Welcome to this website! My name is Conny Andersson. I am a Swede, but I am very fond of Norway. Its friendly people, glaciers, mountain areas, fjords, and non-EU-membership are some things that I really appreciate.
The areas that I like most of all in Norway are situated alongside of Rallarvegen — the navvies' road — the road for distributing supplies when the navvies built the Bergen Railway. They used real horses' power, sleds, and wheelbarrows to transport the material, so the navvies' road is not a road for trucks and cars. The road was built in 1895–1902, and the Bergen Railway was officially opened on November 27, 1909.
From Finse, close to the Hardangerjøkulen glacier. Via Rallarvegen, to the railway junction in Myrdal. And downhill Rallarvegen alongside of the Flåm Railway, to Flåm at the Aurlandsfjord. There, one can find one big part of Norway that I keep in my heart.
I discovered Rallarvegen as I was on a Norway In a Nutshell-tour by train and boat in 2001. “By hook or by crook”, I must visit the Finse–Myrdal–Flåm areas again, and do Rallarvegen by bicycle. That was my thought after the Norway In a Nutshell-tour in 2001.
In June 2002, I carefully planned for bicycling on Rallarvegen. On August 1, 2002, I bicycled Rallarvegen from Finse to Flåm. It took me 13 hours to ride my bicycle that distance of about 56 kilometers, and a diffrence in altitude of 1343 meters. I spent most of the 13 hours to enjoy the scenic landscape. Two days later, on August 3, 2002, I bicycled Rallarvegen one more time, but only the distance down from Myrdal, up to Vatnahalsen, and down to Flåm. A distance of circa 22 kilometers, with a difference in altitude of 865 meters.
In July 2006, I got a new longing to go to Norway. And especially to do some bicycling on Rallarvegen. But at that time I had severe problems with the toes of my left foot, so I limped. As a consequence, my back where about to crash at any moment. I know that bicycling is good for my back. Why not try to heal it somewhat on Rallarvegen — the navvies' road — in Norway?
At the end of July 2006, I just planned for a day trip from Oslo to Finse. And to make as much as possible out of that. I chose Tuesday August 1, for my day trip. The weather forecasts for all other days were rainy, with thunder and lightning. I had been looking for a single day without rain. A day to enjoy, and take photos from the highest — the Arctic part of Rallarvegen — the navvies' road. That is, the average temperature during the 24 hours of a day never exceed 44.6°F (7°C), any day of a year. The Finse–Kvinå area is well above the treeline. Trees do not exist at all!
The day trip length was 604 kilometers by train, and circa 28 kilometers by bicycle. By train from Oslo at 06:35 in the morning, with arrival to Finse at 11:10. In Finse I borrowed a robust bicycle for the circa 14 kilometers bicycle tour it is up to the watershed at Kvinå, and thereafter back to Finse. In all, 28 kilometers by bicycle. Back in Finse, the train left at 18:19. I was back home in Oslo at 22:32. A beautiful, 16 hours', day trip.
On this web page you will find two more photos. Just for you to get a feeling for the scenic landscape next to Rallarvegen. This website focus on photographs. I have written some text below each photo, it is rather short, but hopefully descriptive. All photos at this website were taken by me, on my bicycle tour on Rallarvegen — the navvies' road — in Norway on August 1, 2006. The 54 photographs covers the distance Finse–Kvinå–Finse.
This photo shows the highest point of Rallarvegen, at 1343 meters above sea level. The mountain lake that you see is the ice-cold Fagervatnet, at 1296 meters above sea level.
The watershed at Kvinå was my target, and the turning point for my bicycle tour on Rallarvegen. In this photo one can see Rallarvegen as it climbs up the mountain toward the watershed at Kvinå. The tunnel takes the old Bergen Railway through the watershed. This was the peak of the old railway line, at 1302 meters above sea level. This is an Arctic area, where things are frozen, snowy and icy most of the year. Even at the end of July, with the highest temperatures of the year, the average temperature during the 24 hours of a day never exceed 42.8°F (6°C) at Kvinå.
The watershed with a peak at 1338 meters above sea level, divides the flowing water in this mountainous region. In one stream toward Finse. And in one toward Flåm, and the Aurlandsfjord at sea level. The mountain lake in this photo is Tågavatni, at 1298 meters above sea level, with its outflow downhill, back toward south-east, and Finse. On the other side of the watershed, circa 2 kilometers toward north-west, is the lake Låghellervatnet, at 1180 meters above sea level, with its outflow toward the Aurlandsfjord.
Below you can run a parser to check for valid XHTML 1.1 at:
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