NORWAY

18th - 23rd of June 2012

Day 18 - 23

Day 18 - Uvdal Youth Hostel - Gol (88 km)

Day 19 - Gol - Valdresflya Youth Hostel (113 km)

Day 20 - Valdresflya Youth Hostel - Dombas (125 km)

Day 21 - Dombay Resting Day (0 km)

Day 22 - Dombas - Lokken (159 km)

Day 23 - Lokken - Trondheim (81 km)

Day 18 - Uvdal Youth Hostel - Gol (88 km)

Arriving in Gol at warmshowers hosts Damae & Stan I met Stans expectations (or worst nightmares). When I contacted him if he would like to host me he already thought he would end up repairing the German's bike and so he did ;-) After the steep long mountains my crank was damaged so far that it touched the frame with every pedalling and I needed to replace it. Luckily Stan had just the right crank at his place unused & forgot for what reason he had bought it...so he decided to donate it to the fundraising tour and I transferred the value to PhilinCon. While repairing the crank we found one of the carrier screws broken...well in the end I found myself very lucky to have met him and next to this we had a nice glutenfree dinner with glutenfree German beer :-D Thanks again for all your expetise and the donatin to the organization!

Leaving Gol a good morning exercise Serpentines!

After some cursing due to the steepness I saw a Moose trying to cross the road. Too fast for taking a photo so at least a footprint... 

With the setting sun in the mountains.

Reaching the highest mountain pass on my route, finding on top the Youth Hostel.

Arriving at 2030 I was hoping still being able to find an empty bed....the owner said they are fully booked, "Can't you see it's terrible busy!", seeing nobody around. In the end I booked the whole youth hostel for myself :-) No tourist season yet...

The reward for cycling the whole day with headwinds uphill.

Day 20 - Valdresflya Youth Hostel - Dombas (125 km)

A very cold start in the morning, putting on my exrta pair of gloves I have found at the road side.

Reindeer groups along the road in the National Park on 1200m.

Getting out of the wind - it's coffee & chocolate time. Until now I consumed 2,5 kg of chocolate ;-)

One of the very beautiful wooden Churches.

Taking the toll gravel road, avoiding the busy main road. Once the sun is covered by the sun, it is suddenly feeling -5 degrees.

Day 21 - Dombay Resting Day (0 km)

Manu from France on his German bike crossing half of Europe & the Norwegian Mountains. Good & safe Travels in Sweden!

Day 22 - Dombas - Lokken (159 km)

In the evening a friendly Dutch couple offered me some food and were telling about their expedition tour to the Muskox (animal that lives in the arctic region) herds that only occur here in Dovrefjell National Park at high altitudes. Being very jealous not having the time to do a tour, they met me on the road to Lokken and stopped me where they found one solitary male next to the road! I stopped & went to make a picture coming close to 15 m until this beast stood up making strong breathing sounds. Later that day I met a Norwegian woman telling me that you shoud not get much closer than 200 m, since they can ran very fast and might be aggressive.

Water everywhere!

Somebody knows this plant?

From the road many Fjord valleys let houses and villages look like from a model railway.

And again this time the other side of the back carrier broke again....now I put all heavy things in the front bags.

Once you have to fix your bike it looks like a bomb exploded...

For the cold days in winter Norwegians have custom made garments for their bikes ;-)

Welcome to "O"!

Day 23 - Lokken - Trondheim (81 km)

In Trondheim I met warmshowers Mihai & Anna from Romania, who were so kind to show me the city in the afternoon & go shopping some parts for the bike. They are planning to cycle around the world. What a great plan!  We had a perfect sunny day in Trondheim with a picknick at the sailboat harbour and eating buckwheat pancakes for dinner! Thanks for hosting me & very nice meeting you both All the best for your greal plan!

The olf part of the harbour in the evening sun. It seems these sunny days  are very rare up here. First sunburn so far!

The fortress on top of thill with gorgeous views on the town and harbour. Trondheim is quite beautiful & clean close to nice nature all around.

A short update on the fundraising: So far a number of people donated to the project and it reached 180€ for the Philippine Organization PhilinCon, which can protect nests with this money of the critically endangered Writhed-billed Hornbill and protect the last remaining rainforests on Panay in the Philippines. If you like to donate just click on the link on the top of the page or contact me. Thanks for everybody supporting this fundraising and of course supporting me during the trip!


Talk to you soon again. All the best from Trondheim!


Sebas

NORWAY

12th - 17th of June 2012

Day 12 - 17

Day 12 - Kristiansand - Kjelfall Camping 65 km (continuation of ferry day)

Day 13 - Kjefall Camping - Evje Youth Hostel "Troll Haus" Resting Day 23 km

Day 14 - Evje - Bykle 122 km

Day 15 - Bykle - Rjukan 156 km

Day 16 - Resting Day Rjukan (28 km)

Day 17 - Rjukan  - Uvdal Youth Hostel 88 km

Day 12 - Kristiansand - Kjelfall Camping 65 km (continuation of ferry day)

Finally sunshine! Norway gave a warm summer like welcome. Best weather so far.

Next to a bunch of Nrowegian school kids I met James from England on the ferry exploring Norway on his bike and maybe later to the Cape. Hope to see him on the road again.

After getting cash, a sim card and a nice Kebab to get used to the Norwegian prices I made my way out of the city coming along some nice street arts.

Blue sky, good roads, mountains & water everywhere. 

1st day camp making contact with late evening sandfly attacks while putting up my camp.

Day 13 - Kjefall Camping - Evje Youth Hostel "Troll Haus" Resting Day 23 km

hmm...should I go left here?! ;-)

The first camping I stayed did not offer much and the guy running the place was very unfriendly, so I made my way to the next Youth Hostel to have finally my resting day.

My failed attempt to watch the soccer game offered me instead this nice scenery.

Day 14 - Evje - Bykle 122 km

Fjords everywhere. On this lonely road I met 2 cars, actually the same one coming back.

I forgot about these tunnels that do not have lights...so where was my head torch again? In an orange bag...which one?

Another hallucination moment or just a sand excavation.

Why putting ugly containers if you can have those?

1st night wild camping on 650 m altitude. It got so chilly I had to put my insulation foil on top of me. If u ever try this you will feel warm for the night but will wake up completely soaked ind condensation water...next time camping on lower altitude.

Day 15 - Bykle - Rjukan 156 km

The signs are everywhere, but still no glimpse on these awkward animals.

The smallest brigde so far.

Endless roads on the high altitude plains "Fjell". Amazing sceneries but also strong winds, often from the wrong direction so far ;-)

These first serpentines down with 12% for about 2,5km were a good test for the disc brakes. A sprinkle of water on them after braking a while gave a sizzling relieving sound.

The long road home. Next stop Rjukan.

The hardest day so far in Norway. Arriving at the camping at around 2230, cold, tired and hungry with a fantastic view on the snow covered mountains.

Day 16 - Resting Day Rjukan (28 km)

Rjukan Water Power Station Vemork. A place with a lot of history. I visited the museum on my resting day in Rjukan. Here the Nazis tried to produce Heavy Water for their nuclear arms program. Some brave Norwegian resistance warriors managed to destroy it partly.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vemork)

Sam Eyde, a Norwegian businessman was trading waterfalls and started this waterworks for the production of Nitrogen.

The place where the saboteurs went into the factory to place the bombs.

Monument for the Norwegian resistance fighters in Rjukan. What the guidebook said I can confirm, the prettiest of all industrial cities in the world. Situated in a deep valley there is no sunshine reaching the town from September to March. The first sun is celebrated with a big carnival.

In Rjukan I met Jörg from Germany cycling into the West of Norway. Great meeting him, we had a nice chat during dinner and doing our laundry together at a camping where virtually everything had a price... Good luck on your travels, wa fun to fight this last mountain together!

Day 17 - Rjukan  - Uvdal Youth Hostel 88 km

The plan was starting pedalling at around 7...but then I woke up at 830, having slept through the alarm clock for the 1st time. Probably I needed some sleep again :-D

Nearly at the top...first getting wet from the rain than from the sweat...the reward a stunning view. This mount

We did it! After climbing 900m reaching the plateau "Fjell" on 1100m with the remnant snow around us.

Crossing fingers...hopefully no rain until we are back down on the other side.

Uvdal wooden Church.

The Uvdal Youth Hostel was an old farming house, once the sheriffs department and a bank run by a lovely Norwegian couple I was allowed to stay as the 1st guest before they go open the day after.

Nice to know that you enjoy reading the Blog! Greetings and cu all soon again!