My journey to the land of the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis began with a flight to Bodo, Norway, where I boarded the MS Trollfjord with Hurtigruten. Bodo is the administrative capital of Nordland at 67°17’N (the Arctic Circle is at 66°33’N) with more than 1.5 million visitors every year. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains including several islands, including the Lofoten Islands.
We set off at 3pm on what Hurtigruten describes as a "working ship" as they are the lifeline of coastal Norway. The ships serve as a vital transport for vehicles, goods, and locals who travel from port to port and the Hurtigruten fleet makes stops at 34 ports of call, from Bergen to Kirkenes in six nights with the return southbound journey taking five nights.
Since the ship had already crossed the Arctic Circle, a “Polar Baptism” was to take place on deck. “King Neptune” was scooping ice cubes in a small bowl and shoving it down the back of our necks. Not for the faint hearted.
We disembarked at Stamsund on the Lofoten Islands to experience a Viking feast at a "Viking house," recreated with exhibits of the Viking age. Later we reached Svolvaer where we boarded our ship. We then passed through the famous Trollfjord late in the night. “No fear of the trolls throwing stones in the night. The captain is aware the trolls sleep for 1,000 years after their midday nap.
The cruise also took us to Harstad, the central meeting point for the islands that cluster around Norway’s largest island, Hinnoy. Breakfast usually involves fish - the Norwegians love fish - whether herring in tomato sauce, herring in chili sauce and herring in……well…pretty much everything. I tried all of them the first day and moved on to cheese, eggs, honey and jam for the rest of my stay. Lunches were always a buffet with much more variety. Dinner was a set menu.
There was a short break at Finnsnes before we reached Tromso, at which point I decided to take the Dog Sled Tour. Well, there was no dog sled tour as there was hardly any snow! Instead we played with the Huskies and learnt about Mushing & Iditarod - the longest Mushing race held in Alaska which runs from Anchorage to Nome.
That night it was cold and the sky was brilliantly clear. We all sensed something…..and then we saw the Aurora Borealis! It was like God’s own laser show and truly nature at its best.
The Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon caused by electrically charged solar particles passing into the Earth’s atmosphere. Also known as the Aurora Borealis, which means ‘dawn of the north’, the aurora can appear abruptly filling the sky with incredible speed with great arcs as ghostly wisps in green, yellow, red and violet dance above the horizon before disappearing again.
Thin faint green or yellowish green streams of clouds were moving all over the horizon very rapidly, changing shapes constantly. And on the opposite side of the Horizon it seemed like somebody suddenly turned on a few yellowish green spotlights from the ground, pointing skywards, disappearing just as suddenly as it appeared. It was an awesome sight but after a while I decided to call it a night. There was a two-man live band playing but I was in no mood for music. Aurora Borealis was like visual music to me.
The next day took us to Honningsvag, gateway for the North Cape 31km away. We had crossed the 71st Parallel and were on top of the world! The Northern most point on the European continent. This was Finnmark, where Sami, Russian and Finnish cultures overlap each other. The visit to North Cape was one of the highlights of the cruise itinerary.
That evening on deck was displayed with pomp, the catch of the day - King Crabs, well cooked! It was my last evening and I was on the deck breathing crisp cold air. The sun setting behind the mountains was a spectacular sight. Not too many hours of sunlight at this time of the year. Soon the land will remain in darkness for a couple of months. The Norwegians have lived a lifetime and continue to do so, with this phenomenon. A voyage to the land of the Northern Lights is an absolute must for anyone who enjoys nature. It is no doubt the worlds’ most beautiful voyage! My journey had come to an end. The memory of it had just begun!
photo: Flickr/Image Editor
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