Tromso
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2008
1
13
16
Trip End
Dec 2008
Tromsø, North Norway, Norway
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tromso is a long way from Stockholm. It takes 19 hours on an overnight sleeper to a
place called Karvik, a surprisingly decent sized and civilized town. Then a three hour bus journey from there, through the arctic landscape, to Tromso itself.
The train ride is not too bad, although train bunks are not the most comfortablebeds ever, and you are crammed into an incredibly tight space with up to five other people, (three bunks high on each side),but at least it is possible to get some sleep. That is if you are lucky enough to be half deaf, and you have no sense of smell. I am both of these things, and it is usually my own smelly feet and 300 decibel snoring which result in a five tired angry glares in the morning.
Danny learned quickly.. he wears ear plugs to bed whenever we share a room.
Most of the train ride was in the dark. We left Stockholm at about 5pm, an hour after the sun had dissapeared, and did't see it again until about 9:30 the next morning when we were well and truly reaching the northernmost parts of Sweden.
There was snow and ice everywhere. and it was bloody cold!
We were lucky enough to wake up just as we were aproaching the first mountainous region we had seen on our journey, and it was spectacular. There were enormous mountains capped with treeless, windy, white landscapes, and flanked with enormous pines, all looking precariously balanced on the steep rocky slopes.
The train had to slow down to a crawl for the last three hours or so as the track twisted it's way around huge drops, and through countless tunnels. The snow was about a foot deep across the tracks as well.
Out the window, we watched ourselves travel along an enormous V shaped valley, which eventually turned into a spectacular fjord then gradually started to widen as we crossed the northern border of Sweden into Norway.
This part of the train ride went too quickly, although it was possibly the slowest the train had travelled since we had boarded it.
We pulled into Karvic at about one in the afternoon... the station was pretty much deserted when it came to staff, and the only hint we had as to where to get the coach to Tromso was a small typed flyer on the wall in a different language, (I'm guessing Norse).
We asked a few other travellers... who also had no idea what or where to go, and finally decided to walk up to a nearby sevice station and order a taxi to the bus terminal in town. This was the right thing to do, and although we had a few hours to wait we eventually ended up on the Tromso bound bus.
We arrived in Tromso three or so hours later, and were dropped off at our hotel door. It was really cold... easily into the deep minuses, and although I made a few trips outside to see if I could see the Northern lights... (too cloudy)... it was pretty much stright to bed.
Next morning we awoke to snow. Deep compacted snow covered with about a foot of not so compacted snow, being snowed upon by millions of fresh shiny new snows which fell constantly all day. For someone who has spent the last four or five years up in the tropics this was a pretty awe inspiring thing. I love the snow, and couldn't wait to piss danny off by throwing some at him.
We decided to take a bus into Tromso town and have a look around. Our hotel was out by the airport on the other side of the island which the town of Tromso inhabits, and the local bus took about ten minutes over icy roads through streets filled with modern looking apartment buidings and expensive looking timber houses. When we arrived in town we walked up and down the frozen streets in awe of the spectacular scenery surrounding the place.
Tromso is on an island in the middle of a fjord. There is a bridge on either side of the island which connects it to land. Surrounding the town are countless snowcovered mountains high rugged cliffs and craggy drops. The higher slopes are covered in the afore mentioned pine trees, then lower, on the gentler but still impressive slopes are the buildings and houses of the town itself.
I must admit I hadn't really known what Tromso would look like. I guess I had pictured it as a cold windy place in the arctic circle, where the people would be permanently bent against freezing winds, whilst struggling about in snow shoes with bundles of wood balanced on thier backs, I was wrong.
Tromso is quite a decent sized and modern town with beautiful homes, beautiful women, and all of the things you would expect to find anywhere. It even has a university... the northernmost in the world. (whats going on Iceland... get your shit together.). There are shopping centres, night clubs, pubs, and cafes... everything you coud possibly need.
This town was the ultimate goal on our journey, as Tromso is the place to go if you want to see the northern lights, so Danny and myself set about finding them.
A quick trip to the tourist information center right in the middle of town is a must if you want to know what goes on in this part of the world. The girl in there is amazing, and speaks about 17 languages fluently. She let us know that the best chance to see the lights would be two days away, when the skies would finally be rid of the huge dark clouds which dropped snow constantly. This meant extending our stay by a couple of days, and finding a new hotel a bit closer to the middle of town.
We did this fairly easily, although it wasn't cheap, then spent the next two days resting up and enjoing a bit of a break from the non stop bussing and train riding.
I did do a fair bit of walking arond town, and on one outing came across a place called "Arctica". This turned out to be an arctic museum, and had a huge aquarium full of Arctic fish and sea life... including the king crab, the biggest crab of all. These buggers grow up to a meter and a half across... or something ridiculous.. one leg is enough to feed a grown man.
The main exhibit at Arctica was a huge tank with three bearded seals.. These are big seals which grow up to 250kg, and are apparently very intelligent. I was lucky enough to arrive just on feeding time, and the trainers came out and put them through thier paces for the tourists. They explained the reason why the seals had such Village People inspired moustaches... it was because they could dive down to 100m where there is no light, and feel around for thier dinner. I looked at the three meter deep tank these poor seals were trapped in and immediately started hatching aplot to set them free.
I was forced to can the plot however, as the thought of a Norwiegen prison was a little too offputting.
Finally the weather cleared and it was time to go looking for the lights.
We booked a dogsledding trip at a wilderness center just out of town, and headed there on a the bus just after the sun had gone down.
Upon arrival they dressed us in some absolutely enormous jumpsuits.. the type Elvis would have worn toward the end of his career. These were special snowproof suits designed for the sub zero conditions we were experiencing, and although they made us look like rejects from ABBA kept us cosy and dry for the whole night.
We were taken out the back where over 300 huskies were kenneled. They are possibly the lovliest dogs on the face of the planet, and are bred to work work work. They are noisy buggers too, and with three hundred of them all in one spot you would need to live about three kilometers away to be able to gety any sleep.
Danny and I were give a sled to ourselves, and after some instruction set of in a line of other sleds for an hour long ride through freshly fallen and waist deep snow.
The Huskies were amazing. They are trained incredibly well, and will do just about anything you want as soon as you tell them to. They are even able to take a poo whilst running... one of the funniest and smelliest things I have ever seen.
We spent about an hour being relentlessly dragged through the arctic wastelands by these incredibly enthusiastic dogs. It is hard to understand how a living creature can actually enjoy such a straining task, but upon our arrival back at the wilderness centre the poor buggers looked dissapointed. We were told later that they are capable of towing a sled for 18 hours straight, then will be ready to do it again after as little as three hours rest.
Back at the wilderness centre we were taken over to see the puppies. I fell in love with about 20 dogs in about 2 minutes. Unfortunately my jumpsuit was too tight to smuggle one back with me.
We were then taken to a traditional "Sami" hut. The Sami people are indiginous to the area and traditionally live on the back of the reindeer. We were fed some tasty reindeer stew, and taught about how these hardy people were able to survive in such an inhospitable environment.
Halfway through the talk, one of the workers rushed into our tent and excitedly pronounced that the Northern Lights could be seen outside.
I was outside in a flash and stood there gaping at the sky for about an hour. The lights were quite faint, but definately visable. They covered a third of the sky at their most intense, and fluctuated and moved slowly in large waves which seemed to point downward from the heavens in a way I find very difficult to explain.
They didn't last all that long, but were amazing.
I'm glad I made this trip, Tromso is a great town and I will certainly be going back.
The next day we decided to fly down to Oslo, as the bus and train journey was going too take far too long, and was almost as expensive.
We left this lovely place with a majestic view of fjords and glaciers passing slowly below us through the window of an aeroplane.
It was all worth it... and I shall do this again.
