Porvoo's Näsi mini-cave

Right across the river in Porvoo, there's a hill with a famous rock and an observation deck on top of it: Näsin kivi. A massive glacial boulder, moved by during the ice age. It is very interesting by itself, including some small crack canyons on its sides. But a hundred meters away is another smaller boulder, cracked open in two points. And there are two narrow tunnels in cracks, passing under the boulder.

The boulder with the cave is roughly in coordinates N 60.394459 E 25.654824. Näsin kivi itself is in coordinates N 60.393955 E 25.655243. Read more about Näsin kivi here.

But back to the cave rock. I of course scanned with my iPhone lidar, and used by Cave Outliner software to draw a map out of it. My scan was a bit hurried, and as a result I had to edit the map quite a bit before it corresponded to what's actually out there. But here's the map:

The full map in more accurate PDF format can be loaded here. The 3D model itself can be downloaded as well, either in GLB, Blender, or STL format. If you want to see the model and rotate it on your screen, it is easier to just click on this link so that you can do so on your browser. 

Here's a screenshot of the model:

Cave rock photos:

Näsin kivi photos:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. 

Mareminehollet

Bergen, Norway.

Coordinates are N 60.4046321 E 5.3223898.

Photos:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. 

Vatnahalsen sauna

Vatnahalsen Høyfjellshotell is a hotel on a lonely mountaintop, on the Flåm railway line between Myrdal and Flåm. This railway line is "considered one of the world’s best train journeys". It is indeed spectacular, going through mountains and running on the sides of beautiful, untouched valleys and high plains. And the hotel is a convenient place to stay along the route, if you don't want to stay in Flåm which has more services and hotels. In Vatnahalsen there's nothing except this one hotel, mountain views... also a zip line down to the valley, length 1380 meters :-) And there's s sauna.

Here's what AI said about the world's most beautiful train rides:

The hotel is a hiker's hotel, mostly. The rooms are quite basic but clean and comfortable. The hotel has all the necessary services, your phone works, there's WiFi, they have a nice restaurant for good dinners and breakfasts, they sell hiking gear, etc. 

There's even a swimming pool... but it was empty. I found myself thinking what this place looked like in the summer. Of course, it was the middle of the summer, but in the mountains it felt more like the fall. On the rail line from Oslo to Bergen there's plenty of snow around you, even in the middle of summer. Also visible on the mountains from Vatnahalsen. And it can be windy, and is likely rainy. In the opening photo in this article (above), you see how the water from the waterfalls either flies to the right side due to high winds, or even up in the air entirely.

The sauna was basic, like the rest of the hotel, but did its job :-) The temperature was just right. Their water-throwing bucket-scoop was a bit weird though, a water jug.

More about the hotel here and here. More about the Flåm railway line here. See also my other article about the underground rivers along the railway here.

To reach Vatnahalsen, take the Oslo - Bergen train line, and get off in Myrdal, and change the train towards Flåm, then get off on the first station which is Vatnahalsen. Or walk from Flåm :-)

Photos, first the pool and sauna:

Then the hotel itself, and views from it:

Then the zip line. Would you take it? 1380 meters long, 300 meters down.

Myrdal views, one station before Vatnahalsen:

And views from the Oslo - Bergen line, going at the highest point to Finse, 1222 meters above the sea level.

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of saunagoers or swimmers, all photos are taken from the outside or when the facility is closed or empty.

Underground rivers of Flåm

While going on the Flåm railway (see the other article), I noticed that on Google Maps there was a marking for a "cave waterfall", Grottefossen-Høgabru. I saw it briefly when the train drove by, the river entered the mountain and came out shortly thereafter on the other side. And there was an additional similar underground water flow after the Kjosfossen waterfall, under the station. These seem man-made, however, as in both cases the water is taking a different direction to bypass the station or the bank that the rails were on.

So they are tunnels, not caves.

In Kjosfossen the tunnel goes through the power station as well.

The upper one near Kjosfossen is here: N 60.746953 E 7.135646. Photos:

The lower one, Grottefossen-Høgabru, in is here: N 60.806371 E 7.118091. One photo is the top of this article. Other photos:

And here's a small video of the Flåm train rides:

More photos of the Flåm railway:

And photos from Flåm town:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.