Balestrand- Norway (Norge)

Balestrand- Fjord town

 Last summer my husband and I went to Norway, it was a well planned trip and me being the super planner /organiser I managed to find some awesome deals. Before I go any further I must mention that Norway is super expensive BUT if you dig and do your research one can manage it and stay within budget. Now summer in Norway is a busy time, flocked by tourist from all over the world finding accommodation within your budget could be a challenge (even Airbnb) and the only reason we choose Balestrand was because it was the only place we could find a decent hotel within out budget, fortunately it was a blessing in disguise, our Norway trip was spread over 10 days and Balestrand was the last leg of our trip.

We started our trip from Oslo, it took us just about 6 hours by bus from where we live the Swebus tickets were cheap and the bus comfortable. I will write about the Oslo-Bergen-Balestrand journey in another post.

If you plan to go to Balestrand by public transport that is by the Express boat and if you don't have a car it is best to buy the Norled Fjordcard, we bought the 5 days Fjordcard each costing 995 NOK ( 1250 NOK 2017 summer price) but it is an awesome way to explore the Fjord towns in Sognefjord. We bought the Fjordcard from Bergen and made full use of it. We visited  few other fjord towns and loved every part of the explore Sognefjord tour.

 Food in whole of Norway is expensive, I personally don't like burgers or Mcdonalds food but even the cheapest burger in Mcdonalds or Burger King will cost 99 NOK, so we decided to stick to normal food by paying a little extra. In Sweden I can except to have a decent meal in 100 SEK, I am not talking about donor kabab or falafel but a proper meal say a buffet in a good (not so fancy) restaurant, sometimes we can have lunch even in 65 SEK say at the small Thai-Chinese takeaway food kiosk/restaurant but in Norway that is just not possible. A decent meal will cost 200 NOK or more. So while selecting Hotel accommodation I was careful to book in hotels which included breakfast, in fact the hotel we stayed in Bergen (amazing location)  included even dinner.  So it is important to check what all are included in the price and select hotels carefully.

 Balestrand is a very picturesque town with just about 1500 inhabitants, perfect for a quite and soul searching trip. The view of snow capped mountains and the fjord was not just serene but had such a calming effect on me, the town is also know for some landmark places like the Kvikne hotel, the wooden structure with the view of the fjord I am sure will make anyone fall in love with this place.

Kvikne hotel

View from the balcony....breathtaking...oh yes

 The sunset was late and the sunrise early but when the view is as beautiful as this I was more than happy that the days are very long and nights short or rather very short. We stayed at this hotel called Mintnes and had the most amazing view from the room. The three days went so quick that I immediately regretted spending three days in Oslo. Norway just took our breath away and of all the countries I have visited I have to admit that its the most beautiful and wonderful of all. The mountain, fjord and nature everything was breathtakingly beautiful. I am a mountain girl, I feel most at peace and home in the mountains but the combination of the snow capped mountains + water made me  wishing for a trip to Norway every summer, we do plan to visit Norway as often as possible and we are yet to explore and visit more amazing places.

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A Holiday post- Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar

Sunset- View from Table Land Panchgani

I visited Panchgani with my husband few weeks back, after google searching and more google searching we decided to visit Panchgani for a short break. The view of sunset from the famous Table land and the really awesome weather makes Panchgani my current fav. holiday place in India. I used to think that I like sea and beaches more than mountains but off late I have realized that for the kind of person that I am I prefer mountains than sea. Growing up in Imphal and seeing the Mountains almost every day of my life for 17 years, mountains never fascinated me now but for a holiday destination I will choose Mountains over any other destinations because its peaceful

Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are two  very popular holiday destination for people from Gujarat and Maharashtra but I think more popular among the Gujarati's, my husband said he has never seen so many Gujarati's at one place  in any other popular tourist places in India, which was true because almost every car and Bus had a Gujarat number. As Panchgani offers great weather, affordable accommodation and also the proximity to many district in Gujarat I guess that makes Panchgani attractive. But the reason we were attracted to Panchgani was  because it's close to Pune and I just didn't wanted to go to Lonavala or the over hyped Khandala.

Panchgani is a just a little over 100 Kms from Pune, if you travel in your own vehicle it wll take about 2.30 hrs but if you travel by one of those commercial private bus service it will easily take 4-5 hours because they will stop for lunch which will easily take 30-40 mins and also they will stop at so many places that you will easily end up travelling for at least 4 to 5 hrs. If you plan to travel by Public transport the best way is to take the MSRTC buses which is cheap and may even take lesser time. (http://www.msrtc.gov.in/msrtc_live/index-eng.html). We stayed at this really nice place which was 5 mins walk from the main market and the main Bus and Taxi stand,  Hotel Mount View Heritage ( http://www.hotelmountview.co.in/heritage.html) located on the main road and owned by a Parsi family, the property is well maintain and the owners very, very hospitable . The food was really good and the best part was almost all the tourist places were located within walking distance, including the Table Land, if you are in a mood to walk and explore the town I suggest you avoid taking taxi in Panchgani. My husband and I walked till Sidney Point and also till Table Land, which I thought was just a flat mountain top till I saw the Sun set, the view of Sun set is breath taking and I have never seen such a beautiful sunset in my life. What was really amazing was that as I was admiring and watching the sun set I realized that it sun sets very quickly but yes we did managed to take some really amazing shots.  We also visited Mahabaleshwar but it was so crowded that we happily came back to the hotel as soon as possible, the Venna Lake and even the garden next to it was beautiful but it was so crowded that I didn't had the patience to go on one of the boat rides. The Mapro garden was a total disappointment, I thought that garden will have some Strawberry garden but it was just one big overcrowded restaurant which had an empty so callled 'Chocolate Factory' on display. I advice is skip the MAPRO garden and spend some time at the Venna Lake instead.
 
Panchgani is in my list of 'Must visit' places and I plan to make that happen soon :)

Venna Lake