Sunday, May 4th
Ok, I'm still doing the titles just to keep up with my trend.
Today was amazing. It was full of train rides through beautiful country. First was the ride from Flåm to Mydral which was fantastic and a masterpiece of engineering. It is one of the steepest railways in the world or something and really provides some fantastic views as you wind through the along the cliffs overlooking the canyon.
By the end of the trip we were in Myrdal, over 800 meters above sea level and about another 2 meters of snow still on the ground.
We were stuck waiting for our train for an hour so we went to see what the town was all about. It was all about six houses, a bed and breakfast. Really, this was a railway town. Its sole purpose was to connect Flåm with the world.
At half past twelve we caught our train to Geilo. The trip was fantastic. We passed through tunnels then snowy fields that literally blinded you because of the reflection of the bright sun. Absolutely incredible. Then we came to Geilo. There's not much to say about this place. It's a ski resort and on a Sunday in May absolutely abandoned. We asked the lady at the train station if she could change our tickets and after saying she could do it no problem, saw that we had saved about thirty bucks by purchasing the non-refundable, non-transferable tickets and told us she was unable to help us. However, if the conductor on the train at 6:15 was kind enough and there was room available we might be able to take that train to Oslo. We went in search of a table to eat our lunch on and found one outside of Spar. Luis and I bought the cheapest chocolate bars in Norway, which can only be found in Spar and still run you about 2 bucks. After lunch we decided to walk to the beach and on the way found our accommodation for the evening, should the conductor refuse us a ride.
At half past twelve we caught our train to Geilo. The trip was fantastic. We passed through tunnels then snowy fields that literally blinded you because of the reflection of the bright sun. Absolutely incredible. Then we came to Geilo. There's not much to say about this place. It's a ski resort and on a Sunday in May absolutely abandoned. We asked the lady at the train station if she could change our tickets and after saying she could do it no problem, saw that we had saved about thirty bucks by purchasing the non-refundable, non-transferable tickets and told us she was unable to help us. However, if the conductor on the train at 6:15 was kind enough and there was room available we might be able to take that train to Oslo. We went in search of a table to eat our lunch on and found one outside of Spar. Luis and I bought the cheapest chocolate bars in Norway, which can only be found in Spar and still run you about 2 bucks. After lunch we decided to walk to the beach and on the way found our accommodation for the evening, should the conductor refuse us a ride.
The Beach
Our Possible Accommodations
A Bathhouse at the Beach
Luckily, he didn't, and although the train was full he allowed us to have a ride. It wasn't a bad deal as we ended up with a private car and our own bathroom. We did have to get up and down when people wanted to get off but we weren't complaining. We also had the wonderful opportunity to meet a Finnish-Canadian who was more than happy to talk with some English speaking people. He does work on recycling and making useful things out of our waste like biofeuls and fertilizer. It was interesting to hear his take on the situation of the world and nature and Canada, Finland, Norway, the US, and Cuba. You know what Cuba's number 1 export before Fidel Castro was...sugar cane, and now...doctors. It is quite impressive, something not usually advertised by the American government, but of course I'm sure we still have our reasons for not liking them.
Once in Oslo, we had nowhere to sleep and didn't feel like shelling out another fifty bucks for a room so we walked to the streets a bit. After that I convinced everyone to return to the train station to crash for a few hours before we might be forced back out onto the streets. At 1:30 a security guard informed us we would have to leave but he would show us the best place to stay. The best place was a bench outside the train station. There was relief in that he would have a camera watching us all night but that doesn't help with the cold. At 4:30 he would come and let us back in and at 6 o'clock he would warn us that someone should stay up since once the station got crowded theft was likely.
Once in Oslo, we had nowhere to sleep and didn't feel like shelling out another fifty bucks for a room so we walked to the streets a bit. After that I convinced everyone to return to the train station to crash for a few hours before we might be forced back out onto the streets. At 1:30 a security guard informed us we would have to leave but he would show us the best place to stay. The best place was a bench outside the train station. There was relief in that he would have a camera watching us all night but that doesn't help with the cold. At 4:30 he would come and let us back in and at 6 o'clock he would warn us that someone should stay up since once the station got crowded theft was likely.
Our Actual Accommodations
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