Spacious cabin - Nordic cool style

Welcome to Ustaoset! We have named our cherished cabin Indaba - which means "meeting place" - and this is exactly what our cabin is about: A meeting place between people, cultures, nature, mountains, art, craft, tradition and modernity. Our cabin is a so-called "Ål-hytte", an architectural classic, designed more than 50 years ago - but still today regarded as modern in the typical Scandi cool style. Not pretentious, not showing off - but solid craftsmanship, built on centuries of traditions. We work and live part of the time in Africa, we travel a lot, and the interior of our cabin reflects meeting of cultures and people. We escape as often as we can to our Indaba, and we hope that you also will enjoy this meeting place as much as we do. The cabin is situated in a typical Norwegian "cabin village, named Hovdestølen, meaning that there will be other cabins around, which again is why it is feasible to have running water, electricity and stable internet. You will have access to 4 bedrooms + extra sleeping space in the attic, 2 bathrooms, sauna, and the big lounge contains an open space kitchen, large dining table, sofa, daybed and a "reading corner". In addition there is a spacious entrance area, a separate room with washing machine and tumble dryer, and a most useful "bod" for storage. We do not have a tv, but instead a projector and screen for watching films/streaming. There are several outdoor spaces, which you can access from different parts of the cabin. Highly recommended is the outdoor area in front of the tiny "composer's hut", fantastic place for some nice morning coffee. Although it might be that we will not meet you in person during your stay, we will always be available via phone and/or email. Starting from the cabin you will have a great variety of outdoors activities available - in winter skiing and kiting, of course - in summer, hiking, fishing, cycling...... There are a lot of nearby activities to enjoy - please refer to the guide. As mentioned above our cabin is part of a "cabin village", meaning that there are other cabins around, some of them have been here for more than 50 years, and some are brand new. The community here is friendly and relaxed, with a quiet lifestyle typical for these kind of "cabin villages". Most of our guests arrive by car, or by train. If you arrive by train, please let us know in advance, and we will assist you with booking of snow scooter/taxi transport from the Ustaoset train station, approx 2,5 kms from our cabin. For cars: 3 cars can easily park at the designated parking lots outside the cabin. In winter: The roads and the parking lots are snow cleared whenever needed by Even, our great "snow angel". There is also a bus stop some 400 meters from the cabin, down at the main road, with daily routes to Geilo and Haugastøl. Tourism in this part of Norway has grown considerably over the last years, and the R7 road passing over the Hardangervidda plateau is on most tourists' "bucket list" - first and foremost during summer, when the road is easily accessible. Whereas during winter you hardly notice any cars, you will so in summer. So if you look for a place to stay in complete silence, you should probably avoid our area...