By train to the Northern Lights - From Ramberg to Svolvær

The bus ride from Ramberg to Svolvær, the capital of the Lofoten Islands, went by quite quickly. 2 hour journey, changing once in Leknes. The scenery was beautiful, but it rained constantly. In Svolvær I was confused for a moment because there were two hotels called Thon Hotel, both near the bus stop. But I found the difference and checked into the right one. I've stayed in many similar hotels in this price range, but this is one of my favorites so far. It's the details that matter. So I found a Bose box in my room and the view was magnificent. But best of all was the breakfast. I have never had a better hotel. The in-house restaurant is also excellent.

However, on the first evening I ate sushi again - vegan. Although I don't fully understand why there is often no intermediate between meat and vegan. The night was excellent and so was the breakfast - as already mentioned.

Since I had booked a Northern Lights tour for the evening, I used the day to relax, write a blog, read and take a short walk through the city. I was hoping to get a really nice Norwegian sweater here, but somehow I haven't found anything tasteful in Norway yet.

In the evening our tour guide called and asked if it was possible for us to postpone the Northern Lights tour to the next day as the weather conditions were quite bad. Unfortunately, if it's too cloudy, you won't be able to see the northern lights. I almost expected that. But that suited me quite well as I had booked a sea eagle and Trollfjord tour for the next morning and I would have more sleep that way. So I went to the restaurant in the hotel that had been laughing at me the whole time. The food was incredibly good and, above all, tastefully prepared with attention to detail. This is how food should be. And I'm happy to pay a little more for that.

The next morning I went on a tour that would lead to the sea eagles and the so-called Trollfjord. I found out in advance that the animals were specially fed so that they could be photographed better. I tried to find an agency that doesn't do this, but in vain. The only provider that sounded quite reasonable only offers its “silent tours” until the beginning of October. Apparently no one really questions things like that, which is a shame. But since there were no other tours that were interesting to me at this time of year, I decided to do the tour despite the doubts. At the agency we then received a safety briefing and our equipment, such as cold suits and protective goggles. I would have preferred to do something like this with a stable boat, but the tours were only available with so-called RIB boats, i.e. solid inflatable boats. The awkward German term for this is rigid inflatable boat 😅. I was a little nervous about taking the boat, but luckily it was calm and sunny that day. Accordingly, it was very pleasant and actually really fun, even when a few small waves made the boat bounce slightly.

The sea eagles were incredibly impressive, even if the whole spectacle wasn't really natural. But I'm glad I was able to have this experience. On the one hand because of the incredible landscape and the ride on this boat, and on the other hand of course because of the sea eagles. But I would always prefer a more nature-conscious option if possible.

Afterwards I needed a warming soup because I was pretty cold despite the suits.

My tour to the Northern Lights was scheduled to take place in the evening and the weather looked promising. The meeting point was at 8 p.m. in the agency's office and some participants were already sitting there and waiting. 2 Indian couples and a Polish family were my companions that evening. And Geir, our guide and driver and hobby photographer. Then we walked 30 minutes out of the city to a location with little light pollution and lots of peace. The sky was starry and you could literally see the Milky Way glowing. So far I have only been able to see the sky in Mongolia. We waited outside in the cold for the lights, only they didn't appear. Geir was very optimistic and tried to keep us happy. After just a few minutes, most of the participants moved into the car, which was at least a few degrees warmer. The outside temperature was just below zero. Surprisingly, I managed to stay outside for over an hour, but then I just had to get into the “warm” car. Although I had tea, a hand warmer and a blanket with me. After a while the lights appeared, but only very faintly and difficult to photograph. On the way back we saw the northern lights a second time, this time a little better. When Geir dropped us off at the hotel, I decided to have another smoke. In this case, smoking had something good. Because I saw the northern lights over the roofs of Svolvær and was even able to take a good photo of them.

But we'll probably also get the pictures that Geir took that evening, including the one of me in front of the starry sky. That looked incredibly great. In the room I couldn't stop looking out the window because the lights kept coming on. But I eventually went to sleep as I had to check out the next day.

I enjoyed the delicious breakfast one last time and learned that the hotel was taking part in some kind of competition for the best breakfast in Norway. So it couldn't be better.

I sat in the lobby for a while, wrote a blog and then took the bus to Narvik on the mainland around 3 p.m.

Until then and thanks for reading ❤