Flåm, Norway

You can see the rainbow showing faintly against the hillside.
This was taken from our veranda.

Flåm was our next destination. It is at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjorden and at the mouth of the Flåm River. It's 350 residents welcome 450,00 visitors a year on around 160 Cruise Ships. In the morning we hiked up to a beautiful waterfall and view. Then in the afternoon, we, like most people, rode the 20 kilometre Flåm Line up to Myrdal. It is one of the steepest railway tracks in the world at 1 in  18 (not counting rack railways). On the way it stops at the enormous powerful Rjoandelfossen waterfall where a mischievous female ghost in red sings her siren song.

Waterfalls tumbled down in every direction

I loved the idea of Reindeer Meatballs but we
had just eaten a huge breakfast on board.

In the morning we hiked the road over to a trail leading up
(steeply) to this waterfall, seen in the distance.

Walt & Honoree celebrating the end of our hike.

Smaller streams cascaded down along the
trail

Here's the view of the valley looking down to the town and the cruise ship.

This photo was taken through the window as we started on
our railroad journey up to Myrdal. Although the line was
approved in 1915, it didn't open until 1940. It's now pretty
exclusively a tourist attraction.  

We finally got a window open and were able to photograph
the train itself.

The snow fields were disappearing at this time of year. It is
open all year long and goes through 20 tunnels, protecting
it from the snow.

This shot shows the road along the left edge of the river -
one hairpin turn after another. 

The waterfall was so powerful at this point that the air was
filled with mist and it was quite cool from the altitude. 

But the resident "ghost" appeared and disappeared in the
ruins along the waterfall, singing her siren song.

Scott got the best photos - difficult due to the heavy mist.

On the way down we saw the scenery in the other direction - all beautiful.

It's just one waterfall after another.

Back to our cruise ship at the end of a lovely day. Here you
can get an idea how big it is. It dwarfs the town.

Generally our ship docked early in the morning and then
departed between 5 and 6 PM. 

We generally enjoyed the scenery departing our day's
stop at our table in the dining room - right by the
window. We ate most evenings at our assigned table
in the main dining room - the early service starting at
5:30 pm. The alternative was 8 pm - too late for us.