Somewhere, over the rainbow: Fjord Boat to Gudvagen

Walking on to the fjord boat

Wednesday, after our dramatic arrival to Flam, DIS had planned a relaxing introduction to the fjords for our first activity. Given the hour we’d had to get up in order to be at the airport on time, we were all very grateful. So, on Wednesday afternoon, we hopped on to a giant ferry (which they called a Fjord Boat), taking an hour and a half ride through the fjords. As we pulled away from the dock, we got an excellent view of the waterfront and the tiny town of Flam.

What you see is basically the MAIN part of Flam... yep about 5 buildings (our hostel being one)

The back of the boat and Flam as we pulled away

We were free to move about the ferry as we pleased, staying up or below deck, inside or outside, etc. Most of us moved around, using the opportunity to get to know each other and take in the spectacular views all around.

We happened to be visiting Norway in the middle of the melting season (which is happening later than usual because the weather has been so cold). This means that there were literally hundreds of waterfalls made of all the snow/ice melt from the tops of the mountains. We even witnessed a few avalanches (luckily way above us).

One of hundreds of waterfalls

Avalanche!

Some of the waterfalls were still half frozen, so I guess they were more like "ice falls"

There were isolated cabins, truly nestled into the mountains... the only structure around for miles. While they obviously had the most beautiful surroundings, I know that I could never live in such a remote area for too long without going a bit insane. 

I'll let the scenery speak for itself (okay, I'll probably add a few captions too).

Every once in a while we'd come across a small town (a bustling metropolis by Norwegian fjord standards!) at the base of a mountain

Fellow travelers taking in the scenery

Can you spot the lone house in this scene?

It got a little windy at times...

After milling around outside on the decks for the first hour, many of us pulled up chairs into a little glass porch on the deck, getting a break from the wind/cold.  

Before we docked, we cruised into an area that must have just experienced some rainfall because we found ourselves heading towards a giant rainbow!

It's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but it was super cool!

A perfect, relaxing, and beautiful introduction to the terrain we explored over the next four days...