Travel Reflection | 01 Adventure in Snowy World |Tromsø & Oslo, Norway
For people living in a sub-tropical area, the northern lights seem far away from us. When my exchange destination to Denmark was confirmed, “northern lights” appeared on my must-do list.
It is my very first trip after arrival. Surrounded by the snow world, I had never expected to stay in such a cool city. Overall, the trip is quite successful.
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city located in the arctic area. The city center of Tromsø is on the island of Tromsøya.
Latitude: 69°40′58″N (Arctic circle: 66°30′ N )
I spent 3 days in this city. Luckily, I saw everything I wanted to see. My dream came true! Let’s see what I did in this cute city.
1 / Dog Sledding
When it comes to dog sledding, what is the first word that comes into your mind? Cute husky? Romantic? Unable to imagine? I actually have a blank imagination for dog sledding. The reason why I registered for the tour is that my friends longed for it.
And I would give it 5 stars.
The companies picked us up in front of a hotel. We sit on a minibus for about half-hour and headed to nowhere. There was nothing but a few wooden houses.
There was no flushing toilet. You have to deal with “everything” in a hole. However, it was not stinky at all due to the temperature.
It was cold. However, you don’t have to worry about it. The company provides the clothes and gloves needed.
The guide would teach you how to drive the sled. It was not difficult at all. You just needed to learn how to use the brake, or you may say goodbye to your dogs and sled 😂.
Then it is time to start the journey.
Since I attend this tour alone, I partnered with the mother in a family (two people per sled). She is French, but her husband is German. I have no idea which language they use for communication.
At first, I didn’t have the confidence to be the driver. I caught the snow-white view with my eyes. This was what I saw when sitting in the sled ⬇️.
In the first 5 minutes, the road was not even. We went up and down several times.
And… an accident happened! Our sled turned over! I felt myself tilting. I fell from the sled and into the snow. It didn’t hurt. It was quite soft. So… an achievement was unlocked!
In the second half of the trip, I stood in the driver’s position. It was not as hard as my imagination. It was fun! I felt the power of the dogs. The wind blew over my face. The ground and mountains were covered by snow. I was running in the middle of snowy nowhere!
There was another small accident at the end of the sledding. In the last 5 mins of the trip, the guide left his sled with the snow hook attached to deal with something. However, the dogs were too excited and made the hook unattached to the sled. Then SAY GOODBYE TO THE SLED!
＊Facepalm＊
So in the last 5 mins, the guide and I co-drove the sled (I was the second sled). Noval experience!
Since the weather condition was good, the total route was about 18 km. Normally, it should be about 15-16 km.
After the riding, we took the dogs back to their home. It was time to play with the dogs.
There are about 80 huskies there. The ages are between 0.5 to 12 years old. They are easy-going. You can pet them and take pictures with them. For dog lovers. This place is paradise.
Right next to the dogs’ houses, a campfire was waiting for us. We enjoyed the hot drinks and cookies there and had a chat with the guide. The guide told us a lot of stories about raising and training dogs and attending sledding competitions.
For those who come from sub-tropical areas (like me), it is impossible to have this kind of activity without visiting arctic areas.
As for the details of the stories, no spoilers!
2 / Northern Lights Chasing Tour
Aurora aka Northern lights and polar lights. It is on the top of my must-do list during the exchange.
Four essential factors influence the appearance of the lights.
- Right location: you have to visit places in the auroral zone to increase the possibility.
- Auroral activities (there are 2 kinds, but I forget what they are): the activities must be strong enough to generate the lights.
- Cloudless sky: the lights usually appear above the cloud layers, so you should see the stars with bare eyes.
- No light pollution: we only can see a limited number of colors of northern lights with bare eyes, and the artificial lights and moonlights weaken the northern lights. Therefore, we have to stay at a place without light pollution.
Most importantly, you have to be PATIENT.
Northern lights appear anytime. It is better to stare at the sky and wait. The lights may show up for seconds only.
Don’t expect that you will see lights similar to those on the postcards. It’s impossible useless you are extremely lucky. The photographers may chase the lights for tens to hundreds of times to take the photo on the postcards. The first three factors are in the hands of nature. In other words, these are not controllable. So please don’t have high expectations.
After dog sledding, I went back to the city center at about 15:00. I went to meet my friend first. My friend and I didn’t sign up for the tour in advance.
There are several tour companies in Tromsø. You can register for the tour at the reception. We eventually registered the minibus aurora chasing tour offered by Safari Tromsø.
The reason why we chose minibus (about 15 people per bus) tour rather than camp tour (so-called big bus tour) is that minibus has higher flexibility. A big bus tour means that you will visit a camp, stay there, and wait for the northern lights. If the weather is not good enough, then sorry…
On the other hand, you can head to the places that have a higher possibility to see the lights with a minibus tour. The destinations vary every day. The possibility mattered for us, for we only stayed in Tromsø for two nights. Hence, we were in the team MINIBUS.
Normally, a minibus tour is about 1500 NOK. A big bus tour is about 1000 NOK. They will offer a 50%-20% off discount if you don’t see the lights and want to register for the tour again.
The city center is pretty small. You can visit the majority of the places on foot. The picking-up points of the tours are also in the city center. So does Safari Tromsø. We arrived at the reception at 18:45, and the tour guide lead us to the minibus.
There were 14 tourists, one driver, and one tour guide on the bus. That night had a strong snow shower in Tromsø, so the experienced driver was so important. As for the tour guide, Paul, he is a master's student in Tromsø. The tour guide spoke English with us, so the communication was not a problem.
As I mentioned before, a minibus tour didn’t have a specific destination. Paul checked the forecast and contacted his colleagues to decide where should we go. He kept updating the information with us, so we would have a clue about where we were heading.
Fortunately, the auroral activities on that day were the strongest in that week. That was to say, we had high possibilities to see the lights as long as we found the clear sky.
To find the clear sky, we had to escape from the snow clouds first. We spent about two hours leaving the area.
Suddenly, the tour guide asked us to get off the bus quickly and look at the sky. There was a small cloudless hole in the sky. We could see the northern lights shining behind the cloud. (picture below ⬇️)
🎉 Goal achieved 🎉 I SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!
In order to have a clearer look, we headed to the place that had a bigger hole in the sky.
Initially, there was only a gap in the sky. The gap was getting bigger and bigger gradually. Then the northern lights crossed the sky. (Picture below⬇️)
It was really hard to take good northern lights pictures without a professional camera. However, don’t worry. Paul brought his camera. He took the pictures for everyone and the northern lights.
Gradually the sky was almost open. We saw the northern lights dancing in from of us. It changed so fast that we had to keep staring at the sky.
We returned to the city center of Tromsø at 2:00.
Once in a lifetime. Although the tour was somewhat expensive, it was still worth the price. The beauty of northern lights cannot be captured by photos but with your eyes.
3 / Tromsø Cable Car
On the third day in Tromsø, it was finally a sunny day. Snow with sunshine. It is the most beautiful view I have ever seen.
After crossing the bridge, you can find the Tromsø Cable Car (Fjellheisen). You can take it to the top of the mountains to see the entire Tromsøya.
This was the city covered by snow. The snow was shining. The sunshine made the world look warm, but it was cold actually.
Again, the ticket is expensive. If the weather is good, I highly recommend you to take it and enjoy the amazing view.
4 / Tromsø City
The city is small. However, as a city in arctic Norway, Tromsø still has some beautiful churches, aka the northeast churches, and houses.
If you have time, pay them a visit.
Oslo, The Capital of Norway
Oslo. To be honest, I don’t have any expectations of this city. It is the capital of Norway. It is a city where Nobel Peace Award Ceremony is held. That’s all.
Same as in Copenhagen, the weather in Oslo was around 0°C and windy. However, the two capitals in North Europe have different atmospheres. Oslo is more indifferent and quiet, but Copenhagen is quiet with more warmth.
On the one-day trip to Oslo, I still found something interesting. I visited the museums and had a great traditional meal. It was still expensive as usual, but it deserved an opportunity.
1 / Noble Peace Center
What a well-known Nobel Prize. You may hear it every year, but do you know where the ceremony is held? All the prizes are awarded in Sweden except Peace Prize.
Yes, except Peace Prize. Now you may have noticed the exception from the title. It is Oslo that has the honor to be in charge of it. However, the reason behind the exception is still a mystery.
Peace Prize Award Ceremony is a big thing in Oslo, Norway. On December 10, the royal family of Norway, the representatives of the Nobel Prize Committee, the representatives of the Norwegian government, etc. gather in Oslo City Hall to recognize the awardee’s contribution to peace.
Near the city hall, you can find Nobel Peace Center. It exhibits the history of the Nobel Peace Prize and the awardees on the first floor. On the ground floor, the special exhibition is about the awardees in the current year (2021).
Overall, the quality of the exhibition is high. There are a lot of interactive designs.
This year, the special exhibition is about freedom of expression. People in some nations and places have to shut up to survive. A growing number of journalists working under threats. Some even sacrifice their lives for their vision and mission. It’s really sad to hear such stories.
Shown in the picture above, this is the phrase I like most in the center. Freedom of expression. As a student studying in Hong Kong, I can tell you that the air of freedom of expression is getting rare. Sometimes I am almost suffocated.
White terrorism is darkness. Now the gleam of light still exists in the darkness. We are waiting for the day that the gleam of light becomes sunshine and covers the ground.
2 / Lorry
Lorry is the name of the restaurant where I had my last meal in Oslo. It seems famous. My friends and I waited for hours to get into the restaurant.
After the meal, we found that
Lorry is one of Oslo’s oldest restaurants, with a history dating back to the 1870’s. The place has been run by the same family for over 60 years through three generations.
It is a traditional Norwegian restaurant. For sure, the price is pretty “North Europe”, but it worthed it.
The following picture was the dish I ordered, Swedish Hash (Pyttipanna). Of course, I know it is a NORWEGIAN restaurant. However, this Swedish dish is so classic.
Pyttipanna means “small pieces in a pan.” This recipe was created to use up the leftovers. Usually, there are meat and potatoes. The ingredients are chopped up and fried together, creating a hearty and satisfying dish that is usually enjoyed for dinner. To finish the dish, eggs are fried separately and placed on top of the hash.
It is easy to cook it at home, but Lorry sells it for reason. The texture of the potato and the flavor of the meat were amazing. You can eat the meat with yolk on it. Bravo! It’s simple but delicious.
Besides Swedish Hash, Lorry also serves filet of deer, deer burger (I only remember these two), and wines. The atmosphere is suitable for gathering. If you have a chance to travel to Oslo, pay Lorry a visit! Remember to book a table in advance on Lorry’s website.
