My Travels: Sognefjord, Flam & Voss

This will definitely be a picture post, as most of the day were spent sightseeing on the famous Sognefjord, which is a branch of the longest fjord in the world, and then followed on by the scenic Flam Train. We started off with the fjord, boarding our ship at Sogndal.

At the 'pier'

The ship that we boarded was really quite big. It had already picked up some other tourist along the way, so it was rather full. I remember it being one of the major fjord lines as it also catered for many other fjord cruises.

Sailing out in the gloomy weather

I wasn't that ecstatic about the cruise I have to say. It was a wet, gloomy, windy morning and all I wanted to do was to lie under the covers in my comfortable bed, and not be blown away by the strong winds of the fjord. But soon, all the moody-ness disappeared when the beautiful scenes appeared and of course, when Mr. Sun decided to come out and play too!

Loving the blue skies

The cruise took about 2-3 hours in total, and I spent bits of it in the enclosed area and bits of it outside whenever I could. The only reason I wasn't spending all of it outside was because of the cold wind! The views were breathtaking!

Houses along the fjord

Don't let the picture fool ya
*it was freezing cold!*

I absolutely loved the calm waters, green hills along the fjord against the clear blue skies. It was marvelous! If only I didn't have to travel so far to actually see it. Come to think of it, I think it is wayyyyy much prettier than Halong :P.

I could go on and on about how beautiful the place can be, but my words and photos just aren't gonna do it justice. One just have to be there to see it!

Flam Railway @ Sognefjord

Next stop was lunch at the Flam Railway Station. Lunch was served at a mock train restaurant, which served reasonable food. And oh, our tour guide brought 'sambal' with him on the trip with us and shared it with us and one of the waitresses had wanted to try some, so we gave her some. The expression on her face said it all - it must have tasted and smelled horrible in her mouth, but she was way too polite to say anything. That poor lady. She did however, come out with a chewing gum the next time we saw her :). Hehehe

Bye bye Sognefjord

We did have a bit of time to spare while waiting for our train to arrive, so we took the opportunity to wander around the station. As predicted, many souvenir shops in the area. But what I liked about it was the colours of the houses/shops. The Norwegians sure choose great colours for their buildings. Not your usual white or off white :P.

Trolls :D
*I think*

And soon it was time to board the train.

The famous Flamsbana

The train runs from Sognefjord all the way to Myrdal, a mountain station about 20km away. The ride takes us on a journey of spectacular scenery of several waterfalls, wonderful ravines and along the way, snowcapped mountains. It is not hard to understand why this train ride is one of the most famous train rides in the world.

While on the train, if heading from Sognefjord to Myrdal, remember to take the seats where the window is to your right. That's the best side :).

The train stops at a big waterfall where tourists are able to get off and take photos. What they don't always tell you is,there is a lady that will appear in the middle of the waterfalls singing. Well, the music is on anyway. It somehows made the waterfall mystical. Truly enjoyable.

Kjosfossen Waterfalls

The singing&dancing lady

And the journey continues...

Loving the snow-capped mountains

And the quaint houses by the tracks

And soon we were at Myrdal

We then continued on our way to Voss, where we spent a night at this gorgeous place called Hotel Hardangerfjord.

On our way to Voss

More scenic routes

The hotel wasn't a huge tall building, but rather, had a widespread compound looking over the fjord. One really have to wander around the compounds to appreciate it. Or at least, we didn't know that it was so beautiful outside till it was just before dinner. Benefits of the sun setting at 10 p.m. meant that we still had time to spent outdoors! :)