tour
If you have yet to read part 1 of my journey, head over before you read this :)
Continuing from before, when we got off the train at Flam, there was about an hour to spare before the boat was scheduled to depart. I spent that hour getting lunch (which proved to be difficult when you're travelling with ALL your belongings for 10 days - see This Post) and running around taking pictures of the surrounding.
THE CRUISE RIDE
After a not so satisfying lunch, I was more than excited to go on this cruise ride. It was the most anticipated part of the journey for me! Plus, it just happened to be a gorgeous sunny day, what a better day to go on a cruise! I stood near the harbour and spent half the time looking up as the area was surrounded by the tallest mountains, and the bluest waters.
Since it was not a typical touristy harbour, it meant that it was not as crowded too; apart from everyone that was on the tour.
Since it was not a typical touristy harbour, it meant that it was not as crowded too; apart from everyone that was on the tour.
15 minutes before the departure of the cruise, I went to the entrance and started queuing. This turned out to be a good move as up on the deck of the cruise, there were chairs laid out and getting up before others meant that I could choose where I wanted to sit to so called get the best view.
Eventually the deck was filled with people no one was sitting down anymore, everyone was standing and snapping away with their cameras. Being right by the rails meant that I could get the best view and I did not need to avoid the heads of people way taller than me.
As the boat pulled away from the port, I got to see a more macro view of the mountains and houses at the foot of it. To imagine I was there a tiny speck of dust amongst the colourful houses, compared to the huge mountains around.
The cruise ride was the most emotional I felt during the journey.
My thoughts hopped from "Omg I can't believe I'm actually seeing this right now", awe and wonderment, to "I wish I had someone here with me to share this with", mildly lonesome.
The cruise took us through one of Norway's most famous fjords, the Nærøyfjord, stopping at islands along the way. The islands had more or less the same feel to them - houses with colourful roofs clustered at the foot of the mountain or in the valley. We were also accompanied by seagulls during our ride, they circles around the cruise ship and flew beside us struggling against the wind.
I spent half the journey on the deck watching the seagulls fly and staring out into the vast waters and massive mountains, letting the sun rays (and extremely strong winds) hit my face.
Eventually, it got too cold, and I felt as though my fingers were about to freeze and fall off. I decided to head into the cabin, and grab myself some food. The cabin had tables and chairs where you get a decent view without having the wind in your face. So I stayed inside for a little bit since I managed to get a seat by the window, had a hotdog bun and some hot chocolate. Before heading on the deck again to admire the view before we docked at our arrival port.
THE BUS RIDE
It was as if cruising through fjords was not sufficiently marvellous, the last part of the tour was a bus ride. The part I refer to as my road trip with 40 other passengers.
As you could have guessed, after blue waters and green mountains? You get another stretch of snow covered land!
As you could have guessed, after blue waters and green mountains? You get another stretch of snow covered land!
On this bus ride, I sat right at the front behind the driver, because I figured he'd have the best view. But the view although magnificent wasn't the highlight of the bus ride.
During the ride, I sat beside this lady who had difficulty with walking. Her husband carried her up the bus, and since the nearest seat was beside me, she sat there, and he had to seat somewhere behind because he felt bad that we, the people around, wanted to give up our seats. I started talking to her, and was so shocked that she took the entire Norway in the Nutshell tour. I found it incredibly tiring to move from one transport to the other, much less her.
But she was so cheerful and appreciative, she kept talking about how beautiful Norway was, and the way she talks about her husband and the way he cared for her, was one of the truest forms of love i've witnessed in real life.
I have a personal issue with disbelieve when it comes to love and marriage, but what I saw proved to me that genuine pure love can exist between humans. Even though we're far from perfect.
There was a last part which was a train ride on The Bergan Railway again, but by that point, I was more than 10 hours into the day and seated by a dirty window. My camera had over 500 images, the battery was almost dead, I had maxed out more than one SD Card, and I desperately needed to pee. Everyone slept on that train ride, but instead of doing the same, I just stared out and soak in as much of the view as I could, and thought to myself how incredible the entire day has been.
Lugging a suitcase around 4 different forms of transport to get from Oslo to Bergen (when it could have been a straight train ride on The Bergan Railway) turned out to be way more tiring than I had expected, but for that experience, it was worth it.
Never could I have imagined seeing so much beauty of the world in one day. I was reminded of how wonderful God is, I had such a nice time marvelling at the wonders of nature, and just taking a step back to ponder about my life whilst seeing enjoying one of the best views i've ever had my entire life. It was beyond, and I'm so glad I did it.
Summary: Norway in a Nutshell TourIf you read both part 1 and part 2 till the end, thank you so so so much.
+ Recommended if you don't have a car and have insufficient time to spend in Norway, yet you want to get see and experience the most of its natural beauty
+ Tickets come in a nice neat book, there were guides at each stop, and transition from one mode of transport to another was effortless
+ One of the best days of my life
- You could probably get deals if you booked each ticket on your own, so if you have the time and are up for it, you could definitely adopt the itinerary and book your own tickets for each leg of the tour
This journey meant a lot to me, and I just wanted to be able to share it. If you didn't read the text, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and that Norway is now on your list of countries to visit!
I would go back to Norway in a heartbeat. In fact, anywhere in Scandinavia. If I could visit it the region again, I would without a doubt.
Norway in A Nutshell = Perfect Views (Part 2)
1 June 2015 Nærøyfjord, Aurland, Norway
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.
Norway in a Nutshell - Perfect Views (Part 1)
30 May 2015 Norway
Blossom of snow may you bloom and growIt is so hard to choose my favourite song from the Sound of Music Musical. I remember the first time watching it at twelve (or thirteen), and was obsessed with all the songs on it. Not to mention, Do-re-mi was sung to me multiple times when I was a baby. Also, Favourite Things is such an addictive song, (Told you I couldn't choose!) Naturally, I would put Salzburg on my list of cities in Europe to visit. Going to Salzburg in the winter means dealing with constant snow, and freezing temperatures. Regardless, it was a memorable 1.5 days spent in that lovely city.
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
On our first day in Salzburg, after settling in to our hostel, Jerald and I went to a few of the places that were recommended to us by the people in the hostel (apparently there was a route we could walk which had a few of the attractions related to the musical).
We hit up Mirabelplatz, headed past the famous bridge and towards the old town. The river was gorgeous especially with the fog above it. The snow meant that it was hard to take pictures, and everything was slightly foggy, but it made the river and the landscape appear so mystical!
That night, we went to the common room in the hostel and watched the sound of music musical. I was so happy they were playing it (they screening it every night!) I almost forgot how much I loved Julie Andrews before this trip!
On the second day, we decided to take the Sound of Music bus tour. It was actually just a usual hop on hop off tour, but we had the choice of tuning into a Sound of Music Channel.
The great thing about the hop-on-hop-off tour was that we could go to places further, that would have probably taken us forever to walk there in the snow.
We got to visit the compound where they filmed at for the garden of the VonTrapp Family house and the pond they fell in and all got drench.
As it was snowing pretty heavily, there weren't many people that got off the bus at each stop, that mean that we had the area to ourselves to explore.
Of all the places we visited my favourite was Petersfriedhof, the cemetery that inspired the cemetery scene in the Sound of Music. In my opinion, the cemetery looked a lot better in the snow that in would in the summer (base on pictures i've seen). Not to mention, there was a bakery nearby that had the most amazing home made bread for just 1 euro! It was such a treat.
I don't want to sound like a whiner, but my least favourite attraction was the Pavilion. It looked exactly like that in the film, but a MINI version. As I was walking and searching for the pavilion, I had this theory that i'd be able to dance in it like what they did in the musical when they sang "16 going on 17" - and that was my instagram photo idea - but alas, it was a small pavilion that was closed. You can imagine my disappointment after singing the song multiple times as I was walking there.
Jerald and I came to the conclusion that they couldn't have filmed it in this Pavilion, and it was a set.
If I were to be incredibly honest, at times, I did get annoyed by the weather. The snow was so heavy I felt a little under the weather (literally!) and my fingers and toes were freezing from the cold despite my boots and gloves. Especeially when we had to wait for the bus because they weren't always on time (sometimes early other times late). It was so unlike the musical! That is not to say I didnt enjoy myself, because I did! I loved seeing how the places is like covered in snow. I was imagining what it would be like if they filmed the musical in the snow. It would have been so enchanting.
 |
| The Hills~ Are Aliveeee, with the Sound of Musicccc~ |
Even though Salzburg was popularised by the Sound of Music Musical, I must say the city itself is incredibly beautiful in the winter. White horses trotting by (and we all know how much i LOVE that), beautiful landscapes with the mountains, warm lights along the narrow streets of the old town, and mouth-watering food markets in the morning.
I would love to visit a city like Salzburg in the summer - it would be exactly like the musical. Still, an experience in the snow like this is not one that I would have ever experienced if I did not go on this trip, for that I have absolutely no regrets :)
Plus, since there weren't many people at the various points of attractions, I could belt out the sound of music songs and imagine I was in the winter version of the musical!
Have you watched The Sound of Music? Which winter-version-scene did you manage to recognise?
Experiencing Sound of Music in the Snow - Salzburg, Austria
27 February 2015 Salzburg, Austria
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