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Oslo - Trondheim Day 6 - 17-June

Never run into a railway tunnel
The following morning I wake up on the train, and we are nearby Oslo. The funny thing is that I am no longer sleeping in the last wagon but in the second wagon, and the train is going the other way. In the night at Arendal the train arrived at a dead-end track and left the station the other way, heading for Oslo. In the big tunnel under Oslo the train suddenly stops at "Oslo Konserthuset" station. On the other track the airport train "Flytoget" is waiting and both trains shouldn't stop here. The intercom announces in Norwegian that there are children reported to be in the tunnel and the trains can't take the risk going any further before the tunnel is cleared. The norwegian boy tells me that the station we have stopped, is right in the city-centre and that it is just a small walk towards the central station. So I leave the train here and walk through a sunny and warm Oslo straight to the central station. Good that I didn't buy my reservation in advance because I could have missed the train to Trondheim. At the central station I make my reservation and realize that all the traffic must be delayed if the tunnel is closed. In the station the speakers are reporting that there is a technical issue in one of the tunnels and that all trains are delayed. The train to Trondheim leaves later as well but is one of the first to leave as it doesn't go through the tunnel but leaves the city in the other direction.

The nighttrain stuck in the tunnel. Notice the shovel at the locomotive.

Going to Trondheim

Travel details: Oslo S - Trondheim Trainride: Regiontog Departure:8:07 - Arrival:14:48 Distance: 643km

This train is really something luxurious and the journey is only 6 hours. The route is not as scenic as the Bergen line, but still it is very nice. You reach a height of 1000 meter above sea level and there are high uninhabited plains with high snowy mountains along the route. But first you pass Hamar and Lillehamer. For most foreigners Hamar is not much of a stop, but every dutchman knows the "Vikingskip" ice skating hall (used for the olympics) is located here. It is located right next to the rail track and I take a quick picture. unfortunately some passing trees manage to hide the building on the picture. That's the disadvantage of a train ride, you can't stop somewhere nice to take a picture. A few moments later the train also passes Lillehamer, the host for the olympics and on the hills you can see the ski-jumps.

A bare, deserted scenery with steep mountains, and rather flat mountain peaks.

Though the train is nice and the scenery good, the journey takes a long time, I try to keep a conversation in Norwegian with a soldier sitting next to me, but Norwegian is quite difficult to understand. I speak some Swedish and as there are quite some resemblances with the Norwegian language I speak to people in Swedish with some Norwegian words. it works quite well.

Trondheim: small and silent
The arrival in Trondheim is a bit of a deception, the place isn't as hilly as I thought it would be. No rocks, no steep hills but the weather is nice and the sun just barely sinks below the horizon. I find my way to the tourist info and walk to the hostel (without getting lost). It is located outside the city centre but after Bergen nothing is a long-walk anymore. Though people said it was very busy in Trondheim, I ended up being the only one in the dormitory room. The hostel is quite expensive (even for Norwegian standards) and is inhabited by mainly elderly people. I decide to go to the town and have a good look around. The town is quite nice and very compact. Most bars and restaurants offer reasonably cheap prices for a hot-meal in the afternoon, but it's evening now so that doesn't help me much. As I am going to Sweden the next day I don't really need the Norwegian money anyway and I decide to have a proper meal at the English pub Kings Cross. They offer Norwegian food for 99NOK but the football match is on so they only serve Burgers with chips (frites). In the open I eat the burger and watch the footballmatch on an English Channel. Here there are enough people to meet, so I go back to the hostel quite late and see that I will be sleeping alone this night.

The Nidaros Cathedral. Built in 1070 and raged by fires several times, this facade is rather new and not a copy of the original building.