Ok here goes my long entry. I am waiting for my train to Malmo. It is an overnight train.
27th Aug 2008
The trip from Singapore to London was uneventful but for the fact that I was sandwiched between 2 big size ang mor guy. During the flight whenever the guy at the aisle went to the toilet, I would also follow suit. Heathrow airport is truly one of the busiest airport. By the time the airplane arrived in London, it was peaked period and we had to spend 20 mins circling the airport before finally landing. The connecting flight to London was 4 hrs, so I took my time to walk around and at the same time took out my handphone to find for any free wireless network. Finally I found one, and immediately went to make a call.
Lucky my sister gave me 5 pounds. I used it to buy a cup of coffee from this café, and at the same time used my laptop.
The flight from London to Oslo was like a budget flight. The seats were leather seats, and there was no personal entertainment unit infront. I had to find my own ways to entertain myself.
When we reach Oslo airport, it pales in comparison to Heathrow. We then took the train to the city center which cost us 80 kroner (SGD$20). The journey was 15 mins. When we reach the city centre, we immediately tried to find a student hostel to stay in. All the hostels in Oslo were fully bo
oked. We wanted to stay out in the open and just wait for the next day, but common sense prevailed. We decided to stay at this place which was rented out by this lady for 775 kroner inclusive of booking fees. I guess this will be the most posh place I will ever stay in for the duration of the trip.
The lady was very n ice. She brought us to this Ski slope near her place which is the number
1 attraction in Norway. It is also the venue for the World Championship.
Dinner was plain old maggi mee
28th August
Most of the day was spend on the train. We caught the 7.10am tram from the place we stayed back to Oslo train station to catch the 8.11am train to Bergen. Nothing much to say about the journey there, but the view there was simply splendid.
Once we arrived at the train station, we wanted to find the tourist information office. A man just came forward to say that he had a place to rent for 250 kroner a night which was very cheap considering that it was near the city centre and we had this small little apartment all by ourselves.
Once we checked in we then went to the cruise centre to book our cruise for the next day. It cost me 313 kroner for a 1 way ticket to Flam. After booking the ticket we went to the fish market which was next to the cruise centre. The things there are damn expensive!! In fact nothing in Norway is cheap. We then tour around Bergen until 7pm and we then went to the supermarket to buy ingredients to cook our spaghetti. We also bought this brown cheese which is so nice. First time I can eat cheese with bread alone.
Our dinner entertainment was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It is so hard to find a free wifi network in Norway.
29th August 29, 2008
This entry will be more of photos. Today I took this cruise from Bergen to Flam to see the Sonjefjords. It is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site. The cruise started promptly at 8am and ended at 1.30pm at Flam. The journey itself is quite boring. It is more of seeing the fjords, but after seeing it for 2 hrs, you will get bored of it. Caught some nap time on the boat too. The fjords reminded me of the scenes in Lord of the Ring. Very majestic, and serene. Along the way you can also see some huts.
After arriving at Flam, we are told at the tourist information that all hostels are fully booked again! Damn angry man. Should have booked the hostels when we were in Singapore. We were told by the office to go to Aurland, where there are cabins to rent. It is a 10 mins bus journey from Flam. It I the cheapest stay so far. Each Night is 300 kroner.
The cabin itself is very sparse. The kitchen and toilet is located at another cabin. The weirdest thing is you have to pay 10 kroner for a 5 mins shower, which I limited myself to. The view from the cabin is really outstanding! As I am typing this entry, I am facing the fjords. The weather now is also good. I am wearing my shorts out in the open. Dinner was damn filling. We went to the supermarket to buy a whole chicken, cabbage, and eggs. Best dinner so far.
30th August
We were recommended by the lady at the cruise centre to take the cruise from Flam to Gudvangen. It would pass by the narrowest fjords. I woke up at 6am. I think my body clock is adjusted to wake up automatically at 6am.By 8.45am we were down at the pier. By 9.15am which was the stipulated time, there was still no sign of the boat. There was this boat at the horizon that just went past the pier. There were 5 other people there too. I think the tourist office person who sold us the ticket yesterday is staying at one of the house overlooking the pier and saw that the boat just went by, he came down and ask us what happened, and he went to call the captain of the boat. The captain then made a U Turn. By that time, the boat had already traveled quite far. On board the board, the Chinese were the majority. There were so many tourists from China. The journey to Gudvangen was the same as yesterday. More fjords, but this time it was narrower. The journey lasted only 2 hrs and we then took a bus back to Aurland.
Included a map too:
On arriving, we went to the tourist office to use the internet. It cost 10 kroner for 30 mins, but I just use it illegally. For lunch we went to the supermarket to see what was good to buy, and met this supermarket worker from Taiwan. We bought fried rice and lasagnas. Very salty, but for the price it was quite good. He even gave us a bit more as we were Asian. For the afternoon there was nothing much to do. After arriving back at the cabin and resting for a while, we decided to walk up the hill. It was very very very tiring. It is so steep!
