The Fjords

July 13th

We woke up at the crack of dawn Wednesday.  Which is pretty early in summer.  Our hotel was part of the train station complex.  The courtyard below was deserted.  A few hours before it was jam-packed.  Gail and I grabbed some breakfast and brought it with us to the "Norway in a Nutshell" train.  Our trip to the fjords departed at 6:00 am.

We stopped in Myrdal, halfway across Norway.  Most of way the train was practically empty.  Then in Geilo a ton of mountain bikers jumped on.  The region is a skiing destination in winter.  A vast network of dirt roads and trails were created when the railway originally was built, to move men and machines in and out.  Today they are some of the most scenic and challenging bike routes in the world.  In Myrdal we switched to a specially engineered mountain train with five braking systems.  It worked its way down through a series of ravines towards the waters below.  The train stopped several times along the way, letting everyone take pictures of the astounding scenery.  An ancient tradition played out at one in particular.  A siren tried to lure the men to a dangerous waterfall, where many were said to have met their demise in the past.  Luckily the tour operators had built a fence to keep us from falling for it again.

The fjord tour boat left from Flam.  The town itself has become a tourist destination.  But the fjords obviously remain the main attraction.  Our trip took us through Fjord 1 and Sognefjorden.  Those are considered to be the two most dramatic fjords in Norway.  Glaciers carved them out during the Ice Age.  The mountains soar a mile above the water, sometimes higher.  Waterfalls cascade down the sides.  Several small towns dot the shore line.  One headquarters a gigantic energy complex, which we couldn't get a glimpse of.  Kings, nobles, and prime ministers of all stripes used to sail up and down the fjords, admiring the beauty and searching out business opportunities.  It's deep water.  Depths exceed a mile in some places.  Norway's western fjords combine to make a complex network that feeds into the Atlantic.  If Gail and I had our own boat, like Per Gunnar, we simply could have sailed to Bergen.

Most people say the highlight of their trip to Norway is seeing the fjords.  Gail and I admit they are great.  Mother Nature has a lot going for her.  But even she can't compete with the time we had in Arendal and Froland.