-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following.

[ Wind whistling ] Seafood from Norway.

♪♪ -Telemark -- a world of culture and history where nature knows no bounds, with the flavors of local delicacies.

Adventure awaits in Telemark.

[ Jet engine roaring ] -Join me on a journey where we will meet people who live, work, and enjoy life right here in the Far North.

I'm Arne Hjeltnes, and I'm going to show you some exotic places and interesting people up north.

-I'm Stig Bareksten, and I will find good beverages and the nice flavors of the North.

-Welcome to "People of the North."

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway and an important coastal harbor.

It is here the coastal voyage starts or ends, depending on whether you are going south or north bound.

We enter the beautiful harbor in Bergen, established as a trading city for fish back in 1030.

The old fish trading houses from the 1700s are still standing and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Before we leave, we enjoy one last meal on board.

-I'm looking forward to this one.

I think we will experience the last part of the winter and the transition into summer.

-Yeah, we are going to meet the spring and see the last remaining snow before it turns green and lush.

-I used Easter to practice my ski skills, so I think this will be great.

-So now I think we have to then fill up a little bit before we get off this ship.

This is the gold of the coast, summed up in four small dishes -- sashimi of fjord trout, halibut tart, cod tongue, and cod raw.

Stig, we are going in a very popular journey.

-Yes, we are going by train.

-Yeah.

This is the number one attraction when it comes to trains.

-Bergen-Oslo-Bergen.

-Yeah, and we're not going all the way to Oslo.

We're going to a very special community in the middle of the snow, in the middle of the mountain.

And we are going to celebrate our national day up there.

Have you been on this train often?

-I used to travel a lot with train.

-I hope there's space and food and lovely things that you normally experience on a train journey.

[ Whistle blows ] This train ride has it all.

It starts at the coast, moves along the fjords, and winds itself further up towards the mountain.

-Good morning.

Tickets, please.

-Here's our ticket.

-Very good.

Are you going to Finse?

-Yeah.

Why don't you just sit down and tell us a little bit about this trip?

-Yes, I will do that.

-The Bergen Railway was built in 1909 to bring people and goods to go to Bergen and then would ship out into the world.

What is it today?

-Today it's a tourist line, mostly.

Norwegians going to the mountain, to the cabins.

A lot of tourists all year round.

-What will a traveler experience by taking the Bergen Railway?

-Mountains, glaciers, and certainly a lot of fjords.

So you have lots of things going on in a very short time.

-What kind of reactions do you get from the tourists when they jump on the Bergen Railway?

-They're standing by the window, sitting in the seats, taking pictures all over the place and trying to -- to take in what they're seeing.

-Since you were little, you were interested in trains.

What's it like to work on the Bergen Railway?

-It's the best job in the world.

This is my dream line, actually.

-And it was quite an achievement to build this, I mean, 114 years ago.

Built much by hand.

-Yeah.

The construction was about 10 years.

Opened in 1909.

And on the Bergen Line is about 182 tunnels.

So you can imagine all the hard work.

-The benefit for us, Stig, is that we can sit nicely and comfortably in this wonderful cabin and enjoy what they actually worked hard to achieve 114 years ago.

-But we're going to work hard the next couple days.

-Yeah, we're going to work hard when we go skiing.

But, I mean, it's a fantastic way to get to the mountains.

-Yes, indeed.

-For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.

We want to explore the facilities on board.

I'm curious on who our fellow passengers are, and Stig wants to see how it is to sit in the very front.

People are really coming from far away to experience this adventure on rails.

In the middle of the mountain, I found this nice family.

You've come a long way to see the Bergen Rail Road.

Where are you from?

-We are from Argentina, from the south, actually, from Patagonia.

-And how did you end up on this route?

-Well, we wanted to see the fjords.

And this is a quite famous train to stop in Myrdal and go through the Flam train and then take the boat.

-And then according to your expectation, how has it been?

-Oh, it's been probably better than my expectations.

-Kristian, how is it to drive this massive train?

-It's the office with the best view in the world, in my opinion.

We're driving through four seasons in one trip.

We got the winter weather in Finse.

We got summer in Oslo.

The scenery is amazing.

-It's a very sustainable way of traveling, though.

-It's sustainable, green energy.

Yeah, It's fantastic.

-Amalie?

-Yes.

-From Chile.

-From Chile.

-What are you doing all the way up on a train in the Norwegian mountains?

-My plan is to stay here in Norway for four days, for celebrating the Independence Day.

-And how do you find the trip so far?

-Wonderful.

The landscapes are so beautiful, I think.

I haven't seen something like this somewhere else.

-But Chile is similar.

You have fjords.

You have snow.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

In the Patagonia maybe we have something similar, but this is astonishing.

-Alan, you're on the Bergen Railway.

-Yes, I am.

-Coming all the way from where?

-Australia.

-And do you have winters like this?

-Ah, no, not where I'm from, not at all.

No, it gets cold, but not like this.

This is -- It's beautiful.

-And what were your expectations for a trip over the mountain on a train?

-Honestly, didn't think I'd see snow.

And look at it.

There's lots of it.

-Finse is really in the middle of the mountains.

The village is a result of the building of the railway and was crucial in keeping the tracks open and free from snow.

Today, this is a very sought after destination with comfortable accommodation and numerous mountain activities.

-Arne, finally, we are at Finse.

-A very unique place.

-Yeah, this society is actually built up on this railway road.

There is no roads there.

And we are in the middle of May, and it's still winter up here, and it's so quiet.

-I know.

That's the beauty of no roads, no cars.

-It's good for a couple of days.

-For a couple of days.

One of the things you must include in your Finse experience is a visit to the fascinating museum, the Rallar museum, dedicated to the hard work it took to build this railroad over the mountains more than 100 years ago.

Rallar was the name given the tough workers who literally carved out this railway.

Ade, thanks for letting us into your museum here.

And we have been on this railroad, and going through a mountainous area like this is quite an achievement.

What was the reason why they managed to build it?

-There's endeavor, you know, hard work, men, women, just working all hours, all days.

So that's the people.

There's also the equipment, planning, logistics, and making progress every day, no matter the weather or season.

-And the area you're going through here, it takes a lot of tunnels.

-It's almost impossible to get a straight line for more than a kilometer in any one direction.

You're going to have to go over, under, or through.

And mostly, they went through.

And that endeavor again took a lot of effort.

And in this area, we're looking at really explosives, tunneling, and just hard work to dig through the mountains.

-You're an explosives expert yourself.

-Yeah, and that bringing explosives in changes the dynamic.

And so on one hand, it's super easier.

On the other hand, it's super dangerous.

And so this balance of getting it just right, I think was one of their biggest challenges.

And that challenge really comes to light when you think about every day, they go through this much rock, 35 centimeters.

-And some of the tunnels are 10 kilometers?

-10, yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

-As an engineer, what kind of equipment and techniques have impressed you?

-First thing for me is laying down of here that one man could have one chisel.

Constantly working with that, drilling one hole.

But what I find even more impressive is that equipment was all made by a blacksmith that was working in the same place, so they didn't buy it from a hardware store.

It was all made to work here on site.

-Yeah, so they had their own blacksmith shop.

-Yes, they did.

Yeah, and we can look at that, as well.

-Yeah.

That's inside here.

-Yeah.

Follow me.

-The museum has a collection with impressive details on how the work was carried out.

And everything here, they made everything.

-Everything.

Simple things like the timber dog that holds down the rails.

Nothing special to it.

But you have to make 1,000 in one day.

It feels to me that that just requires a very special mind.

-Yeah, and that's two for each -- -Two for each side of each timber rail.

-And then there's thousands.

-Thousands.

Millions.

-Millions of timber rail.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I also feel that the skills that go into making this then go into making this, then go into making this.

-So they even made the tools.

-Even made these, yeah, yeah.

And the other thing they did was to move their house closer to the work site.

-They didn't have a long holiday.

-Not a long holiday.

They had a day off every week.

And so on the seventh day, they would take the house, take it apart, move down, rebuild it.

So it's a day off but not a day off, so... -Not completely.

-No, no.

-I wouldn't call it a day off.

You have to move your house every Sunday.

-I think it's really obvious, but it would be remiss of me not to mention the weather.

-Yeah.

-And this piece of wood, it really does show how the weather just beats and beats its way into something.

And this looks like plastic or prehistoric.

And it's lost volume.

It's lost color.

It's lost everything.

And now it has this real texture from the howling winds, the deep cold, and the snow.

And this really does show that if you stand still in this weather, something will happen.

-Definitely.

-You cannot escape it.

-Amazing.

Ade, you have to explain why you as a Scotsman, ex-military, lots of other things, ended up in a place like Finse.

-Finse is like a magnet.

It just draws people in.

And if you're happy in the snow and the ice, you come to Finse.

-So when people want to come and explore Finse, they'll meet you.

-Come and find Ade.

I'm here all the time.

Happy to guide.

-Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

-Yeah, you're more than welcome.

Take care.

Thank you.

-The Norwegian National Day is a big event at Finse.

People come from all over the world to take part in this very special celebration.

Stig meets Sonja Rykhus, who runs the Finsehytta lodge with her husband, Rune.

-Sonja, can you please tell me about this lodge?

-Yes.

This is a big stuffed lodge with 174 beds, and you can just come by train or by foot or by bicycle.

-This is part of the Norwegian Tourist Association.

-Yeah.

-So you can start there and move on to other cabins or lodges around there.

-It's 550 lodges around in all Norway.

We have affordable accommodation that fits for all -- old people, young people, families, everybody.

It's a very good system that takes care of hikers in the mountain.

-You can get food, as well.

-Yes, we serve homemade good food with local products, and we have a brewery in the basement.

-Fantastic.

-So we make four kinds of beers.

So that's nice.

-This is a good place to stay.

-Yeah.

[ Laughs ] -Today, it is the great outdoors that is the main reason why people travel to Finse.

Here it is endless opportunities for skiing, kiting, and mountaineering both summer and winter.

[ Speaking Norwegian ] We are at Finsehytta, which is a really legendary shelter in the mountain.

We have a perfect view to the glacier Hardangerjokulen and up there, we're at, I think, 1,800 meters.

This is where the parade with the flags, national costumes.

Looking forward to that one.

Skal.

-Skal.

I assume they have no problem keeping it cold.

[ Both laugh ] The Hardangerjokulen Glacier rises from 3,440 to 6,112 feet above sea level, and it stretches 118 square miles.

The ski trip from the village Finse is three miles, which is a wonderful day trip.

We are lucky to be invited to a very special part of the glacier by scientist Jens Rekkedal Haga, who is in charge of the Finse Alpine Research Center.

Jens Haga, we are at the edge of the glacier Hardangerjokulen, and it's a very special phenomenon here.

What are we looking at?

-We're looking at the glacier that is calving down into a lake.

We don't know how deep it is because it is very young, this lake.

So maybe it is 10 meters.

Maybe it is 100 meters.

We don't know.

But it's deep enough for these icebergs to float around.

So this lake must be quite deep.

-And it's safe to walk around?

-Yes, everything is rock solid, and we don't have the movements that we have in the glacier.

-Yeah.

So when we're going up there on our national day, it's less safe than here?

-Uh, we will -- we will see that in two days, but, yeah, I think it is very safe.

I was skiing down here a few weeks ago.

-Yeah?

And you're still here.

-I'm still here.

-[ Laughs ] For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.

Jens, we found a spider in the middle of the glacier.

-Yes.

-How is that possible?

-It's possible because spiders can fly.

When they want to get away from the place they are living, they go up on a little rock or a twig or something, and they release silk.

And when they feel that there is enough pull in the silk, then they just let go and they fly -- -Like a -- Like a paraglider.

[ Laughs ] -Here in no man's land, we met Ronny Finsas.

-Yes.

-He came sailing in with a kite.

How is it actually to kite there?

-I would say it's the best place in the world.

I also sail in Antarctica a lot and a lot in Greenland.

And on all these trips, I always long back to Finse and the sailing here, because this is magic.

-Today it's magic.

-Yeah.

This is just -- -Beautiful weather.

Easy?

-Top 10.

It's like it's good visibility, good snow, good wind.

Then it's perfect.

-Bye-bye.

-We need some ice for the dry martini tonight.

-The National Day is not only celebrated on the glacier, but also at the legendary Finse Hotel, a well-known place for distinguished guests since 1909.

And even here in the mountains, as everywhere in Norway on this day, it's flag, national costumes, and of course, the national anthem.

Anne-Kari, you have to tell us about this tradition of celebrating our constitutional day in the middle of the mountain.

-Well, a lot of people come here to celebrate our constitutional day.

They come from both East and West.

And we have a program here where we start lifting the flag and where we sing the national anthem.

And after that, they go on a parade on skis, where they go to the top of the glacier.

So that's quite something.

-Do you think people actually come here because this landscape and this place sort of symbolizes the Norwegian spirit?

-In fact, I do.

Previously, people actually stayed in tents here also in the winter, because we couldn't accommodate everyone.

And I think this is a symbol of Norway at its best.

I mean, even though it's May now, it may not seem like it with all this snow, but it is.

-In 1909, the railway was built here, and there was actually a hotel here from the very beginning.

-That's right.

It started out as an accommodation for people curious about this railway that was building, that was being built between Oslo and Bergen, because it was a masterpiece, actually.

So people were curious and there was a need for accommodation.

So in 1909 they built the hotel, and just a few years after, they actually had to extend it because it was there was no room enough for everyone coming visiting.

-And you have had some really famous guests here at your hotel.

-We have.

We have.

And there has also been filmed a Star Wars film in 1979.

-Yeah?

-And we have enthusiasts coming here every year in order to celebrate and to visit the location.

-Yeah, so actually, here, just a few meters from us, they filmed "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back."

Harrison Ford was here, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher.

-Carrie Fisher was also here, yeah, but she didn't even have a part in the movie.

-She just came for fun.

-She came for fun.

She was curious.

-And we're looking forward to celebrating the constitutional day here in the middle of the mountain.

-Stig, it's our constitutional day.

-Yes.

-And we can't have a celebration without a special constitutional dry martini.

-Of course.

And today I'm going to make a little bit lighter one.

-And you have then found something special here at Finse that will fit perfectly in your dry martini.

-Ice from the glacier from yesterday.

-Okay, I will help as much as I can.

Okay.

We have ice.

-Ice.

We start with the gin.

-Yeah.

A little gin.

-Yeah, gin.

We need some vermouth, as well.

-Okay.

Is it a 50/50?

-No, a little less.

-And then rhubarb bitter.

-And, you know, it's May, and this is where the rhubarb starts to come up in other parts of Norway.

[ Laughs ] -Then you need a lemon.

-Yep.

Happy 17th of May.

Nice and cold.

-Nice and cold.

Actually, I think we didn't need ice.

-No, it's pretty cold here.

Working our way up in this parade towards the glacier.

Ooh.

Hello.

Yeah!

We have reached the foot of the glacier.

-Yeah.

That went okay.

-Yeah, and hundreds of people celebrating the constitutional day.

-[ Speaking Norwegian ] [ All cheering ] -Stig, this is like, half the celebration is the trip up here to take in this fantastic nature.

But there's more happening.

-Yeah, we will have food.

There will be speeches.

-Yeah.

-We will have dinner.

-But we got to get down.

-Yeah.

That's the -- That's what worries me.

[ Both laugh ] -For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.

The highlight of our 17th of May is music, theater, and of course, the tradition of someone giving the speech of the day.

A special honor this year from one in our gang.

[ Speaking Norwegian ] [ Cheers and applause ] Our adventure in these mighty mountains will continue in our next episode, where Sigrid will join us, and we will cross the mountains down to the beautiful village of Ulvik, where springtime and blossom is waiting for us and more "People of the North."

For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.

-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following.

[ Wind whistling ] Seafood from Norway.

♪♪ -Telemark -- a world of culture and history where nature knows no bounds, with the flavors of local delicacies.

Adventure awaits in Telemark.

[ Jet engine roaring ]