As promised, this is the travelogue for my trip to Norway.
How it was planned - asked a friend for a long due dinner at her place (being a single bachelor guy, this is like a dream right? I am talking about the food... ;-) Getting good home cooked food. So I absolutely don't shy away from asking anyone for a meal. :-)). Anyhow, so pinged her and she invited me for the Christmas weekend. And then, I randomly asked her to plan some trip for the weekend as I really didn't want to stay at home alone for the 3 day weekend. And we started looking for places close by where we could drive to. Then asked a dutch colleague of mine for some suggestions... and he said go to Oslo. Checked the ticket prices, didn't look too bad. Asked a couple of more friends.. and it was booked. :-) I luv such quick decisions and random plans that come out of nowhere. And remember, this was a Wednesday and we were talking about that same coming weekend.
Had to leave on Saturday morning. Went out with some colleagues for some pub hopping on Friday night. The clear aim on that night was to come back home by 9 or so, get good sleep, and go to Norway. What happened was - reached home at around 1, didn't get good sleep, and went to Norway. :-)
Reached Oslo, checked-in to the hostel, and went out for a long walk across the city. That's the best way to see / feel a city. The city had a good feel to it but couldn't create a perception in my mind coz being Christmas, the entire city was shut down.. so it really was not going too well. A pub was thankfully open.. so went there in the night.. and it turned out to be a good pub...! Met some people there who were very fond of India and one of the guys had worked in India for 3 years..! So good fun there. Though it was fucking expensive...! Over a cigarette, asked a barman as to why is the city so expensive and the response - "We are rich people and we don't mind paying!".. you got to be kidding me.. :-)
Then had one of the most delicious kebabs I have ever tasted... shish kebab! So good food also. It was decided that the next day morning, we will drive to Bergen as there is anyways nothing to do in the city. It was some 8 hour drive from Oslo.
Next day morning, picked up a car from the airport (again.. freakingly expensive... I mean some 500 euros for a Skoda for 2 days... ! But had no other choice so took it.) And started the drive. Kept on driving and driving and saw that Norway is truly stunningly beautiful! The fjords, snow, beautiful roads... amazing drive. This is what we were driving through:
A frozen fjord.. picture perfect:
It was an amazing experience. And then the nirvana moment happened for me... and all the money that I spent in the expensive Norway, every penny was feeling worth it after that! I had no complaints.
Reached Bergen, could not find any hotel there! :-) A pub was open till 2:30 am... so the plan was to sit in there and sip on the beers till it is open, rest for a while in the car... and start the journey back early in the morning to make it for the flights in the evening. Yes.. we were getting adventurous.. :-)
Did exactly that.. slept in the car for a couple of hours... and started our journey back. Roads got closed due to heavy snow fall and storm. So had to take a detour.. and it was freakingly long... and the flight was under threat.. :-) it was a race against time and due to the black ice on the roads, you couldn't even go too fast. And in all this struggle, we take a turn... and there's a mini-van coming sliding at us horizontally and we can do nothing about it. It crashed into our car... and that is how the pursuit for the flight ended.. :-) thankfully, none got injured.
The pickup truck came, insurance papers filled in, took us to another alternate rental car and we started our journey again. The entire process was some experience. From the initial shock to the final sinking in. But the next three hours that I drove, were painful... because of the black ice.. and super slippery roads. But it's fine.
Then to the Oslo airport, rebookings done, arranged the stay for the night at the same hostel, went out to eat something. Went to HRC (missed out before since it was closed). So kind of a blessing in disguise as I did want to go there... Couldn't take the tshirt as the rockshop was closed but at least had a beer at the HRC. This is the second missed tshirt now after London. Anyhow.
The next day, took the flight and no more adventures then. Reached home in the afternoon. That's how the trip ended. Very expensive trip (more so because of the rebookings) but the experiences that this trip gave me, I think it really was worth it. And I promise another date with Norway sometime. It is just too beautiful to stop me from going there..!
Cheers to the gorgeous Norway!
P.S. As you might have realized, we were driving on most part of the trip, and the road conditions really didn't let us make too many stops. So I don't have many pictures from the trip.
How it was planned - asked a friend for a long due dinner at her place (being a single bachelor guy, this is like a dream right? I am talking about the food... ;-) Getting good home cooked food. So I absolutely don't shy away from asking anyone for a meal. :-)). Anyhow, so pinged her and she invited me for the Christmas weekend. And then, I randomly asked her to plan some trip for the weekend as I really didn't want to stay at home alone for the 3 day weekend. And we started looking for places close by where we could drive to. Then asked a dutch colleague of mine for some suggestions... and he said go to Oslo. Checked the ticket prices, didn't look too bad. Asked a couple of more friends.. and it was booked. :-) I luv such quick decisions and random plans that come out of nowhere. And remember, this was a Wednesday and we were talking about that same coming weekend.
Had to leave on Saturday morning. Went out with some colleagues for some pub hopping on Friday night. The clear aim on that night was to come back home by 9 or so, get good sleep, and go to Norway. What happened was - reached home at around 1, didn't get good sleep, and went to Norway. :-)
Reached Oslo, checked-in to the hostel, and went out for a long walk across the city. That's the best way to see / feel a city. The city had a good feel to it but couldn't create a perception in my mind coz being Christmas, the entire city was shut down.. so it really was not going too well. A pub was thankfully open.. so went there in the night.. and it turned out to be a good pub...! Met some people there who were very fond of India and one of the guys had worked in India for 3 years..! So good fun there. Though it was fucking expensive...! Over a cigarette, asked a barman as to why is the city so expensive and the response - "We are rich people and we don't mind paying!".. you got to be kidding me.. :-)
Then had one of the most delicious kebabs I have ever tasted... shish kebab! So good food also. It was decided that the next day morning, we will drive to Bergen as there is anyways nothing to do in the city. It was some 8 hour drive from Oslo.
Next day morning, picked up a car from the airport (again.. freakingly expensive... I mean some 500 euros for a Skoda for 2 days... ! But had no other choice so took it.) And started the drive. Kept on driving and driving and saw that Norway is truly stunningly beautiful! The fjords, snow, beautiful roads... amazing drive. This is what we were driving through:
 |
| The Drive - Oslo to Bergen |
It was an amazing experience. And then the nirvana moment happened for me... and all the money that I spent in the expensive Norway, every penny was feeling worth it after that! I had no complaints.
Reached Bergen, could not find any hotel there! :-) A pub was open till 2:30 am... so the plan was to sit in there and sip on the beers till it is open, rest for a while in the car... and start the journey back early in the morning to make it for the flights in the evening. Yes.. we were getting adventurous.. :-)
Did exactly that.. slept in the car for a couple of hours... and started our journey back. Roads got closed due to heavy snow fall and storm. So had to take a detour.. and it was freakingly long... and the flight was under threat.. :-) it was a race against time and due to the black ice on the roads, you couldn't even go too fast. And in all this struggle, we take a turn... and there's a mini-van coming sliding at us horizontally and we can do nothing about it. It crashed into our car... and that is how the pursuit for the flight ended.. :-) thankfully, none got injured.
The pickup truck came, insurance papers filled in, took us to another alternate rental car and we started our journey again. The entire process was some experience. From the initial shock to the final sinking in. But the next three hours that I drove, were painful... because of the black ice.. and super slippery roads. But it's fine.
 |
| The Painful Iced-up Drive |
The next day, took the flight and no more adventures then. Reached home in the afternoon. That's how the trip ended. Very expensive trip (more so because of the rebookings) but the experiences that this trip gave me, I think it really was worth it. And I promise another date with Norway sometime. It is just too beautiful to stop me from going there..!
Cheers to the gorgeous Norway!
P.S. As you might have realized, we were driving on most part of the trip, and the road conditions really didn't let us make too many stops. So I don't have many pictures from the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment