I really enjoy ambient videos and television programs like Sunrise International that allow the viewer to enjoy the sights and sounds of a destination location without distractions -- especially when they're in HD (high definition). And now, I'm delighted to be able to literally share one of my favorite travel experiences with the Wandering Educators audience.

Norway's Bergensbanen (Bergen Line) is considered by many to be among the most beautiful train journeys in the world. The line connects the west coast city of Bergen by traveling through the mountains to the eastern capitol, Oslo. It has been a primary Norwegian transportation artery for 100 years.

I've traveled the route on a number of occasions and it is one of my favorites. The trip takes you from the seaside beauty of cosmopolitan Bergen, through the picturesque town of Voss (with the most Olympic medal winners per capita of any location in the world!), up to Norway's highest rail station at Finse and Europe's largest peneplain (Hardangervidda), down through the beautiful mountains surrounding the Hallingdal valley and then into the lowlands approaching Oslo and its fjord.

To mark Bergensbanen's centennial this year, the new media division of Norway's national broadcasting system, NRKBeta, mounted an HD camera on the front of a Bergensbanen locomotive on November 27th, took off and broadcast the entire journey live on channel NRK2 -- all 7.5 hours of it!

The result is an outstanding ambient travel video with a spectacular view from the front of a train that passengers rarely get. And it shows the stunning geography of Norway -- transitioning from colorful fall leaves to snowy glaciers and back to lush mountains and valleys.

On the day of its first broadcast, more than 1.2 million Norwegians watched parts of that broadcast. This is an astonishing fact because it means that more than 25% of the entire country watched at least a portion of this ONE television show on that ONE day. When it first aired in Norway, there were more than 1,000 tweets with the hashtag #bergensbanen. Since then, NRK has broadcast the entire journey a couple of times to rave reviews in Norway.

And now the rest of the world can enjoy it. NRK has chosen to release the video as a free and legally downloadable single torrent file on NRKBeta's web site. Now anyone with the connections and equipment can download the file and enjoy it anytime. And many have. There have been more than 16,000 downloads since its release approximately one week before Christmas!

For people who love travel, railroad journeys, scenery, etc. this video is an experience of a lifetime -— not to be missed. You may not find anything better for a long time. And teachers might consider using this in the classroom. Imagine taking your students for a train ride across Norway! If you use the video in a unique way, please post a comment and let me know.

Here is a 10 minute clip from the full presentation. It is the section of the journey starting at the Finse station — the highest point on the entire Norwegian railway system. Finse has no road access. The train is its only transport connection to the rest of the world. If the snow makes it seem otherworldly, it is. This is the area of Norway that was used to film the scene on the planet "Hoth"  for the Star Wars films. By the way, Finse Station has also operated the oldest and highest post office in Norway since 1904.

However, there are a few things you need to know before downloading the file.

1. Because the video is HD, you will first to determine if you have the necessary configurations on your computer and/or television to view an HD video. If you do, proceed to step two.
2. The file itself is 22 GB. You will need to make sure that you have room on your computer to hold the entire file -- and you will need broadband connections to download it. It may be best to download it overnight while you are not using your computer or connection for other purposes.
3. Some browsers may allow you to download the file directly by clicking on the link. If not, find one of the free bittorrent applications to use for the download. Two I recommend are BitTorrent  (Windows, Mac or Linux) and Transmission (Mac).

The original showing of the video included other video views, music and interviews as well as clips and pictures from the history of the railroad. However, due to copyright issues, NRK could not include those on the downloadable file. Frankly, I think the video is better for it because it is simply the journey itself, with some ambient passenger sounds, onboard announcements and indications of the names and lengths of the many tunnels along the route that help to make the route an engineering achievement in its own right. In fact, the only thing missing is the coffee trolley (cart) that comes by every so often to offer passengers coffee, tea, sandwiches, Vestlands lefse, newspapers and magazines! But maybe you can add that yourself in the privacy of your own home.

Is the download worth it? Absolutely.

After downloading the file the day after its release, I uploaded it to the hard drive that is attached to my TV and I spent a large part of the next day watching the journey in all its high definition glory. I managed to get some work done by taking advantage of the tunnel notifications and noting how many meters of tunnel I would have to get the task done.

Since then, I've shown portions of the video to friends and colleagues who have been mesmerized. You might be, too.

Tusen takk til NRK Beta for sharing such a wonderful journey with the world!

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