Flam, and Norway in a Nutshell part 2

This follows on from Norway in a Nutshell part 1, and Flam

The weather was indeed better the next day. Not blazing sunshine but a vast improvement on the rain of the previous day.

In the morning, I had a ticket on a minibus to the Stegastein lookout, which is a lookout over the Aurslandfjord. You do need clear weather, but it is open all year round. The trip take about 1.5 hours, and includes 30 minutes at the lookout. It is actually free to go to the lookout, but you need transport to get there, as it’s quite a trek from Flam. So, for people without transport the minibus is probably the only option.

The view was breathtaking! As you can see from the photos the lookout gives you uninterrupted views for miles.

After I returned to Flam from the lookout, I had a quick wander around the village in the better weather, and then it was time to resume my trip on the Norway in a Nutshell tour.

The first part was a 2 hour fjord cruise, which was, as expected gorgeous. The weather was still quite dull, but this did nothing to detract from the beauty of the scenery. I got chatting to an American woman Kim, so it was a good couple of hours – company and the views. As we travelled along the fjord watching the mountains rising out of the water, we saw isolated houses and tiny communities which left us wondering how do people get to these houses. One thing we didn’t see was any other boats or activity on the water. Both me and Kim thought it was a little strange that there were no other boats out enjoying the scenery. Maybe it was due to the season – September is not peak season in Norway, but maybe it’s always quiet on the fjords.

After the cruise ended we boarded a bus, and set off to our destination. But, this was no ordinary bus ride. No, this bus took us round some hair-raising hairpin bends in the road, high up in the mountains. One false move and we probably would have plummeted to our deaths. Fortunately, the bus driver knew exactly what he was doing, and there were no problems.

After that bus ride it was back onto a (delayed) train, into Bergen. I had a seat on the good side of the train – i.e. I had more great views! In this case of the late afternoon sunshine shining on the hills and the fields, and a river, winding its way merrily over the rocks through the valley. There was also more views of the fjords. This train ride was less  than 2 hours, and eventually we arrived in Bergen, about an hour later than scheduled.