Europe 2023 September 8th Day 36 - Bus, Boat, Train, Train and Cable Car

Up at a reasonable hour and still feeling head coldy, so couple of Panadol and down for breakfast as busy day and bus to catch at 10.10am for 'Norway in a Nutshell' self guided tour. Massive restaurant in the hotel which was packed with people ( average age 70 plus I'm tipping). Was an excellent spread and left to catch our 10.10 bus to Gudvangen in what can only be described as quite a dense mist, hopefully the day will improve if the last few days have proven. 

This tour is self guided and uses some local transport including the bus, really more a coach. We stopped at the Stalheim Hotel for a 10 minute view of the valley below, with the fog now clearing as hoped for and the scenery was magnificent.

Dropped off a couple of locals at various stops on the way before arriving at Gudvangen on the Fjord. Grabbed a coffee and pastry in the bakery before hopping on board the boat to do the scenic cruise to Flåm. A two hour cruise once again amongst magnificent scenery, the mountains arise dramatically from the water and a couple still had some snow/ permafrost on them. There were a couple of stops to drop off mail and locals before arriving at Flåm.

A small village , mainly touristy now where we had two hours to kill before our 4pm railway trip to Myrdal. Had a small look around the railway museum which was focused on the construction of this small 20km section between 1923-1940 that connected Flåm with the main line at Myrdal at a gradient of 1:18 makinyit one of the steepest in the world. Got in a bit of lunch (reindeer sausage for me) and then popped into the local Flåmsbrygga micro brewery where we shared a flight five beers, the Hefeweizen was excellent. 

It was then onto this scenic railway for 45 minutes, stopping to view a beautiful waterfall with a crazy woman in red dancing around (supposedly a nymph to capture wayward men) before getting into Myrdal for our change over the the same train as yesterday, for the final 50 minute leg back to Voss and the hotel. Weather was brilliant after the foggy start this morning and the views were just magnificent.

After dropping a few things in the room we went out to take the cable car to the top of which in winter must be a hive of activity with nine ski slopes, left's etc. Jane did well as not the best with heights .

Once down the bottom we went for another walk around Voss before settling down in little bar/cafe for a beer, wine and pizza. Then back to the hotel to sit in the lounge, reading and blogging with a glass before settling down for the night. It was very busy as there was a 50 year school reunion for Voss being held here, so plenty of walkers and canes around 😂