Kon Tiki Museum, Oslo

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Kon Tiki museum is one of the trio (with Fram and the Viking ships museums) settled on the Bydgoy peninsula facing downtown Oslo. Unlike the other two, this particular locale brings rather mixed feelings. I have not been a fan of Thor Heyerdahl for very long time and I came to this shrine of his with the slight hope that something might convince me that he is worth more or prove that yes, indeed, he is a con-man on a great scale. After visiting the museum the latter impression has been cemented in my head. The museum is well stocked with the famous boats and raft which in turn are not famous because of what has been proven with their help but simply because they were in a Oscar winning movie. There are texts all over with fluctuating tenses where it is never explicitly clear whether it WAS or it COULD HAVE BEEN this way or that way. The impression is that the composition includes older and newer texts and hence the discrepancy in the certainty of the “facts”. But in general, what can be expected from an expedition led by a person who despite all the claims for being a scientist is more at ease in the realm of politics? No scientist is going to ruin his laboratory in order to “protest” a war, for example, as Mr. Heyerdahl did with one of his boats. This is a classical attention grabbing behaviour that has to do with narcissistic people who spare no means to attract the largest audience possible. In order to achieve this, of course, such people depend on a “romantic” non-conventional story, reflected in a dozen camera lens and promoted through one of the biggest marketing machines in the world – Hollywood. No scientist of any stature needs Hollywood to prove his experiment just as no science needs propaganda (minus the “political science” of course) to solidify its theories. So, the whole notion that the South Americans have settled Polynesia just because it is possible to navigate the vast ocean with primitive boat does not mean that this WAS the case. On the contrary, for people living on a continent with hardly a blip in the coastline such as South America there is no need to master seafaring skills. Completely the opposite is the environment of the Malays, living on the largest archipelago in the world, who were forced to develop expertise in maritime navigation. And they did it so successfully that managed to cover practically the whole Pacific and Indian oceans from Madagascar to Easter Island. I am sorry, but Mr. Heyerdahl’s achievement is not in the area of anthropology but in the dubious mist of pseudo science. He should have stuck to zoology – the results COULD HAVE BEEN more convincing.

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This Museum is also located in the same area as the Maritime & Fram Museum's on Bygdoy.

For me, the best part of this Museum, was seeing the reconstructed Reed Boat, and the raft Ra II.

Have you heard of Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002)? He was a Norwegian explorer and writer who, in 1947, sailed the Kon-Tiki" [named after the Inca Sun God], across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands.
Why on earth did he make this dangerous trip? Evidently to show people, that by using only materials and technologies available to people of pre-Columbian time, that people from South America could have made there way and settled in Polynesia.
The journey was made by 5 Norwegians and 1 Swedish.

This Museum has on display original boats and exhibits from Thor Heyerdahl’s world famous expeditions, including the Ra, Tigris, Fatu-Hiva, Kon-Tiki, and Easter Island.
There is also a copy of a Whale Shark, as one time, the crew of Kon-Tiki had a frightening experience with the world's largest fish. The whale shark played around the raft, luckily it didn't damage it. The underwater scene below the Kon-Tiki raft shows a 10 metre copy of a whale shark with other fish and animals found in tropical waters.
There is more than this to see there, you will just have to visit to see it all!

This museum was very interesting. I think you will be amazed when you see the Kon-Tiki raft that made this journey from start to finish in one piece, I was!

OPEN.....
January – February 10-4PM..............March- May 10-5PM.........June – August 9-6PM
September – October 10-5PM...........November – December 10-4PM

ADMISSION.....Adults 70 nok Children 25 nok Family 150 nok
FREE ADMISSION WITH OSLO PASS

There is a regular, all year bus service (bus no. 30) to the Kon-Tiki Museum from the centre of Oslo every 10 min. The bus stops right outside the museum.

I never thought I would see a real "Oscar" but I have, and not in the U.S.A., but in Oslo, Norway.
It is on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum, as Thor Heyerdahl won the Oscar for best documentary for the film of the Kon-Tiki expedition.
The Museum has an exhibition showing how important the film was in making and keeping Thor Heyerdahl world famous.
The Oscar was won in 1951.

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At the Kon-Tiki museum are the original boats Kon-Tiki and the reed boat RaII. Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) crossed the Pacific sailing on the Kon-Tiki raft in 1947. Thor gained world-wide fame from his excursions.

Later on he raced with reed boats Ra and Tiger. Ra II is from 1970.

The boats are amazing really - recreations of prehistoric boats and voyages. This way Thor showed that men had mastered sailing long before the saddle and wheel were invented. One cannot imagine that he made these voyages on these boats, they look more like toys than real boats. So it makes it even more amazing.

At the museum there are so many interesting artefacts and an exhibition on the Easter Island where Thor did archaeological excavations.

In the basement, one walks through a narrow corridor, right into a cave, it was a bit frightening - and all of a sudden this fellow (see my last photo) showed up ;) And then I went into an aquarium - it showed the dangerous waters beneath Kon-Tiki.

It is an amazing museum, and one needs a lot of time in here to read up on Thor´s fantastic journeys.

Opening hours: during the summer months 9-18, at 10-16/17 during the winter months.

Admission fee: NOK 70.

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As a teenager, I read the books by Thor Heyerdahl describing his journeys across the Pacific Ocean to prove the possibility of long journey immigration by Polynesia peoples. The Kon Tiki, a balsa raft, made a 101 day crossing of nearly 5,000 miles. It may have led to my wanting to travel and experience the world. So, given the opportunity to see the vessels, I could not resist. The two vessels are fragile, and the museum is quite dark. It's hard to take good pictures.

I havn't been inside the museums for 15 years. But at that time I liked the Kontiki museum best since I was attracted to Thor Heyerdahl's travels. The Kontiki museum is smaller and more cosy than the Viking Ship Museum.
Both museums are located in the quiet resident area Bygdoy, only 5-10 minutes walk from each other. Visit them both if you have time. Taking a taxi from Oslo downtown to the museum is approx 60-100 kroner and take 10 minutes. Bus no.30 from Oslo downtown take 20 minutes and leave every 10 minutes during weekdays. I would not recommend a bus if you are in a hurry or don't know where the bus stops are.

Check out the web pages:
www.kon-tiki.no
www.khm.uio.no/vikingskipshuset/index_eng.html

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The Kon-Tiki museum shows Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions across oceans and rivers.

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian zoologist and researcher. One of his most famous expeditions is sailing the Pacific Ocean from South America to Polynesia on the Kon-Tiki raft in 1947. Sailing from Callao, in Perú, Thor and his crew embarked upon the world's largest ocean and set their sights to the Polynesia. The theory behind this is that he could prove that it was possible that South American aborigines could have sailed to those islands using simple, pre-Columbine means, like using logs from the balsa tree.

The book about his Kon-Tiki expedition became a best seller and the documentary about this travel won an Oscar for best documentary in 1951.

Along with the Kon-Tiki, you can see his papyrus boat the Ra II, which he used to sail from Morocco to Barbados. He actually started the adventure on Ra I but it sank not too far away from its final destination.

As of Sept 2009, the admission fee for an adult is 60 NOK. Free with the Oslo Pass.

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Kon-Tiki is a world-famous balsa-log raft and athough I have been aware of it from being a child I was very impressed by how large it was, so much more so than I imagined. In 1947 the young Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl and five comrades sailed it from Callao, Peru, to Raroia, Polynesia (4,266 miles). He wanted to prove that the people of Polynesia originally came from South America. He showed how ancient civilizations could have done so by using a raft like Kon-Tiki.

Besides the raft, there are other exhibits from Heyerdahl's subsequent visits to Easter Island. They include casts of stone giants and small originals, a facsimile of the whale shark, and an Easter Island family cave, with a collection of sacred lava figurines hoarded in secret underground passages by the island's inhabitants. The museum also houses the original papyrus boat Ra II, in which Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in 1970.

There is a museum shop of course with all Thor Heyerdahl related goods and the museum takes about 45 minutes to tour around.

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Bygdøy is home to some of the most fascinating museums in Norway. Right on the docks at Bygdønes is the Kon-Tiki museum (co-located with the Fram Museum and the Naval museum). This museum has a collection of Thor Heyerdals expeditions around the world. The main attractions are the rafts Kon-Tiki and the RA1 which Thor Heyerdal used to cross the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, in 2 amazing adventures. But the museum is also packed with artifacts from for example the Easter Island expedition. Also in the basement below the Kon-Tiki raft there is a full size replica of the world largest fish that you can see "swimming" on the underside of the raft.

The anonymous building at Bygdøynes is an hidden gem that I would absolutely recommend visiting while in Oslo.

PS: This tip has 2 images, enjoy :)

From the Viking Museum, we headed over to the Kon Tiki Museum. On display were two of Thor Heyerdahl's sailing vessels, the Kon Tiki, which sailed in 1947 from Peru to Polynesia, and the Ra II, which sailed in 1970 from Morocco to the Caribbean. These vessels were actually balsa-wood rafts that not only were very small for such long journeys but didn’t look very seaworthy! I really found this museum fascinating. I love the spirit of adventure that comes from this museum (as well as the Fram Museum).

All 3 museums on Bygdoy - the Kon Tiki Museum, the Fram Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum are all must sees in Oslo.

Hours:
01.01 - 28.02: 10.30 - 15.30
01.03-31.03: 10.30 - 16.00
01.04-31.05: 10.00 - 17.00
01.06 -31.08: 09.30-17.30
01.09-30.09: 10.00 - 17.00
01.10-31.10: 10.30 -16.00
01.11 - 31.12: 10.30 - 15.30

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N.B. There are different floor levels in the exhibition areas which, in the subdued lighting, are not always seen. We saw two people trip and fall while we were there, one of whom was taken to hospital.

The Kon-Tiki Museum houses boats and artefacts from Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions including the original Kon-Tiki raft (1947) with a 30 foot whale shark below it, statues and a secret family cave from Easter Island (1956), the papyrus boat Ra II (1970), and a collection of archaeological finds from Easter Island, East Polynesia, Galapagos and Peru.
Heyerdahl was an adventurist scientific explorer who lived out his beliefs.

Tigris - only models and pictures can be seen of this vessel built in 1978 to prove that there could have been contact and cultural exchanges between the great cultures of Mesopotamia, the Indus valley and Egypt across the sea. The same Indians who built Ra II aided with the construction of this boat. This time it was built in Iraq using the local berdi reeds. At over 50 foot long and with a crew of 11, Tigris was Thor Heyerdahl’s largest reed craft. The expedition headed down the River Tigris through the Persian Gulf and into the Indian Ocean. After around 5 months the voyage came to a sudden end at the entrance to the Red Sea. Due to wars ranging all around, Tigris was not allowed leave the harbour in Djibouti.
In protest against the wars, Heyerdahl eventually set fire to Tigris.

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The Kon-Tiki Museum exhibits Thor Heyerdahl's rafts Kon-Tiki and Ra II with information about his expeditions.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the south Pacific in Pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to them at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so.

The first trip began on April 28, 1947 and lasted 101 days.

The book Kon-Tiki was a best-seller, and a documentary motion picture of the expedition won an Academy Award in 1951.

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Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of the popular book that Heyerdahl wrote about his adventures.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the south Pacific in Pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to them at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so.

Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where they constucted a balsa wood raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style (as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores). This trip began on April 28, 1947. Accompanied by five companions, Heyerdahl sailed it for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The only modern equipment they had was a radio.

The book Kon-Tiki was a best-seller, and a documentary motion picture of the expedition won an Academy Award in 1951.

The original Kon-Tiki is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo

is located on the Bygdøy Peninsula.
The main attraction of the museum is a wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, on which Thor Heyerdahl made his famous journey across the Pacific in 1947 to prove the theory that the first Polynesian settlers could have sailed almost 7000 km between Peru and Polynesia.

The museum also contains the original reed raft, Ra II, on which Heyerdahl sailed across the Atlantic in 1970. Besides the rafts there is a huge stuffed whale shark, artefacts from his expeditions and exhibits from his visits to Easter Island, and an intriguing collection of archaeological finds from Easter Island, Galapagos, East Polynesia and Peru.

Opening Time:
Daily except public holidays 9am to 5.30pm (June to August)
10.30am to 4pm (January to March)
10am to 5pm (April to May and September to October)

Admission: NOK40 (adults), NOK20 (children)

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This museum is dedicated to modern Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. The museum contains two boats Heyerdahl used, the Kon Tiki, he sailed from South America to Polynesia and the RA II he sailed across the Atlantic. Both journeys helped prove that pre-historic America could have had contact with other cultures.