Around Scandinavia: Part Twelve

Norway in a Nutshell

30.05.2025: Tour Day4, Country2, City3,4

Good morning from Geilo! Here is the room tour of my studio apartment, starting from the balcony. 

There was a hall with sofa, study table, bedroom, kitchenette, dining table with coffee maker. But we hardly got enjoy this property.

It was actually a painful morning due to day1 stomach cramps. I was late for the 07:30am breakfast, I requested them to make pastries again.

Luggage was loaded in the bus and we left the hotel at 08:30am to reach Flam station. We had member introductions on the journey, a lot of bankers on tour. Many even forgot the count of countries visited! In short, we had experienced travelers. 

We reached the Flam station at 10:30am. Few queued up for the restroom, few went shopping in the Souvenirs Shop. There were a Flam Museum and Flam Bakery as well. We relished an ice-cream at 11am and then queued up for the ferry ride at the terminal.

Future of Fjords  

It is a groundbreaking all-electric sightseeing vessel operating in Norway’s fjords, between Flåm and Gudvangen. There are open decks and terrace, panoramic windows to view the scenic journey sitting on comfortable couches. It was a two-hour journey from 11:30am to 01:30pm. The route is: Flåm, Aurland, Undredal, Dyrdal, Styvi & Gudvangen. The vessel began its journey sailing through the idyllic Aurlandsfjord. It is a 17km arm of the world’s second longest fjord, the Sognefjord. Furthermore, the boat continues through the narrow Nærøyfjord before arriving Gudvangen. The Nærøyfjord is surrounded by steep valley sides and snow-covered peaks that rise 1,800 metres above sea level, with thundering waterfalls and picturesque villages along the fjord. There was a screen displaying the route. I clicked a few photos and rested for the stomach cramps were not bearable. I did not explore beyond the deck 2. Two decks and terrace missed.

We reached Gudvagen quay and had lunch at 2pm in the nearby restaurant Gudvagen Fjordtell. Here again, it was a served meal. So, we had an idea of what to expect. It started with serving of bread and butter, followed by vegetable soup, main course has mashed soya beans (I guess) and noodles, dessert of custard jelly and coffee. 

I had lunch with Anagha Kokane, Swarnalata and Amita Rane. Oregano mixes to my rescue! 

Gudvangen is a picturesque village nestled at the end of the Nærøyfjord in western Norway, surrounded by towering cliffs and cascading waterfalls. 

The most iconic waterfall in Gudvangen is Kjelfossen, we witnessed it from the quay at 3pm. Our bus had dropped us at Flam quay in morning and drove to Gudvagen quay. 

We drove for about two hours to reach the city of Bergen. We enjoyed the song "Norwegian Desh", composed by sung by Anuradha and Jennifer. The sight-seeing was postponed to the next day. Going to the hotel and coming back for dinner would be time consuming. Hence, we had time to shop or wander around till 06:30pm. So, window-shopping for a while through two shops and then wandering along the waterfront for some time. We had dinner at Maharaja Indisk restaurant, Rosenkrantz. I had dinner with Manasi, Amita Yadav and Shilpa Narnaware. 

Post dinner we drove to our hotel Comfort, near the Bergen Airport, at 8pm. My room no was 330. It was a task to pull in luggage at the moving circular entrance. Then queue up at the elevators. I had no energy at all, so I just kept the bag ready at 9pm and dozed off.