NORWAY'S SVALBARD A Polar Tea Break

Norway, a country blessed with glaciers, magnificent Fjords and majestic mountains has been on the radar of adventure tourists for a long time now

- Subhasish Chakraborty

This part of the world has also been a much-preferred locale for shooting Films, due largely to Norway's stupendous diversity of landscape and topography. The temptation of blissfully resting in the midst of the awesome Northern Lights, for instance, has lured many a visitor to this fascinating country in Scandinavia. The best part of visiting Norway is that it is "UNSPOILT" 

We boarded the Air India flight from Delhi and landed in Oslo, the capital of Norway. With me was my friend Pradip Chakraborty who has been working as a silent crusader of Assam's Tea Tourism for close to three decades. Our mission was to explore an opportunity to do an Ad Film on Assam Tea in the icy backdrop of Norway.

Needless to say, we were fatigued after the 14-hour flight. But, having done our pre-departure homework meticulously, the transition to Scandinavia was smooth. With hotel bookings in place, cruise ship holidays reserved, bespoke sightseeing itineraries and multiple vantage locations for Ad Films selected well in advance, we were all set for a Rollercoaster Norway sojourn.

Hats off to the mandarins of Norway's Tourism Department - Visit Norway! They have a dedicated Media & Press Centre and the executives are not just knowledgeable but also have deep insight into Norwegian culture and lifestyle. Since we had come up with the primary business of shooting an Ad Film on Assam Tea, the Media Centre was well prepared with their plan of action, offering us a multiplicity of suggestions to choose the most appropriate locale for shooting the documentary.