Aurlandsfjord and Flam

Early in the morning, a coffee with a picturesque panorama and downhill we went, towards Aurlandsfjord. Halfway down, we were greeted by Stegastein, a unique platform with a view over the fjord. As we turned the last corner before the platform, there were actually tour buses already there, it was shortly after eight in the morning!

The familiar crowd was bustling on the platform, everyone had their phones out, the scramble for the best spot on the platform was in full swing. Only a few had drawn the short straw and were patiently waiting in line for the toilet.

We joined the bustling crowd for a while and shortly after, the two tour buses departed. So we actually had the platform all to ourselves, truly a great view of the breathtaking Aurlandsfjord in the morning sun.

After having breakfast on a bench by the fjord, we continued to Flam, which is known for having the world's steepest railway for a standard gauge track. It goes about 20 km into the valley.

Just before arrival, we spotted the two giant steamships, anchored in front of Flam. That also explained the origin of the tour buses and dashed our spontaneous idea of taking the train. In the parking lot, we were approached by a German camper, she had just managed to get a ticket that morning for the 4 p.m. departure. No thanks!

Anyone can take the train, let's ride the route with our bikes. And so we did. A dreamy route awaited us, hardly any cars, passing by lush green meadows, through narrow canyons, and along the roaring stream. Every now and then, we could also catch a glimpse of the train.

Eventually, the road turned into a gravel path, and Dellas e-bike's battery was almost empty. The inviting picnic benches at a train station were just the right place for a short break. It was actually the spot where the two trains crossed paths shortly thereafter, the railway workers had to manually switch the tracks, almost like watching TV!

Now it was time to enjoy the ride back to Flam. We quickly got caught up in the shopping frenzy to make sure that it really wasn't for us. We continued with Louise, just two tunnels later, the rain that the oppressive humidity had already announced in the afternoon arrived. Grocery shopping, refueling, and finding a place. Due to the forecasted heavy rain, it was either a paved parking lot or the campground. The parking lots were all right by the road, so we chose the campground.

The rain settled in and we made ourselves comfortable inside, well, I did, Della was cooking diligently. Finally, it was a bit darker due to the clouds, so we went to bed early and sleeping in was already planned, as the forecast for the morning wasn't looking any better.