twangster

Soon we were back down at the river level so that meant town was approaching. It was a very enjoyable ride but the whole seating scramble and too many people left a lot to be desired. Next time I'll book direct with assigned seating and avoid the Royal sardine can experience.

I saw some of this from across the car on the way up but it's so much better on the better side of the train.

The open window provided great fresh air but also a chance at photography without shooting through windows. Spoiler alert - it's a lot nicer in a better seat.

Once at Mydral station we reached the end of our journey up. There is a train from Bergen and Oslo that come here and this station is used as a transfer point between the two trains. We have a 10 minute stop to allow those passengers to load. I asked train crew if we can change seats and with permission I jumped in a better seat with an opening window for the ride down.

As we climb higher there are more tunnels and snow sheds which provide some views but not great photo taking moments. Then we see a massive waterfall. We stop here for a photo stop of 5 minutes. We were in the lead car right behind the front engine so we stopped in the next tunnel. By the time we walked to the viewing platform for the waterfalls all 96,985 passengers from the other cars on the train that were closer had filled the viewing platform to capacity. It took a bit but I stomped on some grandma feet, tossed some children into the river and cleared a path to near the front (just kidding). The train had a video system that warned us of Huldra. She is an elusive forest spirit who will draw men into the woods to seduce them. Given the packed train car I was pretty tempted. Ut oh! She saw me and made eye contact! Back into the train to continue our ascent.

I've had a chance to go through some of my good pics from the train ride so here we go... Leading up to the excursion I realized I may have made a mistake... this is not the train I was expecting. Fortunately I booked the correct train. Boarding the train was a bit of a cluster. Each group had assigned cars and our car already had folks in it who had booked directly. They say the right side is the place to be for the ride up but that was not going to happen the way they squeezed so many of us into the car. So I resigned to live with that and made the best of it. There wasn't anything to see on the left for a while. The views out the right were fantastic but taking photos from the across the aisle wasn't going to happen. Finally some scenery on the left appeared. Then we reached a double track section where the downward train and the upward train meet and pass. We stop waiting for the other train so there a chance to get some decent pics. Continuing on I managed to get a decent photo across the aisle to the right side.

I might as well go take a nap then eventually see if my other camera took any good pics today. Maybe @Hoopster95 isn't napping.

Sail out of Flam in the fjord was so boring. Nothing but rock and water. Meh. Another waterfall. Should I even bother?

Turns out it wasn’t that hard of a choice. Smoky Rye

Around 75 minutes to all aboard time. Why are these life choices so hard?

Ice cream in Norway. 🇳🇴 Yum.

Aegir makes good beer! Even today.

Aegir

Not much to see at Myrdal. After 10 minutes we go back. Pics to come. That was pretty cool but it generated a massive thirst. Aegir Double IPA

Pretty amazing. Taking pics with my good camera so here is one from my phone. We are stopped at a double track section waiting for the train coming down to meet us.

Excursion time!

Here is another Flam 360 Flam 360 from the bow of Jewel

From my mini town hike 20240607_090325.mp4

The quintessential Flam excursion. This will be me later. 20240607_082723.mp4

20240607_092548.mp4

Watch out for monsters

I can't publish 360° images on CC directly so I post them on an external site. 360 from Flam hike with Jewel of the Seas