it but in Stockholm I went to a supermarket where I checked the items out myself then paid a machine. It gave me change and wished me a pleasant day. Apparently these shops exist in other places but I’ve obviously not been to those places. Anyway, the train up to Myrdal was cool, a grade of 1:18 for almost 80% of the track. It took us an hour to snake up the mountain and through the 20 tunnels before arriving and changing to the normal train for Oslo.

We climbed even further and the landscape on the high plateau was a winter wonderland of snow covered pine trees and partially frozen lakes. The sky was moodily cloudy as we rolled along. Further down toward Olso it was back to grey and brown hues and the last few days here have been much the same. While Brett was in a meeting with the boss who he just finished up a job for I checked out the Vigeland Sculpture Park which is home to over 200 sculptures by the well known (in some circles) Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. The most striking sculpture is his monolith, a 14m tall tower of granite covered with the writhing forms of 121 naked people. Around it is a series of 36 statues of groups of people in various stages of life. The wrought iron gates leading into this area are also pretty impressive.

I also headed to the Kon Tiki museum, dedicated to the work and adventures of Thor Heyerdahl. He’s most famous for his 1947 voyage on the Kon Tiki, a balsa raft, which took him from Peru to Polynesia in 101 days. His scientific aim was to prove that settlement of Polynesia was possible from the Americas with the technology and boat building skills that are known to have existed historically. Though I don’t think his ideas are always taken seriously in the scientific community he certainly scores points in my book for getting out there and testing it. He also took the Ra 2, a reed boat, from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days. If you’re interested in some of his stories I’d recommend his books, I’ve read about most of the voyages so I have to admit there wasn’t much new at the museum for me apart from actually seeing the Ra 2 and the Kon Tiki boats which was pretty cool.

With Brett again we checked out the Fram museum, dedicated to the boat of the same name which was designed for Fridtjof Nansen’s 1893 Arctic expedition. The plan was to sail up as far north as possible from the Siberian islands then let the ship freeze into the sheet ice and float on the current he thought existed, up to the North Pole and then west to Greenland. The idea came from the wreckage of another ship, crushed by the ice, which ended up in Greenland. They took provisions for 5 years and designed a boat whose shape would mean that it was pushed up by the freezing ice instead of being crushed. Pretty crazy stuff. As Brett says that was a time when men were _MEN_ and exploration was hardcore.

We’ve also checked out the Nobel Peace museum and spent some time wandering around Oslo. Tomorrow we’re flying to Bulgaria which I’ve still not done enough research on, but where hopefully prices will be cheaper than Norway. When a hotdog costs US$6, a public toilet US$1 and 1 stop on a train US$5 it’s pretty hard to do anything without blowing our budget. Still, it’s been good.

Tags: Naeroyfjord, Norway, Norway in a Nutshell, Oslo