We managed to drag ourselves out of our beds for 6am, showered, changed, packed and got to the T-Bannen stop at Høyenhall with plenty of time to spare before our connection. I have to say it was a little wierd stepping over the prostrate bodies of a Romanian family who appeared to have made the station their home for the night. Anyway, we waited in the bright Oslo sunshine for our ride which was due just after 7. We were a little perturbed to see on the signs that the next metro wasn't until 7.20am. Still not sure what happened there, but we were left with plenty of time to make central station before our trains departure at 8.05am.
We arrived at central station to find the usual collection of ne'r do wells. As much as I love Oslo and Norway, if you want to see the very depths of depravity, a sort of "Norway in a nutshell" tour of the criminal world, you need look no further than the main railway station in Oslo. At such an early time in the morning, the drunks were begining to stir, still drunk from the night before, the drug addicts were still scattered about trapped in the middle of some alternative reality they entered in the early hours after their last "hit", and the types that prey on the naive and unwary were begining to prowl. Luckily we did not have long to wait and so joined the crowds on the platform awaiting the arrival of the Oslo/Bergen train. It was clearly going to be a very full train and I think we had been lucky to get the seats we did, which we booked quite late.
We had watched the news last night and it was quite clear that the conditions on the Hardangervidda had been quite bad with moderate snowfall and driving winds. Drivers had been held up for up to 5 hours waiting to travel in convoys headed by snow ploughs on the roads across the plateau. It all seemed a world away this morning in the uninterupted sunshine we were enjoying. The weather remained ideal as we headed North West from Oslo toward the mountains, and we soon left densely populated areas for more open, rustic scenary.
The views from the Oslo/Bergen train really are breathtaking as you travel into the heart of Norway, but the early start and rythmic motion of the train got the better of us and we both drifted in and out of sleep, catching only brief snippets of the countryside.
The weather remained sunny, and the landscape green, as we entered Ål.
It wasn't too long though before the scenary started to change and we caught brief glimpses of the snow topped mountains in the distance.
Before long the train had climbed above the tree line.
Now we started to see the evidence of drifting snow and high winds. We heard it too as the train we were travelling on started to meet snow covered tracks. As the train ploughed its way through the drifts, the scattered snow crashed and ricocheted down the side of the carriages and the views from the windows gradually disappeared into a white out. We arrived at Finse 1222, the highest railway station in Northern Europe, and alighted from the train to be met by a howling wind gusting to 32 m/s, so strong that, no sooner had Sean put his skis on, he was blown clean off his feet. I think the only reason I didn't join him was because I was carrying the beer! The added weight firmly anchoring me to the ground. As for the short trail to our accomodation for the night, Finsehytta, it was completely hidden by the swirling snow. The only indication to the direction of the path was the ghost like trail of figures disappearing into the white, the birch branches marking the trails completely hidden from view. As we made our way across the frozen lake we were forced to stop several times and just brace ourselves against the gusting wind before making a few more metres headway. I eventually saw the now familiar outline of Finsehytta in the distance, looking like some enormous ship wallowing in a sea of white. We made it in one piece to the front door, doffed our skis and boots and entered the main lobby. It was heaving!!! Families, couples, groups of friends, all huddled together around every available table in the place, pack lunches and flasks scfattered in front of them like confetti. These were the people trapped from the day before by weather, or those who had arrived by train before us at Finse and immediately sought the sanctuary of the hytte. From past experience I knew these DNT (Den Norske Turistforening) establishments never turned travellers away, and have in the past ended up on a mattress on the floor myself, but it was a relief to find they had a room available. It was a room for four people, with one person already booked into it, which was fine. You are ultimately sharing with like minded people on their own mini adventures in the mountains, so there is a very strong shared interest to break the ice. Dinner wasn't to be until 9pm, again due to the large number of people at the hytte. It was going to be a long afternoon, but I think everyone was just grateful not to be outside!
Not much of a view from the bedroom window then! And this was on the first floor! Really handy for cooling the Ringnes beers I had struggled to bring with us though. After booking in we dumped our gear in the bedroom and then joined the throng gathered in the lounge and settled in for the afternoon. Unfortunately, due to the storm, the WiFi was out, so it was the fallback position of reading a good old book. In keeping with the Norwegian tradition of immersing themselves in crime over the Easter period, novels rather than activity that is, I began a good old "whodunnit", albeit on a Kindle. Sean settled for studying for his exams after Easter, so all was good.
Dinner was duly served at 9pm, the second sitting, and consisted of a cream of asparagus soup with garlic bread and another more savoury bread as a starter. The main course was meatballs made from reindeer meat, mushy peas, a vegatable mixture including brocolli and carrots in a white sauce and potatoes. And as much of it as you could eat! This was followed by a choice of about 8 different deserts and finished off with coffee. I challenge anyone to sit down for one of these meals and fail to have their hunger sated, and it was as tasty as it was plentiful! Finsehytta also has a small brewery in the basement and serves a range of five beers and one cider brewed on the premises.
Some interesting facts about Finse;
It is home to Northern Europes highest railway station at 1222 metres.
Both Scott and Amundsen spent several Winters at Finse practising for their Antarctic adventures.
There is a monuement to Scott and the men he took with him on his ill fated expedition outside the hotel, Finse 1222.
It was home to Norway's first indoor ice rink built in 1914.
During the Second World War, the Germans operated a secret research facility where they tested new engines and fuels suitable for Arctic climates.
Finse was bombed by the British Royal Air Force in 1943, bombing which destroyed the ice rink and also the secret nazi research facility, which had obviously ceased to be secret!
Finsehytta itself was used by the Germans during WWII and was purchased after the war by the DNT from the "Directorate for enemy property".
The ice world scenes from George Lucas' second Star Wars film were shot at Finse.
We opted for an early night after a long day travelling and then being busy doing nothing, prior to an early start in the morning.
