Cruising Norway

We were starting day four of our seven night Cruise & Walk to Norway, navigating the fjord approaching Flam just before sunrise. I had been slow to catch on to the idea that it was possible for a five-star hotel to, literally, float hundreds of miles to the next destination while I slumbered, proving to be an incredible logistical advantage.

There we were disembarking literally five minutes walk from gangplank to platform, where a 08:35 mountain train awaited. Plush, 1940’s rolling stock whisked us uphill, through tunnels and unrivalled scenery to Myrdal, 2,843 feet above sea level. From there began our gradual six mile descent, trudging happily through magnificent surroundings of mountains, lush forestry with waterfalls in abundance. A cool day with partly clouded skies and periods of bright sunshine, steep pebble track under foot most of the way, until we reach a stretch of level tarmac along a valley bottom.

‘Obstruction’, the lead rambler shouted back – sudden thoughts of the jam on the motorway to Dover only days before. A herd of milking goats crowded the single-track carriageway, and not interrupting their biological functions, we meandered through.

We happened upon their isolated cheese factory, as our journey continued, taking advantage of the organic loo when we halted for coffee, and on down to Berekvam having descended 1,718 feet – just in time to shelter from a shower in the tiny station building!

A short train journey back to the starting point, with our Ocean Liner dominating the scene.

Margaret, our illustrious Rambler in Chief, had yet again ensured that we hadn’t missed the boat, so I changed from my dickey dirts into my dickey bow, ready for a splendid dinner and the overnight voyage to the next port of call.

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Converted to Cruise & Walk?

You bet!