July 17, 2001 - Tuesday - Bergen to Flåm, Norway
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| Sights from the ferry ride from Bergen to Flåm. |
I got up early this morning and caught the ferry from Bergen to Flåm. The ride took about 5 hours through some amazing fjords. There were solitary houses on small islands, isolated from the rest of the world except for a small rowboat linking it to the mainland. The ferry passed through an area known as the Sognefjords. The July air was often brisk and chilly out here in the weak summer sun but it was a good wakeup call from the lulling warm summer afternoons on Thailand’s sun-baked beaches.
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| Sights from the ferry ride from Bergen to Flåm. |
I'm currently in a tiny town called Flåm, part of Norway's Western Fiords. The weather here is unpredictable at best. It was bright and sunny just a few hours ago but there's a steady drizzle now, with blue skies in the distance. It's such a quaint little town that I decided to stay for two nights here to both catch up on my sleep and my journals.
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| Cruise ship docked at the town of Flåm. |
The town is surrounded by fiords, with deep clear streams running into the sound and seagulls shrilling in the mountainside. There are some snow-covered peaks and high, thin waterfalls and a forest of evergreens accentuated by the many groves and pots of annuals blooming their colorful flowers. There are also many tourists milling around at the train/ferry station.
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| Sights from walking around Flåm. |
The air is clean, crisp, and cool here. It's a big change from Thailand and it's doing wonders for my appetite and sleep. The youth hostel I'm staying in is squeaky clean with a home feel to it.
I went for a walk that evening (it stays light out until well after 10:00) and walked through some lovely countryside with old farm buildings, fiords, and waterfalls. There was even one location with a single standing stone and some stone benches surrounding it, which was supposed to be something left over from the Iron Age. I went back after the hike. I chatted with Nick, a Kiwi and Michael, an Irish guy for a while before heading to bed.
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