Monday, February 09, 2009

Norway In A Nutshell - Life Time Experience

19th September - Cloudy

Wake up early in the morning is something usual when you are in Bergen. Everyone wakes up early because we all have the same destination to be at by 10am.... that is the Train station in Voss. This is where the Norway in the Nutshell trip starts.

Very rush this morning, woke up like 6 am, way before the sun was up. I was still worry about our car parking illegally outside the building on the roadside.

Hmm... no ticket so far, so all is good for now.

Simply grab some breakfast made by my mom and aunt, think we had something like a fried fish cake that we ate with bread. It is a strange feelings to be able to find Chinese fish cakes here in the middle of Bergen (we saw that later in Oslo again too).

Then begin the rush. Had to drive like 15km on a windy road to Voss so that we can be in time to catch the bus that depart from the train station at 10.15am. We were not afraid to be late, but more like fear that the bus gets full before we even grab the ticket.

Was great to be able to find the tourist office when just get to Voss. Even better was the lady was just opening up the office and we are the first one to grab the Norway in a Nutshell ticket.

According to Wikitravel:

A great introduction to Norway is the one-day Norway in a Nutshell package on a single ticket from Oslo or Bergen into the mountains, with a boat trip through the fjords. You can break the trip at several interesting huts for walking or just admiring the view, and even hire a mountain bike for part of the journey. One of the highlights of the 'Norway in a Nutshell' package is Flåmsbana, a 20km railway that's one of the steepest in the world. Along the way you'll see beautiful mountains, rivers, valleys, waterfalls, and other beautiful sights on your way to the town of Flåm.

So we are all set... all of us were very very excited about this much hype about excursion, you know, first buss, then ferry, then train...

I ran out of words to describe the beauty of this country.... let my picture taking skill mesmerize you instead.

P1050957
Voss train station - We choose to start out Norway in a Nutshell tour here.

P1050963
NIN first leg - On bus from Voss to Gudvangen

P1050965
Another Caravan park with nice view

P1050975
NIN first leg - On bus from Voss to Gudvangen

P1050979
Sognefjord (Sognefjorden)

P1050993

P1050995
Boarding the Fjord1 at Gudvangen

P1060061

P1060014

P1060016

P1050998

P1060006

P1060011

P1060031

P1060004

P1060036

P1060045
Small farm on the hill, with his boat dock right below

P1060048

P1060052

P1060057

P1060055

P1060059

P1060063
The Flåmbana awaits

P1060064
In the Flåmbana carriage

P1060070
NIN - Flåm - Myrdal on Flåmbana

P1060083
From Flåm, the Flåm Railway climbs 864 meters up to Myrdal in only 20 km—the steepest unassisted railway climb in the world

P1060084
Crystal clear water running from mountain top to down

P1060087
Paradise on earth

P1060088

P1060091

P1060096

P1060097

P1060101

P1060105

P1060111
Arrived at the Myrdal Station

P1060109

P1060110

P1060113

P1060114

P1060115
Boarding the normal train back to Voss where our car's parked at.

P1060116
NIN - going down to Voss

P1060122

P1060117

P1060119

As we arrived back at Voss about 3pm. We quickly continue our journey again. Our plan was to stay a night at Laerdal as mid point before we headed further up north.

No comments: