We have skipped a day. We spent August 4th in the town of Flam generally having a break but also getting some arrangements organized for today and tomorrow (Aug 5th and 6th). We plan a one night excursion without the big yellow truck. In the process we will get to experience two of the areas scenic wonders (we hope).

This morning we joined the crowd at the railway station waiting to catch the 8:30 Flamsbana train which runs from Flam to the station at Myrdal. This train ride is incredibly popular, as was proven by the crowd of tourists from all over the world that waited with us for the gates to open at 8:30 and the huge cruise ship docked in the harbor. There is nothing in this town of interest to tourists except the train so the cruise ship was here just so its passengers could catch it. The attraction is the route the train takes and the incredible engineering required to build this line. The line runs up the valley from Flam, along the side of a steep glacial valley and towards the end crosses over the valley before negotiating a series of switchbacks that are embedded as tunnels in the valley head wall. The adds claim that there are 6 km of tunnels in the 20 km journey. As if the engineering is not enough the valley is incredibly scenic and the train gives some good views of steep mountains, majestic water falls, and rushing rivers.

Unlike most passengers who, once reaching Myrdal simply get on a return train, we continued on (with a different train) to the city of Bergen. Another incredible train ride through narrow canyons, over barren rocky mountains and through innumerable tunnels.

Bergen greeted us with grey skies and light rain (a bit like Seattle maybe) and we spent the first hour there getting to and settled into our AirBnB nights accommodation.

We had no definite plans as to what we were going to see in Bergen other than to spend the afternoon taking in the atmosphere of this historic town (once the Capital of Norway and a major port in the Hanseatic League). However on the mornings train ride Nina noticed (in our guide book) that The Leprosy Museum was one of the less common things that one could visit in Bergen. So we did. The museum building and exhibits turned out to be a bit of a nothing. The interesting thing was the story of Leprosy in Norway. Apparently at one time Norway had one of the highest incidents of Leprosy in Europe. The true nature of Leprosy was discovered by a Norwegian doctor named Hansen in 1873 and the disease is sometimes called Hansen's disease. We also discovered that the hospital building and indeed much of Bergen has burned down a number of times over the years and hence the building standing today and being used by the museum only represents relatively recent history.