We woke up earlier than usual because they had to perform water maintenance in our room.  We decided to check out the town early, come back to the ship for lunch, and then go back into town to board the train.  

The town is very small.  They said that only about 300 people live there.  There were quite a few souvenir shops to check out as well as a brewery, a few restaurants, food stalls, and a bakery.  We stopped at the bakery first to try a cinnamon roll.  It looked more like a cinnamon twist.  It was flaky and delicious.  There was no icing, but chunks of sugar sprinkled on top instead.

We went over to the railway museum and learned about the construction of the Flam railroad.  It had a lot of old pictures and antique tools.  There were these cool looking bikes they rode on the tracks to check them.  There was a story about a man who spent his life taking care of the tracks and a picture of him and his daughter (one of eight children) on the bike. The English translation of his death at the age of 50 was “he met a train he wasn’t prepared for”.

We saw a waterfall from the port and wanted to see if we could get closer to it.  Jef’s map said it was a 25 minute walk.  We realized as we got closer that we would have to hike up some hills, so we just took pictures from the road.  We only walked about a mile.

After looking through the shops, I bought a couple more postcards, some magnets, and small presents for my nephews.  The prices did vary, so it was good that I looked at several shops.  We returned to the ship for lunch and relaxed for a bit.  We bought tickets for the train online before we left. I did some research about the train and they suggested to get there at least a half an hour before the train leaves.  If you don’t get a seat near the window, it’s not worth the trip.  You need to walk all the way to the end where there is a gate.  They will then open that to let you on two sections of the train. We got a window seat that the window opens. It was good to be able to take pictures without the glare of the window, but if you don’t care about pictures, sit at any window on the right side of the train.  

I tell you to sit on the right side of the train because it has the best scenery.  If you want to get up and look out the door when the train crosses the river to see the views on the left, you can.  There are many more views on the right though.  The train stops three times on the way up.  The first time it stops it’s to wait for the other train to go through.  The second stop is the waterfall. 

The waterfall is gorgeous and close enough that you get sprayed with water.  They start playing music and this woman in red dances near the waterfall. There is a legend that a mountain fairy (or something of the sort) tries to lure people into the mountains with her dance and she is usually seen next to this waterfall.  I thought it was cute to have someone there dancing.  The train only stops for five minutes so if you need to disembark quickly, take your picture, and get back on.  If you stay near the waterfall it becomes mobbed with people and tough to get a picture.  I also got a nice picture of the train stopped in the tunnel when I got back on board.  

The third stop is for those people who are going to take a bike down the mountain.  The last stop is the top of the mountain.  There is nothing there, so there is no reason to get off the train. Everyone on our car just stayed in their seats.  Then you go back down the mountain and try to catch the pictures you missed on the way up.  

Inside the train they have tv screens with information about the mountain and the train.  I kept forgetting to look at it.  It recycles the information during the trip. There is also some narration. Sometimes we could hear it and sometimes we could not.  We had a baby next to us and also a couple of women who did not stop talking for the entire two and a half hour trip. They even started singing on the way down.  It was weird. 

As you can see from the train car, they call it “One of the world’s most beautiful train journeys”.  I would have to agree.  It was stunning. 

We returned to the ship early to have an early dinner. We wanted to be ready to watch the scenery as we left Flam and sailed through the fjord. At first we went out on the bow on deck 5, but it was pretty windy and I got tired of being cold. We went up to the cafe on deck 12 and found chairs to lounge by the window. The views were spectacular.  It felt like it was not real. We passed by the town on which the movie Frozen was based. (It is the next picture.) We sat there for over an hour just exclaiming at the mountains and waterfalls. This is why we took this cruise.