The combination of snow cover and sunshine, the city of Tromso, the ninth-largest urban area in Norway by population, is an experience of a lifetime. I chose ChasingLights.Co (note: not .com but.co) for the adventure operator. After doing some research it made more sense for me to take up their all-included package. However, if you need to customize your stay there, for example the number of days or just engage for the day trip and Aurora chase by itself, you can engage with the friendly people at Chasing Lights and they could offer you something that will suit you. This journey taught me a lot in terms of life and our perception towards it. Here’s what I learnt and I wish to share the same with you all.
-Getting out of your comfort zone - it’s going to make you feel great if you remember to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Keep expectations realistic and open to changes, don’t assume or jump to conclusions too early. Lastly, enjoy the moment - don’t take life too seriously.
-Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
-Appreciate the journey, not the destination.
-Learning to see more than the goal ahead helps not only to temper the expectations, but also to broaden your mind to other possibilities.
Thank you Tromso for being such an enlightening place, hope to see you again.
http://igologytravels.tumblr.com to see how I planned for the trip (Section 1), and pictures of my stay based on each day (Section 2)
First morning look out of the hotel window and my boiler suit. It was a day trip to ride the cable car up to Fjellheisen. The tramway is particularly busy in the summer months, when it is popular with cruise-ship passengers wishing to get a good view of the midnight sun. In winters, the cable car operates from 12 pm till 10 pm if weather conditions are not too rough for comfort. Down when we came, by this time, the snow had come down hard, so we headed to Egon, the restaurant next to my hotel and had a discussion over the Aurora chase and the Fjord over lunch. Geologically speaking, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion. Tromso is packed with culture and history and surrounded by mountains, fjords and islands. The weather was snowing light flurries, but eventually it really got heavy. But it was worth the ride to see the view and visit the various fjords.
Tromvik is a cute fishing village on Kvaloya Island just off Tromso. There is not much there, just a few fisherman-huts, reindeers and hjeller (fish racks built as high as a house for air drying cod). It’s a nice Sunday drive to have a peek at how Norwegian fishermen live.
The Polar Museum tells the exciting story of risky Arctic trapping and courageous polar expeditions. Tromsø was the center of seal hunting in Northern Norway, and the town was established at the “Gateway to the Arctic” in the late 1800s. Tromsø has long been an important base for many polar expeditions, and the Polar Museum exhibits and presents this polar seafaring tradition. At the museum you will meet the courageous men and women and the ships and equipment that were essential for life both on the sea and in the Arctic.
Housed in a very distinctive building that represents ice floes that have been pressed upon land by the rough seas of the Arctic, you will discover Polaria, just five minutes walk from the center of Tromsø. Polaria has an Arctic aquarium, interesting knowledge-based exhibits, a panoramic cinema, and a gift and souvenir shop.
One of my favorites has been always to study the history of its people and the lay of the land. The largest museum inside the Arctic Circle offers comprehensive displays on the Sami culture past and present. Unique interactive exhibition on the Northern Lights – make your own in our plasma chamber. Large exhibitions on nature and man-made changes in nature. Stone age exhibition, Viking longhouse and medieval church-art. Sami turf hut outside open during summer. Also has a Café and well-stocked museum shop
