Winter Europe Trip 30th November 2022 (Wed) Day 4

The next morning, I woke up again really early at 3am plus (day 4 and still not adjusted sigh, the winter hours were not helping :( ), I updated my blog and then tried to get some sleep on and off, as the breakfast time was at 8am. It felt really surreal and serene and wake up to this really nice place.

8am and it was still dark outside

Very nice daybreak as we had our breakfast

The same group of people on the Flam Railway with us

It was still dark when we went for breakfast at the restaurant downstairs, it was a very simple breakfast since we only saw two other groups of occupants but it was good enough for us. The view was so good and it felt really nice having the restaurant just facing the water. Daybreak came and we took the chance to take more photos before checking out and bidding our farewell to this really nice little quiet town. We checked out by 9am and it only took us 10min to push our luggage back to the town centre where we waited for the cruise ship to arrive, taking us on the much awaited fjord cruise sightseeing of this 'Norway in a nutshell' leg. 

Very nice and spacious cruise ship

Level 1

The cafe

Took lots and lots of photos

Another selfie of us

The group which gathered there were really familiar faces and we realised we all took the same Flam Railway together the previous day, only two other ladies shared the same lodging as us though and we met them during breakfast. I think some of them were on the same train as us all the way from Oslo as this is a typical journey for tourists, this is also the only two days I met so many asians and Singaporeans during the trip. We started boarding the cruise at 930am and there were lots of space on the two levels of the cruise ship as there were only around 20 of us, we had the whole top level for ourselves together with the two ladies we met at breakfast. The smell of very nice bacon sausage and cinnamon greeted us when we boarded the ship, there was a cafe right at the entrance and a huge area for putting our luggages. 

Dotted with little towns

And some bigger towns

Battling the cold

My favourite picture of the fjord

Everyone was excited walking around outside to take photos of the scenery, the fjords is a major tourist attractions for tourists to Norway, other than the northern lights. We decided to fly all the way here as P wanted to look at the fjords (after Ragnarok series) and me for the northern lights. This is the only fjord cruise we are taking, other than embarking on the Hurtigruten Cruise a few days later and this was already one of the most scenic journey on the famous fjord listed as a UNESCO heritage site. We marveled at the surrounding cliffs, many with snow capped peaks and frozen waterfall and every now and then we come across little towns with their cute little houses dotted along the shoreline. 

The cruise ended at Gudvangen

Look at the crystal clear water

First to load our luggages on the bus

Our next destination is Voss

We got a bit tired of putting on our jackets just to go outside for the photos after awhile, and most of the tourists just remained at Level 1 where the front of the boat and the huge windows provided a really good view of the surroundings. However, at times the snow capped mountains and the little cute towns still attracted us to go outside, the crew even pointed out a seal sunbathing at a point. The two hour cruise ride ended at a town called Gudvangen, there were some small lodging for travelers but I thought Flam was much more prettier. There were 40 minutes before we embark on the bus ride to Voss. We spotted the bus even before we left the cruise and quickly went over to load our luggages, but the other tourists just stood around cautiously as the bus driver was nowhere to be seen, we soon realised he was resting on the bus and he only opened the door for us to get on board when it was time. While waiting, we went into the souvenir shop and bought another fridge magnet.

Waited one hour for the next train to Bergen

Too tired to explore the town of Voss

Very impressed with the self service drinks station

We have taken train, cruise, bus these three different modes of transport so far and I maintained that 'Norway in a Nutshell' is value for money since it was 300 SGD for all the transportation combined all the way till Bergen. The bus to Voss is actually public bus and there were some tourists who just bought tickets as they boarded the bus. I'm still really impressed with how cashless everything is in Norway and they even strongly encouraged the use of card as opposed to cash, SG is still not as convenient as many small stalls and shops only accept PayNow for cashless and that only works if you have a local bank account. In Norway, we just tap the card everywhere we go. 

Voss is said to be where the atas mineral water came from

We waited at this area for an hour and had a simple lunch

After the two hours cruise journey, the bus ride is a change in momentum and the scenery at some point was also nice but we fell asleep and had a short nap as it was quite comfortable on board. Some locals got on the bus at some point but there were not many people on board. The town of Voss is bigger than Flam and Gudvangen, so some tourists also choose to stay here instead of Flam, if not heading straight to Bergen. When we arrived at Voss, the next train ride booked is one hour away so we sat at the train waiting room to take a rest. We wanted to deposit our luggage and go around the small town but the lockers were not big enough so we just rested and had the flam burger for lunch. 

The next train ride to Bergen was also disrupted as there were some railworks or road works going on, but the VYS train service was so good that shuttle service was arranged to pick us up from Dale and continue our journey to Bergen by bus. When we booked the tickets though fjordtours, this was already indicated and all paid for, if not I would actually just get to Bergen directly by bus so we do not have to lug our luggage up and down. The bigger grp of Singaporeans bought tickets on this spot so they left by bus the same time we went for the train, amazingly their bus reached Bergen at the same time as us in the end. Honestly, we were quite tired by the time we boarded the last shuttle bus from Dale to Bergen, the journey also took longer than expected as at some stretches it was a one way road and we had to wait for the construction staff to bring each side systematically across. I'm still pretty amazed by how organised it took and everyone patiently waiting and following the guiding vehicles.

Our hotel at the Bryggen area, a wharf used for centuries

Funnily the exterior of the room is aviation theme

Room is spacious with a odd shape roof and window

The bathroom area

We are staying in another hotel of the Raddison Blu chain, its located at the Bryggen wharf area which is really pretty, but some distance away from the bus station. It was walkable when we were exploring the city the next day but we wouldnt want to do it with our luggage, especially after the tiring journey. With the help of Google map, we found the bus stop to take the bus for 3 stops to the Bryggen area. We couldnt find a place where they sold the tickets, just boarded when the bus came and fortunately payment is right at boarding area with our credit card, just telling the driver how many tickets we needed, it cost about 10SGD for both of us but convenient enough. The area for the wheelchair was where we stood with our luggages and the ride was quite bumpy as the whole Bergan area is very slopey.  

We alighted at the Bryggen area and I immediately remembered why we booked the hotel here, it's in the centre of all the action, trendy and cool like the Copenhagen wharf area we've been to in June. We put down our stuff and went out to explore the area and look for dinner soon.

Cute display at the shop windows

Accidentally ventured into back alley

Ventured into a centuries old restaurant that used to be warehouse

Looked really cosy

The pricest dinner thus far

We walked along the centuries old warehouses along the wharf, there are cute little shops and convenient store really near to our hotel. We wandered into an alley to look at the old structures, these had been quite well preserved and we chanced upon a cosy restaurant. It looked expensive and served authentic norwegian food, which I was pretty sure P would not like to try. But the service staff at the counter was really friendly, and P started to examine the menu very seriously. I had a feeling he would eventually stay as it's quite awkward to leave after spending so much time there asking questions about the menu, I didnt mind spending the money to try the food though.

Old warehouse turned into restaurant

Only few groups of diners in the winter low peak

Me at the table

Stockfish for main course

Added on some tapas which are Norwegian classics

Ended off with ice cream from 'Mix'

After looking at the menu for quite some time, P ordered stockfish for main to try. The restaurant had quite good reviews but only a few tables were filled as winter is not traveling season for most of Europe. I also ordered red wine and P ordered his favourite apple juice which turn out to be quite costly and only a few dollars cheaper than wine, both served in classy glasses. The main came but the portion was too small for us as dinner so we added on tapas which was authentic Norwegian food and the very friendly waiter was encouraging us to just try those for a start. I knew that typically cold fish and Norwegian herring wasnt P's type of food although he gamely finished those, he also had a good time looking around the centuries old warehouse turned into restaurant. The meal turned out to be the most expensive one we had for this trip but the atmosphere was so good and cosy that we didnt mind. After the meal, we went to the convenience store to get ice cream for dessert and was back in the hotel soon after. It has been a long day and I was so ready to knock out even though it was only 9pm. 

Some expenses for today:

Hot chocolate on the cruise (5 SGD)

Souvenir from Gudvangen (8.50 SGD)

Hot chocolate on the train (less than 3 SGD *cheap*)

Public bus in Bergen Skyss (11.50 SGD)

Dinner at Bryggen Tracteursted (144 SGD)

Ice cream at 'Mix' (7 SGD)