Flåm

Flåm is a small village on the Aurlandfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, in Norway. I arrived in Flåm on the afternoon train, took a few pictures in the town, and started walking toward the hostel. Brekke Gard Hostel was supposed to be located a kilometer from town, but it seemed like the hostel was much further away than that. Perhaps it was the heft of my backpacks that made the walk seem so long. 

Fortunately, I had my GPS-enabled iPad with me, so I was able to navigate to the hostel without too many problems. I did start to wonder if my destination was a legitimate hostel when the road turnoff was blocked with construction. I  was able to walk through the construction zone to the other side to get to a place where the road was fine. I kept following the dot on the iPad screen until I finally arrived at an old-looking farmhouse at around 2:45 PM. I didn't knock. I entered to find a man sitting at a kitchen table, facing me, and eating his lunch. I was a little surprised and was concerned I was disturbing his meal.  I explained to the man that I had reservations. He looked confused. He told me that he was a guest and didn't know where the owners were but that they would probably show up around 3 PM. 

I talked to this man for a few minutes before he left. He was from France originally but lived and worked in Switzerland. He was highly opinionated and liked to talk. A lot. He told me that when he had arrived the previous day, no one was there to greet him. There was a note on the door that said someone would be by at 3 PM every day, but he waited until about 3:30 PM when someone finally came to let him know what room he was in. 

I had a similar experience. After he left, I sat at the kitchen table and waited for someone to show up to check me in. A little after 3:30, a woman came in and placed a piece of paper on the kitchen table. She didn't speak any English. She pointed to the list and when I found my name, she motioned that I would have to go upstairs.

My single room at the hostel

The woman left, and I ascended the stairs with my bags to my room. This hostel did not have shared rooms, only single rooms. By this point in my trip, I was ready to have a few minutes of privacy. It's rare to even get a moment alone while staying in a shared room. I was excited to be alone for two whole nights. Even better, I didn't have to sleep in a bunk bed.

The first thing I noticed about my room was that it slanted. A lot. As I walked from one side to the other, I could actually feel myself walking down a slant. When I got to the window, I looked out and saw not one but two waterfalls. 

View from my hostel room window

I was rather tired from my journey, so I spent that first afternoon alone (yay!) in my room reading and playing games on my iPad. I descended the rickety stairs in the evening to make dinner. I wasn't the only one hungry; several other guests were in the kitchen eating or cooking. 

I have noticed while traveling that people aren't usually interested in socializing when it is cold outside. I have very few good conversations when I travel in winter months. I'm not sure how much of this phenomenon can be blamed on the cold and how much can be blamed on the fact that there are fewer people traveling at this time of year.

However, these people in the kitchen were interested in having a conversation. We introduced ourselves to each other and started talking about our travels, our homes, and our jobs (several of them were students). I hadn't really talked to anyone since G went home, so I enjoyed the company. We spent an hour or so talking before we all split up to go our separate ways. I went back up to my room to sleep.

While trying to sleep, I realized just how rickety the whole hostel building was. I heard from one of the other guests that the building was an old farmhouse that was several hundred years old. I wasn't surprised.  There were so many layers of paint on the walls and ceilings that I half expected the paint to start falling off in large sheets any minute. Additionally, I'm not sure any of the house was level. The bathroom door wouldn't even close because it could no longer fit into the frame! Every single board in the whole house creaked, and I was a little scared the house would fall down as I slept. Fortunately, the house survived as long as I was there, but I wouldn't be surprised if I go back to Flåm one day in the future and the hostel is no longer there.

I had only one full day in Flåm. I took the day easy. I rested in the morning and went on a hike in the afternoon. My destination was the Flåm church, a couple of kilometers from the hostel. The hike was unusual in that most of the path was on a road.  Although not heavily used, I was wary of the cars that were passing me. Once I arrived at the church, I walked a bit beyond it to get a better view of a waterfall in the distance.

I walked back toward the hostel, but since I had to stop at the grocery store, I kept walking into town. I picked up food for dinner and for snacks and walked back to the hostel where I cooked my dinner and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in my room.

I heard from others staying at the hostel that there wasn't much to do in Flåm; however, I was perfectly okay with that. I am nearing the end of my trip, and a couple of days of relaxation was just what I needed.