Page 46 of 70. Damn. I should really be studying right now, but my brain is not absorbing anything. Instead I'm in a pretty chatty mood at 11.55pm, so I'm going to pre-write this for when I'm too busy to blog (i.e. hell week of examinations - happening as of NOW).
One of most memorable moments during my solo trip to Scandinavia was during the Norway in a Nutshell Tour I took from Oslo to Bergen. The thing about the scenery in Norway is, its pretty hard to get to the beautiful landscapes without a car, or MULTIPLE stops in different cities. Since I had only a short amount of time in Norway, I decided to go with this tour offered by Fjord Tours AS.
It isn't as much of a tour as a booking service where by they pre-book your tickets and route for you from one place to another (in my case Oslo to Bergen), but there is no tour guide or the likes of that.
It wasn't the cheapest, but since I was traveling alone, and was unfamiliar with the country, I decided that a pre-planned route was the best option.
The route was split into 4 different segments, and that in my opinion, gave me the best mix of experiences that I otherwise wouldn't have had should I have attempted to sort out my travel route myself.
Beware: This is going to be a post FILLED with photos. I narrowed it down from 500. I deserve a pat on the back. I was literally snapping non-stop the whole time, because
1) IT WAS TOO BEAUTIFUL, and
2) I couldn't seem to capture whatever I saw as best as I wanted. The scenery in Norway is something one should see for themselves.
THE BERGEN RAILWAY
I woke up early in the morning, and made my way to Oslo's main train station by 8.15am to catch the first leg of my tour; a train from Oslo to place called Mydral on The Bergan Railway.
The night before, my hostel mate was telling me about how beautiful the route was for The Bergen Railway as she took it to Bergen 2 days ago. Needless to say, I was a bundle of excitement despite having to haul myself up at 6 in the morning. The Bergan Railway is said to be of Norway's 2 scenic railway rides.
I was lucky that my pre-assigned seat was right by a window - all the photo opportunities! The guy seated next to me had to walk through the cabin to find another free window seat, which he did, but came back later because its occupant came on the train at a later stop.
Anyway, for the first 20 minutes there I wasn't seeing anything special, and was pretty bummed. Then, after leaving the industrial and urban area of Oslo, IT HAPPENED.
The train went by the most beautiful scenery, the sky was an incredible shade of blue, and we saw mountains, lakes, rivers and greenery. My mouth literally dropped when the landscape first came into view. And of course being typical tourists, everyone clamoured to the nearest window attempting to get the best shot (Thank God for my window seat!)
The train ride not only took us through landscapes with luscious green mountains and deep blue waters, after a few minutes, instead of reflections of mountains in the waters, we started to see ice-covered partially frozen rivers and suddenly, it was as if winter came, and we saw snow capped mountains creeping into view.
I was amazed by everything. I literally thought to myself, "Wow, this is beyond incredible!" and I was not even half way into my journey. There are no adjectives to describe the effect the changing landscapes had.
"Beautiful" does not suffice.
As the train passed by the snow covered mountains and various ski lodges, we were greeted by friendly smiles and an occasional hand wave from the skiers below.
It baffles me how the scene can change from clear skies, green trees and blue waters to snow covered hills. I felt like I was watching a movie, where titled - Norway: Sights from Spring to Winter.
THE FLAM RAILWAY
After getting off The Bergen Railway, I just had to cross a platform and hoped onto another train - The Flam Railway, 2nd of Norway's Scenic Train Ride Routes.Unlike The Bergen Railway, The Flam Railway was a little more old school. It looked like a vintage 1940s style train, that you'd see in the movies. The interior layout was too unlike the conventional trains that we're used to seating today.
The best part of it all? The windows could be opened! This mean that I could stick my hand out and touch the icicles that were formed on the side of the mountains we passed by, and also, it meant that I could stick my camera out for better photos.
After we passed by snow capped mountains and winter wonderland with The Bergen Railway, it was back to valleys, waterfalls, and green trees. It is indeed a spectacular route.
The only slightly disappointing thing was that the train ride on The Flam Railway was a lot shorter than that on The Bergen Railway, and we kept going through tunnels which meant it was rather difficult to get proper photographs without having it being cut off.
Nevertheless, the view offsets any negatives.
Even though the first 2 parts of the tour were trains, the views were surprisingly different. I thought going on both the Bergen Railway and Flam Railway would essentially mean the same thing, but I was wrong. I loved that the design of the trains are different, the routes are different and the sights are completely unique to each railway route.
That is the beauty of Norway I guess. There is something special and something to marvel at in every corner.
The sad thing about train rides is although the views are STUNNING, you don't get to stop and savour the moment/capture a perfect shot. But the landscape changes within such a small time frame is something I thoroughly enjoyed. It is like your eyes are being bombarded with all this perfection your brain struggles to capture mental images of everything!
Not to mention, this was only half the route! Stay tuned for the 2nd part of the trip where I go on the most amazing Fjord Cruise - the view was just. INCREDIBLE. I was so tempted to take another cruise through a different Fjord, but my budget didn't hold up unfortunately - woes of a university student.
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