Day 19 - Wednesday 10th May 2023

Today we'd be travelling from Leikanger to Bergen. It was a cloudy morning and the ground was still wet. It had probably been raining again overnight.

The schedule this morning was bags out by 7am, breakfast from 7am and departure at 8am. The choice for breakfast was adequate but limited - especially compared with Geiranger.

On the bus, I wasn't sitting in the front seat today and so it was hard to get good photos. Many of the photos I took out of the side windows were spoiled by reflections in the window. It wasn't raining but there was light drizzle at times.

We were on a tight schedule today - we were booked on the ferry at 9am and had to get to Flam for the train journey starting at 12 noon. This was important - particularly for Suzy - because the Flam Railway was one of the main reasons why she wanted to come to Scandinavia.

So it was frustrating when we were held up by roadworks at several places along the road. We were worried about making the ferry. Nevertheless we reached the ferry wharf with a couple of minutes to spare. The ferry was at the wharf with its ramp down as if it was ready to take vehicles onboard.

However, nothing was moving and time was passing by. We heard rumours that a truck had broken down. In fact, a big truck had got jammed on the ramp when it was disembarking and wasn't going anywhere. Nobody could board and the ferry was stuck there.

At about 9:15, we were waved away and a small vehicle with flashing lights led a procession of vehicles back into the tunnel and along the road we'd just travelled on. The plan was to take us to another wharf.

When we reached that wharf at about 9:35, there was a small ferry waiting there. The problem was that it was far too small. Then we saw another ferry come around the corner in the fjord and sail to our wharf as the small ferry backed out of the way. All of this was taking more valuable time.

The new ferry was big. Probably at least two or three times bigger than other ferries we'd seen on the fjords. There was no problem fitting all the buses and other vehicles. We boarded at about 10am and set off soon after that.

While this was happening, Gennady and Laslo were trying to work out how to get from the other side of the fjord to the road we originally needed to go on. It turned out that they didn't need to worry about this part because the new big ferry would take us to the wharf where the original ferry would have taken us.

Time was still a worry. How long would it be before we got to that wharf. Apparently even the ship's captain didn't know because they'd never travelled this route before. Thankfully this ferry sailed faster than other ferries. As it turned out, the ferry company had done a good job of sorting out the problem.

It was cold, raining and misty. There was very little possibility of taking photos. We sat on the bus for most of the time. Suzy bought muffins at the ferry's cafeteria in case we needed them for lunch.

We disembarked at 10:35 and headed off towards Flam again through a long tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel, the grass was green and there was no snow. We saw a few cattle and sheep.

Good grief. Just as thought nothing else could go wrong, we came to a weigh station for heavy vehicles. We had to pull off the road and join a queue of other buses and trucks. Our weight must have been OK and we got back on the road.

Soon after, we entered the Laerdal tunnel which is the longest road tunnel in the world: 24.5km long. Apparently it took five years to build. It took about 20 minutes for us to reach the other end.

Although it was quite a feat to build this tunnel, it doesn't meet the standards we expect in Australia. For a start, it's a single tunnel with two-way traffic - not twin tunnels. It's not lined and has poor lighting. I couldn't see any signs of ventilation or fire sprinklers. 

There are SOS phones but I couldn't see any emergency exits. I doubt if there'd be a control room. On the other hand, mobile phones seem to work OK.

After leaving that tunnel, there were more tunnels. In between tunnels, the road followed the edge of the fjord which didn't look as beautiful as previously because of the dull grey skies and misty rain.

Despite all the delays, we reached Flam at about 11:25. A big cruise ship was docked there and so the town was very crowded. Originally the plan had been to allow time for shopping. That part of the morning had to be abandoned.

There were crowds of people queuing up for the train. It was cold (4C) and wet. In fact, it was quite chaotic and unpleasant standing there in the crowd in the rain. Suzy and I had our spray jackets on. Most of our group had borrowed umbrellas from the bus. This was supposed to be a highlight of the trip but it didn't feel like it.

Gennady managed to organise reserve seats for us and it was a relief to get onboard. Despite all the hassles and rearrangements, Gennady always managed to stay positive and enthusiastic. Most other people would have been hopelessly stressed out.

When the train got underway, we had views on both sides of the train - alternating from one side to the other. I found it difficult to take photos because it was hard to balance as the train rocked from side to side. The reflections in the windows didn't help.

A young couple had boarded the same carriage as us with a large dog. He was very cute and friendly.

Part way through the journey, the train had to stop at a siding to allow a train going the opposite direction to pass us.

Then further on it stopped at an observation deck where we all got out to take photos for about 5 minutes. Fortunately it wasn't raining.

I surprised to see a woman dressed in flowing red clothes appear on the side of the mountain. She danced as we took photos before disappearing behind what looked like an abandoned stone building.

Our train was supposed to arrive in time for us to change to a different train at about 1pm to take us on the next part of our journey. Although it was about 1:20 when we reached the station, the other train had waited for us. To get this train, we only had to walk to the other side of the platform.

This was a more modern train. We disembarked when the train reached Voss at about 2:25pm and walked to where the bus was waiting for us. The Flam Railway had been good today but not sensational.

After the bus departed, we passed through more tunnels and past fjords. There was some snow on the mountain tops but not at ground level. We saw hilly green pastures with green trees. Because of the grey clouds, the fjords were grey instead of the glorious blue colour we'd seen previously.

Insight Vacations has a policy of supporting small businesses which is one of the reasons we stopped at about 3:10pm at a farm in Steinsto. There we were treated to an afternoon tea break with apple pie, apple juice and coffed.

Heidi, a relative in the family that has owned the farm for generations, gave us a talk about the family business and how they make their apple products. It was delicious.

After leaving the farm, we passed salmon farming on the left in the fjord and apple orchards in the hills on the right.

At times, the road was too narrow for two-way traffic and so cars we encountered coming the other way had to back up to let us pass.

Gennady pointed out a powerful waterfall.

We were back into winter conditions at about 4:40pm with snow on the ground as we slowly climbed over and through the mountains on our approach to Bergen. The trees were deciduous rather than conifers. The bus took us through lots more tunnels.

At about 5:50pm, we reached the Thon Hotel Rosencrantz at Bergen.

Once again our room had two single beds pushed together each with a separate quilt. There was a work desk, a safe that worked, fridge, wine glasses. The Wi-Fi speed was 80Mb/s down and 15Mb/s up.

There was no air conditioning, no carpet. There was not enough room to put our bags. It was a very small room. The bathroom was small and had a shower in the bath.

Chris and Janet had a bigger room than us.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant at 7pm. Everyone had a salad followed by cod for main course and then dessert. Insight Vacations paid for a free glass of wine or beer - probably because of the disruptions we'd experience today.