Bergen to Oslo via Flam

Another ungodly hour out of hotel today for a 2 hour bus ride to catch a boat to Flam, Norway. This tour was part of a bigger plan to get us to Oslo on a scenic voyage and train rides. The pics are mostly from the ship, but some are from a train that took us from elevation of 2 meters to 866 meters.

The boat started in one fjord and ended up in another, 1.5 hours away. The scenery was magnificent with very remote homes that in most cases appeared to be accessed only from the water. Some were farms with some hay fields and sheep. Power lines were strung over mountains and under water to reach many of these remote places. Some of the mountains were high enough to have glaciers at the top, with water falls running from the tops of mountains to the fjord below. We observed several landslides, that have created problems in the past. The boat ended up in a village named Flam. Though now roads lead to this area, winding through the mountains through tunnels, before roads, a railroad was built to reach the Bergen railway at the 866 meter point. 

18 of 20 tunnels were built by hand over several years. The manual method could accomplish I meter in 3 days. The major waterfall shown in the last pic was taken from a platform along the train tracks halfway up the mountain. Took the train 1 hour to climb the distance. Many tourists in Flam from all countries coming in by boat, bus and the train. 

We boarded the Bergen to Oslo train at Myrdal. Took us 5 hours to get to Oslo. The view continued to be magnificent to include a huge glacier as we moved along the top of mountains through many more tunnels. 

As an aside, Norway is considering building a tunnel to provide a shortcut for boats to sail to other side of a mountain. 

We took walking tour of center city Oslo as we are in a hotel in the center right across from the train station. One of the key discussions on the tour was the crime committed few years ago, when the man bombed city hall and then murdered 69 young people at a camp on an island. I remember that well, but didn't remember hearing that a life sentence in Norway is only 21 years, which can be reduced for good behavior. It can also be extended in 5 year increments, which is what general opinion believes will happen. He did get sentenced to 21 years. 

We were told that Oslo has the highest immigration rate in Norway, with 25% of the population having immigrated to Oslo.  Norway's total population is 5 million. 

We take a tour of Oslo and some museums tomorrow, our last day on our trip. 

Also note to the "weatherman", weather including today's boat ride has been better than we expected. We have not only had warmer weather, but basically no rain when ever we were outside.