Sara and Robyn say “hallo”

July 2: Fram to Bergen

Nicky, the kanelbolle doesn’t quite stack up against the croissant with jam!

Well we did three modes of transport today – ferry, bus and then train (Thomas would have loved it.)

Started with a fjord cruise on the UNESCO Naeroyfjord between Flam and Gudvangen. The cruise ship itself is electric powered and it glides along seamlessly. The fjord is 20km long, 250 metres across at its narrowest point and a mere 12 metres at its shallowest. The surrounding mountains reach heights of 1660 metres.

Steep mountainsides, hanging valleys,towering peaks, waterfalls and small hamlets. Magnificent.

There are small white woolly dots balancing along the mountain sides. These are goats, and they are an important part of farmers’ livelihoods. How they manage to navigate the steep sides is amazing.

The fjord was entered into the UNESCO world heritage list because some of the villages have traces of settlement dating back to the Iron Age in 300. The houses and cultural landscape are unusually well preserved, because some of the farms was run in the traditional way up until the 1970s.

The cruise ends at Gudvangen, which is an old Viking village. Today extreme sports athletes come from all over the world each year to take part in the Extreme sports festival ( one for you, James?). The area around Gudvangen is also known for being extraordinary for base jumping.

The bus ride took us from Gudvangen to Voss, through a typical fjord valley, and more waterfalls, foaming rivers and steep mountains. As it’s Sunday, most of the shops in Voss were closed. We grabbed a coffee at the local service station.

Then the train to Bergen, where we are staying at a lovely hotel which used to be the stock exchange, called the Bergen Bors. Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, even though it only has a population of around 280,000. It is known as the city of seven mountains, and is Norway’s busiest port with more than 300 cruise ships visiting annually. It is a very pretty city with lots of colour.

Fish is clearly a specialty, so we went to a fish restaurant on the waterfront which provided every diner with a sheepskin seat. Dinner tonight was a variety of smoked fish ( surprisingly it included whale!) and fish and chips.

It’s now 10.50 pm and it’s still light. Feels like about 7 pm.

More adventures tomorrow!