Norway, January 14 – 21, 2013.

This is a trip with the primary objective of seeing the Northern Lights, which is at its 11-year cycle peak.  We will be staying at the Lyngen Lodge, a “luxurious” bed-and-breakfast located within the arctic circle, about a 2 hour 30 minute drive from Tromso at 69 degrees North.  At the prices they charge, they better be. We will get to spend some time in Tromso and Oslo also.

Monday Jan 14.  Kuau came by to pick us up.  We had to check in luggage because we brought a lot of winter clothes with us since we have some outdoor activities scheduled during the trip.  The flight was reasonably full, but Anne and I got adjoining aisle seats with empty middle seats.  The gentleman sitting next to me is a Norwegian-American in his late 80s who moved to the United States 64 years ago.  He was flying back to celebrate his brother’s 90^th birthday!  UA38 was uneventful except for the occasional bump, and we landed about 30 minutes ahead of time.

Tuesday Jan 15.  We touched down at 9:15 am or so, so we believed we would have a lot of time to make our 11:45 am connection.  It was a 757 that we flew over in, so the baggage process should be mostly manual.  And it took us 1:30 hr to have our luggage delivered.  So instead of trying to find a lounge to relax, we ended up having to go to the domestic terminal straight away.  Turns out it was really straightforward to do so.

SK4416 was only about 1/3 full, and Anne and I both got 3 seats to ourselves so we could look out the window.  The sun was only supposed to be out about 30 minutes in Tromso today, but the period during which there was considerable light was quite a bit longer.  Our 1:45 hr flight into Tromso was also smooth.  I was quite surprised at how untidy the plane was, both our seat pockets had stuff left inside from previous flights.

We took the airport bus into town, at NOK70 each, and the hotel was only a couple of blocks away from the bus stop.  After checking in, we still had enough time to visit a couple of places.  The Planetariums is associated with the University of Tromso, we went there mostly for the Northern Lights presentation which explained the science behind the phenomenon, and showed how spectacular the displays could be.  We saw a strange building across the fjord while on the bus, and found out that it was the Arctic Cathedral.  It was quite easy to take (another) bus over, but the place isn’t nearly as large or as impressive as a view from a distance would suggest, so we stayed there for about 20 minutes.  We had to wait in the cold for about 15 minutes before the next bus came.

Speaking of cold, it is really not that bad, with temperatures dipping down to no more than (say) 5 degrees C below zero (about 18F).

We checked out the local restaurants and found out most dishes were in the NOK200 to NOK300 range, and didn’t feel like paying for them.  Dinner was thus at Burger King – we still have yet to see a MacDonalds), NOK154 for the two of us, more than twice what we expect to pay at a US Burger King.

Hotel: City Living Hotel, Tromso

SK4416 Enroute Oslo to Tromso

Nearing Tromso. The landscape is quite rugged, thanks to the glaciers that also carved out a lot of fjords in this part of Europe.

Tromso.  Walking from bus stop to hotel.

Arctic Cathedral across the channel from Tromso.  We waited for 20 minutes in the freezing cold to catch the bus back to town.  Turns out another stop around the corner had more frequent service.\

Display in Science Center, located on the campus of Tromso University.

How do you get this 3D relief image of yourself?

By sticking your face into these pins.

Wednesday Jan 16.  We checked out of the hotel late, and took the bus back to the airport, arriving at around noon.  The group from Hong Kong we were to meet with were waiting for their luggage, having just landed.  The owner of the Lyngen Lodge was there waiting for us with a bus (and driver).  We hopped on it, and it was about a three hour drive to the Lodge.  Along the way we stopped by a Sami Cultural Center for a short visit.  The Sami are the indigenous people of North Scandinavia and Northwest Russia, totaling about 100,000, 50,000 of whom live in Norway.  As with many other countries, there is considerable effort to restore nature cultures to the aboriginals; this is no exception.  We got a talk on the people and heard some songs sang by the locals.  For me the surprising thing is that I won’t be able to tell a Sami from a Norwegian.

It was already quite dark by the time we got to the Lodge.  It is just like the photos on their website, other than it was a bit smaller than I expected.

The main course for the dinner was reindeer steak, which I quite enjoyed.  After dinner we heard a talk by Jan R Olsen (facebook.com/janrolsenfoto) who showed us some pictures he took and the camera settings he used to get them.  Even though Elisabeth told us the forecast for NL was only a “1” (out of a 10-point scale), we were surprised to see wisps of light when we got out at about 10 pm which eventually developed into some sort of a show.  Unfortunately I didn’t quite know how to use Ellie’s camera which we borrowed for this trip, and thus only got blurry images.  We were still quite happy.

Lodging for 3 nights: Lyngen Lodge

Polaria designed as falling dominoes.  We would visit this place a couple of days later.

Arctic Cathedral with a steep mountain as its backdrop.

Tromso Domkirke in the center of town.

 Sunrise and sunset were about one hour apart.  Beautiful colors in either case.

A brief visit to the Sami Center.

Sisters sharing (or rather displaying) an Elk burger.

Thursday Jan 17.  It was an early start at 8 am.  The group took two separate vans and drove to Olderdalen to get across the fjord on a car ferry, arriving at Lyngsiedet.  It was then a relatively long drive (about 90 minutes) to get to Camp Tamok which is quite close to the Swedish border.  We put on overalls, boots, and hats, got trained in the basics of dog sledding, and then set off on our first dog sledding trip.

Each sled is pulled by a team of five dogs.  These are Alaskan Huskies, much smaller than I expected (around 50 lbs each), and are surprising eager to run. Even though as working dogs they probably will never see the inside of a house, they are surprising tame.  A sled accommodates two passengers: I was the driver, Anne was the passenger.  The trip was about 15 km (per the website lyngsfjiod.com)

A few interesting observations.  Braking is by stepping on a a couple of blades that dig into the ground.  Sometimes the dogs sensed what you wanted to do and not much effort is required, sometimes they either didn’t understand me or didn’t care, and wanted to keep going.  In those instances I would have to use both feet to try to stop them.  If the slope is steep, the driving needs to get off and help push the sled along.  Being working dogs they never learned the art of being walked and thus did their business while running, gross yet interesting.  One of the females in our dog team actually kept marking the territory.  For a first time driver, hanging on required a lot of concentration.  During some level stretches I could relax and found the experience quite enjoyable.  We did lose our balance and our sled tipped over, spilling Anne out of her seat into the snow.  Good thing we were not close to any tree and therefore only our pride was hurt.

I read in a copy of National Geographic that the dogs used in the Military’s patrol of the Norwegian Coast are killed (by their handlers no less) when the service life is over.  I don’t want to know what happens with these rather lovely dogs when they retire from service.

We drove all the way back after having a simple soup and bread lunch, a trip that took about 2 hours.  It turns out it is a shorter ride from Tromso, go figure.

Dinner was at 7:30 pm.  Today was a buffet, including meat balls (probably made from game) and an elk stew, both of which I liked.

The evening sky was unfortunately overcast.  We were debating if the green color we saw in the horizon was NL or not.

Locations we visited.

Signage to Lyngen Lodge.

Living Room area.

Dining Room.

Danny and Theresa traveled with us for the dog sled ride.

Pulled along by a team of 5 dogs.  Mille (brown) and Scooby are the last two.

 Not making much progress.  They love to frolick in the snow.

We didn't see any houses during our 2 hour 15 km trek.

With our guide Samantha.

Friday Jan 18.  It was unusually warm today, the melting snow on top of ice on roadways make traveling hazardous at times.  Tom, our activities director, is quite experience with these conditions, but the other guide is newer and started the days nearly driving the van into a ditch.

We drove about 20 minutes North on the major highway, and then another 20 minutes or so on secondary roads to get to a place where we were met with several snowmobiles pulling sleds behind them.  Each of these contraptions can take three passengers, and off we went.  The conditions were such that at some point we had to get off and got taken up the hill one by one.  After stopping to take in the desolation (and for some to start worrying if we would make it back), we drove onto a frozen to do some ice fishing.  We had about 10 holes drilled, but no bite at all for about 30 minutes.  The guides then showed us how to drive these vehicles, which we took turns driving.

Lunch was soup served in a tepee-like structure.  The cream salmon soup was delicious, and we were hungry.  Nonetheless, this was more hardship and desolation than most would want to encounter, so we headed back to the Lodge.

It was about 2:30 pm when we got back.  I took a nap after having afternoon tea, and Anne went on a snow-shoe hike, which she enjoyed.

For dinner we had king crabs legs for appetizer and bacon-wrapped cod for entrée.

As to the Northern Lights, the day stayed overcast and rain had turned to snow.  Our last chance would be Tromso tomorrow.

 Group on the frozen lake.

 No one had the requisite patience to wait for a bite.

 At least we are warm enough in these overalls.

 Anne and Elaine inside the small cab hitched to a snowmobile.

Seeking warmth inside a tepee-like tent.  The soup (being cooked in the background) was delicious.  Or we were quite hungry.

Saturday Jan 19.  We had a leisurely breakfast this morning.  After saying goodbye to Elisabeth the co-owner of the Lodge, we got on the bus for our return to Tromso.  There was some 2” of snow on the ground, and snowing moderately, so the driver decided to take the route that would get us across two fjords via ferries.  The first one is the same one we took to the dog sledding place: Olderdalen to Lyngseidet, the second one was a bit shorter at about 25 minutes, Svensby-Breivikeidet, and the scenery was quite out of this world as we drove along a fjord to get to the embarkation point.  It took us about 3 hours to get to Tromso, but we arrived in one piece.

We first stopped at the Arctic Cathedral for some pictures (we had been there before), and then check into our hotel.  Afterwards we walked with Elaine and Larry to the Polaria after stopping for a quick lunch.  At the Polaria we caught two short videos on the North Norwegian landscape and the Northern Lights, saw some seals, and some aquarium fish.  The wolf fishes (two kinds) were the ugliest yet quite interesting.  The visit lasted an hour in total.  After we got back to the hotel, I took another afternoon nap, and then headed off with Elaine and Larry again in search of a place for dinner.  Egon, a chain with many locations in Norway, had available tables, so we ate at this family style restaurant.  The tab for four people was about NOK1100 (we only ordered two diet cokes for drinks), about US$200.  The food was okay, and the staff friendly.  The service was slow, though.  The food took 40 minutes to arrive (they did tell us it would take a while.)  Most restaurants we checked were fully booked, so we were reasonably happy about that.

On the way home we saw another display of the Northern Lights.  This time we captured a few photos.  Anne and I went out again at about 10:30 pm, and saw more of it.  The NLs came back for us one last time around mid-night, but Anne and I decided to stay in our room this time.

Hotel: Rica Ishavshotel, Tromso

Small marina.  Evidently these boats still run in the middle of winter, the warm currents and the tides keep the harbors from being frozen.

Oldendalen Ferry Terminal.

Reindeer.

 In front of Arctic Cathedral again.  This time during the day, and it was snowing.

 Statue of a whaler.  Downtown Tromso.

 Inside the Polaria.  These wolf fish are contenders for the ugliest fish.  And they bit.

 Hotel Ishavshotel in the background.

Sunday Jan 20.  We woke up at around 8:30 am this morning and thus had a late breakfast.  We took a walk around the waterfront, and soon it was 12 noon, time to hop on the bus to get to the airport.  The bus ride was less than 15 minutes, and it took us less than 15 minutes to get through the automatic check-in system and security.  The TOS airport is very small and doesn’t have a lounge, so we sat around for about an hour before we started boarding at 11:45 am or so.  This plane was full: I didn’t see any empty seat.  At Oslo we said our goodbyes.

The train ride to town took about 20 minutes, but was quite expensive at about $30 per ticket.  Our hotel is a short walk from the train station.  After settling down at the hotel, we walked to the Opera House (through the train station) and bought two tickets for the Chamber Opera “The Rape of Lucretia.”  It is a rather dark opera, but was the only thing available for a winter Sunday evening in the city, evidently.  The opera was relatively short, from 6:30 pm to 9 pm.  The Opera House seems to have an interesting design, but we couldn’t quite explore it in the dark in the depth of winter.  The design of the Men’s Room is quite interesting.  The event took place in the secondary theater, not the main building. We then went to the Train Station Egon and had a soup and shared an appetizer combo.  To my surprise, the food here cost the same here as it did in Tromso; so it is expensive throughout Norway.

Hotel: Thon Astoria, Oslo.

Oslo Opera House is located next to a harbor.

Striking architecture inside.

Even the Men's room is quite interesting.

We came here to see an opera, after all.

Monday Jan 21.  We again walked to the train station.  One wheel had fallen off our luggage so it was a bit of hauling.  The architecture of several buildings in Oslo along the tracks was quite interesting. Everything worked, and both Anne and I again had empty seats next to us.  We saw again the gentleman going back for a birthday party.  Ellie and Kuau picked us up, and we had an early dinner at King Chef.

Interesting architecture in Oslo along the train tracks.