Norway: (Flåmsbana)

Flåm may be a small town of abt 450 inhabitants, but the train station is teeming with many tourists esp japs.
Fortuanately, most are just transit tourists who arrived here by Flåmsbana and would move to other fjord towns after short while, thus preserving the serenity of the place

Flåmsbana=Flåm Railway (similar to Tunnelbana)



So here we are, going to take the Flåmsbana, supposedly to be the other highlight of norway, beside the fjord cruise.



Some impt facts for those interested:
Flåmsbana is considered to be the masterpiece of railway engineering from the bottom of the Flam Valley up the precipitous mountain sides to the Myrdal Plateau
-20 years' construction
-20 tunnels



It's renowned for its excellent scenery along its very steep climb(1hour)



Hills and mountains casting shadows on one another, providing sharp contrasts in the scenic view



Waterfalls!



..to crystal clear rapids



I sure wanna live in those houses



Distant lands shrouded mysteriously in fog



Each winter, dangerous avalanches thunder down these mountains



Notice some mountain goats or sheep on the green pastures beside the river



A glimpse of Myrdal station at the top of the mountain and the tunnel with a side opening of poles. Myrdal station may be in sight but we were not reaching there yet. This is due to the slight detours around the mountains to avoid areas of risk of avalanches



The train stopped at Kjosofossen for rail travellers to photograph the impressive waterfall



Thunderous roar of the waterfall
Thick mist formed around the bottom of the waterfall and where we stood



It was drizzling that time and it was very cold. But a short performance still carried on, whereby a lady clad in red(above in pic) danced near the waterfall



The bad thing about this ride is that it repeatedly go in and out of the 20 tunnels along its 1 hour journey, leaving you little time to react to photo nice shots. Sometimes there are these poles(above) blocking your every shot. In the pic, the river is supposedly to "resemble a silver ribbon lying on the vally floor"



Beautiful mountain lake near a stop popular with cycling and skiing



Approaching Myrdal train station which is bascially not a town but a small railway platform (photograh on my previous Oslo-Bergen NSB train ride)



Took the 629pm to 1152pm NSB train from Myrdal to Oslo