Some friend recommended the Norway In A Nutshell trip when I was planning the journey in Nordics. It's not an organized trip. The tourist agent just gets you a set of train/ bus/ cruise tickets, and then you are off on your own to experience Norway fjord.
One of my favorite reviews described the trip as a big amazing race together with many travelers along the same route.
YH was half tricked by me to join the trip, without knowing she was in for a sleep deprived weekend. She flew in from London to Oslo on Friday evening, while I arrived by train from Stockholm.
The itinerary:
08:05 Oslo 12:44 Myrdal - The Bergen Railway
13:27 Myrdal 14:25 Flam - The Flam Railway
15:10 Flam 17:30 Gudvangen - Fjord cruise
17:45 Gudvangen 19:00 Voss - Bus
19:37 Voss. 20:54 Bergen - The Bergen Railway
Then we stay in Bergen for the night, and return to Oslo by the Bergen Railway the following day
Before coming to Norway, my understanding of this country is 1) it is rich in natural resources and thus rich financially, and 2) it produces some of the best deep sea fishes and caviar. Think how Norwegian salmon is always way more expensive than farmed salmon.
Who would have thought the first impression is actually-
Oslo is NOT a safe city
Have been traveling in some of the safest cities in the world for several days, I didn't prep myself at all for pick pocketing. Shortly after arriving at Oslo central station, I found my backpack zipper was half open, I didn't check anything immediately. Looking back, I was an easy target for any thieves: alone, arriving by train late at night, tired and not alerted, dragging a silver Rimowa and a big backpack, concentrated on finding the hotel...
Luckily, my backpack was in such a mess that the thief wasn't able to find my electronics or cash/ cards/ passport. But he/ she took my makeup bag. Probably worth nothing to the thief. I was left without tooth floss, eye drop, lip balm, nail clipper and so many other daily necessities. The worst part? I lost my last makeup bag during last trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, and just went through the process of putting together a new makeup bag.
Norway In A Nutshell, the trip
Don't worry at all about getting lost. It is a very mature and ell designed tourist route. Many people travel in the same trip. There are also signs and instructions at every transfer.
The Bergen Railway-
Tis connects the two biggest cities in Norway, Oslo and Bergen. Some nice views of water, mountain and snow/ glacier along the way. After a while, you would probably get tired of all the views.
At Myrtal station:
The Flam Railway-
My favorite section of the trip. The Flam Railway is designed for tourist. It runs slowly among the mountains, introduces and stops at the attractions.
The first big waterfall int he trip. There are two dancers dancing with music up in the mountain. Kinda cheesy but really uplifted the experience.
At Flam station:
The Fjord Cruise-
It was slow. It was cold. It was crowded. Every broadcast repeated in 10+ languages... However, we saw dolphins!! Huge lucky day!!
Even for dolphin watching cruise, half of the times dolphins simply decide a no-show. In the cold fjord and glacier water, there is hardly any trace of animals. Then suddenly a dolphin jumped out to the right of our cruise. Then 3 or 4 dolphins appeared and all did some jumping action before quickly disappearing again. We were all yelling with excitement.
Many people would suggest to take the left side of the cruise, because there are more attractions to the left. I was so glad YH and I accidentally got to the right.
I was quite amazed seeing so many small villages aside the fjord. How can those residents get through the winter?
The bus ride-
I didn't expect anything for the bus ride as it was merely a transportation to get back to the Bergen Railway. Our driver was so funny that he totally made this ride hugely enjoyable. He talked about the small towns and their history, stopped at vista points, and drove downhill along a road with many hairpin turns!
An artsy country
I met a backpacker in Copenhagen who is working for an oil painting dealer group in Bergen. At first, I couldn't understand how come such a small city could provide enough artist or customer base. The minute we stepped into Bergen, we can definitely agree Bergen is very wealthy and full of beautiful sculptures and paintings.
Bergen hotels are very expensive. YH booked a place on Airbnb for ~£150 per night. Meaning: my first time using Airbnb is more expensive than some 5 star hotels... But the place is super nice. It's a penthouse in a nice neighborhood owned apparently by someone in the art industry. Within the first half hour, I said at least three times "when can I have a penthouse like this".
We got back to Oslo, the architecture kept getting more and more artsy.
Oslo City Hall looks different from other city halls I've visited. It also has commissioned pairings on every wall.
Oslo Opera House is strikingly unique and beautiful. The big slop leads you right to the roof top, where the white building matches to perfections with the water, sky and clouds. They even added a glass structured glacier in the water to complete the picture. YH and I agreed it would be the perfect photo shooting spot for red Valentino gawn.
Munch 150
This year is the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch's birth. Munch is probably the only Norwegian painter most people know, myself included. Oslo National Gallery and Munch Museum are hosting the Munch 150 exhibition of the most complete collection of his works. Of the three versions of Munch's famous Scream, two is displayed at Munch Museum and one at Oslo National Gallery.
Both YH and I are galley junkies. We decided to go to the National Gallery even though there was 30min to close. I had no idea why we spent precious time waiting for some stupid fish burgers (actually they are good tasty burgers). Guess we are also big foodies.
The staff at ticketing offered us half price group tickets. Otherwise we would have paid 95NOK(~£12) per person for a glance of Scream.
Really extensive collection. Well organized too. If only we had more time... The collection at MunchMuseum should be even better, but far from train station. All the running and time constrain may have add more beauty to this experience though. :)
An expensive country
Norway is well known as the most expensive country. People are joking about how tourists in Norway are generally older because you need to really save up for the trip.
Hotels are expensive. Book early may be the only advise available.
Eating out is expensive, but not outrageous. Well, I have always been living in cities on top of the expensive list.
The cheapest and best thing in Norway is tap water! It is the only tap water that tastes like premium water. If you bottle it and ship to other markets, IT IS expensive natural glacier water. Have you ever paid £10 for a small bottle of Voss water at a fancy club?
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