Our own trail of tears.....

Well, Monday was our day to go to Bergen, Norway, the long way.  Actually, our itinerary was devised by two masochists that had been locked away in the castle dungeon for the past 25 years.  (Sorry Shirley)

We were up by 6:00, out and to the train by 7:45. Our travel agent had told us how we could check our bags with the tour company for $30.00 a bag but upon inquiring, we found that was no longer offered, (a lie as we talked to folks who had been able to check their bags).  We boarded the train for Myrdal at 8:30 and the scenery kept improving with every passing mile.

Kathy pulls her luggage to the train station

Our insane itinerary

Train to Bergen

Scenery through the train window

Reflection

Farms and little villages

And barns

So neatly painted and well kept

One of the stations we stopped at.  All of them were this color

Kathy in search of the water closet

Going up above the valley

Up above the tree line

Rocks and glaciers

Snow clearing train car

We got to Myrdal and after a short wait, we dragged and hefted our luggage onto the train to Flam.  This is a line which is an engineering marvel.  It was built by hand and animal around 1900  - 1940 where they tunneled (20) through mountains. It descends from 876 meters down to 3 in 20 kilometers.  Rather then go on, I will let the pictures tell the story.

Getting on the train to Flam

About 5 minutes into the ride down, we stopped for 5 minutes at this waterfall and got a surprise

A mystical sprite sang enchanting melodies

Some waterfalls on the way down

The yellow bar is a reflection of the light in the train window

Villages in the valley

So many waterfalls as we descended to Flam

We made it.  A good lunch stop

Panorama of Flam

Arriving in Flam, we dragged our luggage off the train and had a quick lunch.  Onward we journeyed carting our luggage onto the SS Fartstar for a trip through Naeroyfjord (narrow fjord).  It was raining off and on so we sat mostly inside talking with a family from Denver, Peter, Cathy and their daughter Kelly - who had been able to check their luggage!  Whenever the sun broke through, we raced outside. Again break for pictures which are worth more then a thousand words.

On the top of the ship

Sonjafjord

Beautiful Norwegian flag

Village on the Fjord

Shear walls meet the sea

Waterfalls were ribbons of white

Can't escape the selfie stick

Happy Travelers

Docking at Gudvangen was a trial of our patience.  Turns out Captain Olaf had just received his learners permit as it took him 23 minutes to bring the ship into dock.  This may not seem problematic until it is added that we eventually had a train to catch with not much wiggle room and it seemed as if Olaf wanted us to go down with the ship which in observing his docking prowess is certainly a possibility.

Grabbing our luggage, we hustled over to the waiting buses.  Boarding, our faithful driver Lars (who turns out is a half brother/stepdad to Captain Olaf, took off down the road.  He knew that time was critical so stop signs became optional and speed limits were just mere suggestions.  Our faith and hope that we would make the train began to flag as Lars stopped to pick up two friends that needed a ride into town.  Further erosion in Lars' ability happened when he missed his turn and had to make a u turn in a septic tank business parking lot.

We arrived at Voss and made it to near to the train station but due to construction, we had to manhandle our luggage over a quarter mile of gravel and pot holes.   We got to the train with 3 whole minutes to spare, stowed the luggage and settled in for a 2 hour ride to Bergen.  Disappointment reigned supreme as we found no club car to buy any food.  We had 1 granola bar and a inch of water for sustenance. To top it off, the conductor, an officious looking older woman in a uniform (reminded me of Selma, the bailiff from Night Court), pretty much walked up and down the aisle stepping over run away luggage and ignoring everyone.  She obviously was tired of having starving tourists on her train.  Luckily we again ran into the family from Colorado and laughed and chatted the time away.

Arriving in Bergen at 9:10, we found all the taxis gone and we started consulting GPS as to the distance to our hotel.  Kathy (and I) were done, fried, baked and toast and walking was not an option.  I spotted a cab going by and flagged him down, actually I threw myself in front of the taxi and it was either give us a ride or call in the medics (he chose the ride option).  Arriving at the hotel at 9:45, we found the restaurant closed but there was still one available till 10:00.  Cheeseburgers were our only option and yes, we ate those cheeseburgers and yes, we were grateful, mighty grateful.

We hauled our luggage up to the room and collapsed not being able to figure out which set of muscles were screaming the loudest.  Ah sleep, blessed sleep.