A beautiful house tucked away in a far distant land.Rooms with mesmerizing views of the snow covered alps and sea.A never done before fun activity in the morning and a relaxing dip in jacuzzi amidst the alps,in the evening.Home cooked awesome food,prepared by our super-talented friends.A fantastic host-who baked mouth-watering delicious cake for us.A friendly tour guide-,who cared for our experience ,more than his money.Chit-chatting the night away,while waiting for the glimpse of the Aurora Borealis,And to top it all,experiencing all this with your favorite friends and the love of your life. Can a holiday get any better?
I had read reviews of Koppangen Brygger and seen photos.Secluded place,stocking up food,difficulty to find a tour operator,everything hinted on the location being phenomenal,but I didn?t somehow have extremely high expectations.Fortunately,my expectations were not met,they were surpassed.A location so perfect ,that it needs no prop to enhance it. Alf,our host and the owner is a lovely helpful guy.He has maintained the property well too. Also ,the rate at which he offers,is unbelievable.We booked a 4BHK cabin for 2 nights at 3000 kronos(i.e like 27000INR divided by 3 couples).
From Tromso,you can drive down to Lyngen Alps or take the ferry which takes 15 mins.We had asked our tour operator to pick and drop us from Tromso. From the airport ,we headed straight to Comfort Hotel,Tromso; where our other friends were staying.Our next stop was the local store to buy food.We shopped as if we were out there only to cook and eat.After almost an hour and 3 bags full,we headed to the port to take the ferry..Happily clicking pictures and eating in the cafe,our destination arrived and we were unaware.Realizing,we were the only ones left in the ferry,we hurried down. Asbjørn(our tour guide),had come to receive us. After our greetings ,we sat in the car and headed towards our hotel.We were chatting,joking when I realized I forgot my handbag in the ferry.I panicked,as it contained my wallet ,which had the travel card and cash. We asked Asbjørn for help and he immediately called someone in the ferry to check.The reply was positive.He assured us,someone from his office will pick it up and he would give it to us in the night,when he comes to pick us up for the chase.I couldn't believe my luck, that a purse with so much valuable would be returned safely.
Koppangen is an hour drive from the port.And the drive is simply breathtaking. I felt I am being transported to a fairy land.After a while, the beauty of the place started sinking in .We freshened up and headed out to play in snow. In March,it gets dark after 8,so we had enough time to play ,till the child in all of us was content.Poo and Sanket ,love cooking and they dished out delicious food to satiate our hunger.It was Poo's birthday,next day and we forgot to buy cake.We asked Alf for help and he asked his wife to bake chocolate cake.He not only personally got the cake,but also searched the Hindi song ?Tum Jiyo Hazaro Saal on Youtube and played it .Asbjørn came at 9 with the news that the weather is bad today too and he will advise us to not go since it would be waste of money.We mutually decided not to do the tour.After few hours of chit-chatting and munching,tiredness kicked in and we resigned ourselves in the warm blankets.
I don?t know what is it about sunrise ,that excites me.Next morning,I woke up early to watch the sunrise over the Alps.I went down the hall ,prepared tea for myself and sat by the window.Gazing through my window,I witnessed the sun spreading its wings over the sky.I am not sure ,how long I sat there alone,till my another friend came down.We then cooked breakfast for the others.We were ready by the time ,Asbjørn came to pick us up .
We had booked Dog-Sledding activity.We geared up for the activity,wore the warm suits and snow boots.Our trainer was a beautiful young lady from Hungary.She gave a brief on the Do?s and Dont?s for about 5 minutes.We were ready and eagerly waiting to start sledding,only to realize the dogs were more eager than us.5 dogs are tied together and they pull the sled.One person sits and the other controls the sled.As soon as we took our respective position on the sled,the dogs started barking incessantly.Though the brakes are in our control,it takes quite an effort to stop it as the dogs are ready to run. Sledding through the snow covered mountains is pure bliss and super fun.(must must do). It takes a lot of effort for the person who is controlling the sled. There are two/three stops for the dogs to relax.You can switch places then. It is a 2 hour activity and you don't even realize how time flies. When we were back ,we helped to untie the dogs and take them to their home. Generally the dog sledding comes with a lunch package, however Asbjørn told us not to go for it,since most of us were vegetarian and he would minus the food price.(He was an absolute sweetheart)
On our way back,we halted at different locations for pictures . Evening we requested Alf for using the hot water tub. As we dipped in the hot water,our eyes feasted on the beautiful surroundings and our body relaxed.This holiday was turning out to be a luxurious one and that too unplanned. Ahh little joys of life!!
However the weather God had not blessed us yet. The night was predicted to be cloudy and would open up only after 2.30. We waited in the Alps,wishing our luck would change. We were out at 2 with our cameras chasing the lights. We were running out of luck and energy.Next day promised to be better,with clear sky.This was our last night,in this beautiful heaven.Two days in the wilderness of the Alps,affirmed the wanderlust in me.Hoping for at least a glimpse of the dancing lady,we slept close to dawn.
Koppangen Brygger-http://www.koppangenbrygger.no/
Tour Operator-www.auroraalps.no
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