Norway Part 1: Sled Dogs and Northern Lights

We're on the road again! We spent the holidays with our families and friends. Then we wanted to hit the road again. But where to? Going back to Southeast Asia right away would be one option. But we've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. Or be pulled by sled dogs. And timing worked out well. We did some research and found a cheap flight to Trondheim and then booked the Nordland Railway to Bodø. It's located just north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. And so on January 9th, we flew to rather dark than cold Norway: sunrise at 10:40 a.m., sunset at 1:40 p.m. in Bodø, at 5-7 °C.

In the evening, we arrived at Trondheim Airport and had to spend the night there. The train departed the next morning and the accommodations nearby were very expensive. We made ourselves comfortable in a dark corner and didn't sleep very deeply or for very long...

In the first few hours of the train ride, we couldn't see much because it was still dark. With the dawn, we gradually could see more of the landscape around us. The train runs along fjords and fields, past mighty mountains, through tunnels, and over rivers. In some places, there was an incredible amount of snow, a few minutes later it didn't look wintry anymore, then snow again. The journey lasted almost 10 hours (~715 km) to Bodø, and when it was dark, it was just like any other train ride, but it was definitely worth it!

In Bodø, it was raining. We walked to our accommodation, which we had booked through Airbnb. It was by far the cheapest offer in the area and breakfast was even included. Let's see where we end up, there were no reviews yet.

Axel from Greifswald opened the door for us and let us in the warm and dry place. He has been living in Norway for 15 years and earns his living as a tour guide for cruise tourists. We had our own room with a sofa bed and shared everything else with him. During the days we stayed with him, we became a kind of flat-share community. He did actually make us breakfast every day, but we usually shared dinner. We cooked for him and he cooked for us. There were two reindeer skins on the living room floor. They shed more hair than a dog during shedding season, hair everywhere.

Axel even had bicycles for us! One day we wanted to climb Keiservarden, the "house mountain" of Bodø. We rode the bikes to the foot of the mountain and then hiked up. The clouds were still hanging low, the rain mixed with snow, and the wind was blowing. Some of the hiking trails that were supposed to be there according to the map couldn't be found. There was simply too much snow there. So we walked up the wide road, which didn't take much longer. When we reached the top, we maybe had 10-15 meters of visibility. We took a break in a shelter hut and after a short time, the sky cleared up. Big time! All of a sudden, we could look out over the city and the surrounding fjords and islands. The wind was freezing cold, but the view was wonderful!

But the Northern Lights were still elusive. Not because of the Northern Lights, but because of the clouds. We simply didn't have a clear view of the sky at night, it was always cloudy. Our Northern Lights app (yes, there's an app for everything!) promised us increasing chances of seeing the Northern Lights, but the clouds didn't care and covered everything. Maybe tomorrow.

After a few days, we picked up our rental car. A Polo with spikes in the tires, normal winter tires for Norwegians. Our first destination was the Arctic Circle itself. The E6 road leads directly there. We set off with the first light of the day and saw the beautiful landscape outside Bodø: fjords and mountains. At some point, we were in the middle of nowhere, just snow everywhere, and we got stuck in traffic. There were still 18 km to the Arctic Circle. We asked a truck driver what was going on and he said that the road was closed due to heavy snow and strong winds. When the road will be reopened, nobody knows. We had a cup of tea (cheers to the thermos!) and then turned around. Maybe another time. On the way back, we stopped in Rognan and checked out the shipyards from the outside. We bought two cinnamon buns from the supermarket, super tasty! A piece of Scandinavian culture to enjoy. The sidewalks were mostly icy and there were frozen snow mounds everywhere. Question: How do older people get from A to B under these conditions?

Of course, a regular walker would reach their limits in such terrain. That's why the grandmas and grandpas from northern Norway go for a walk with a walker sled!

Two things brought us to northern Norway: the Northern Lights and sleddogs. Today we were going to experience one of them! We set off and first stopped at Saltstraumen, the strongest tidal current in the world. Every 6 hours, ebb and flow take turns pushing 400 million cubic meters of water through a 3 km long and 150 m narrow passage. At our time, it was flowing at a speed of 11 knots (about 20 km/h). The river formed a lot of whirlpools.

Then we continued into the mountains. The asphalt was covered with a solid layer of snow and the temperature dropped to -9 °C in some places. Then we arrived at Ljøsenhammeren and were greeted by a husky. His owner and our guide and musher, Lars, also greeted us. He didn't say much, but the most important thing was: Say hello to the dogs! And that's what we did. The 14 Siberian huskies were very excited to have visitors and were eager to run. We put harnesses on all of them, prepared the sleds, and then tied the dogs in front of the sleds. We each got 4 dogs, Lars had 6 in his team. It had snowed a lot here in the past few days and the trail had almost disappeared. During the first round yesterday, as Lars told us, the dogs were swimming in the snow rather than running. The dogs howled and barked their concert, and then we released the brake. It's incredible how much power these dogs have. The acceleration on the sled is enormous. We went uphill a bit, where we had to push a little, but then the dogs did the work effortlessly. We glided through a snowy winter wonderland! :) Marius' team was slower than Cerina's, but she was driving behind him. This led to Cerina's dogs sometimes being next to Marius, sometimes between his legs. The dogs didn't care about personal space, and Cerina also wanted to admire the landscape. Lars told us that it was actually too warm for the dogs that day (-5°C). Their favorite temperature is around -10 to -15 °C. That's when they really go for it. During a break on the ride, some of the dogs threw themselves into the snow or stuck their snouts in it. After the sled tour, we had coffee and tea and talked to Lars about his life out here alone with 17 dogs. Conclusion: Beautiful, but you really have to want it. The dogs were noticeably more relaxed afterwards, and some of them were even quite tired. After feeding them, they lay down and couldn't be bothered anymore. We said goodbye to all the huskies and bid farewell to Lars.

On the way back to Bodø, we crossed Saltstraumen again. This time, the water was flowing in the opposite direction, but it was already quite dark, so we could only take photos with a longer exposure time. What a great day!

And it got even better. In the evening, our Northern Lights app promised us a high probability of seeing the Northern Lights tonight. Since it is too bright in Bodø, we drove out of town to Løpshavn. With sleeping bags, tea, and cinnamon rolls, we sat in the car and waited. Patience is a requirement to see the Northern Lights, we were told. But this evening, we were finally rewarded! At first, it was still too cloudy, but we could see something glowing behind the clouds. From time to time, we could see the green shimmer, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Our cameras tried to capture as much light as possible, and we were very excited to finally see the Northern Lights, even if they were faint! After some time, the clouds completely disappeared, but so did the Northern Lights. So we happily drove back home.

The next day, we packed our things and moved out of Axel's place. We drove to Mjelle Beach. A beautiful place, but it was cold and windy again, the wind was biting our cheeks. But what did we expect?

In the afternoon, we took the ferry from Bodø to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands. In the coming days, we will be making a spontaneous round trip through this island group. The waves were high, the wind was blowing in gusts, and the ship swayed a lot in the darkness. We felt a bit queasy. We'll have to experience the Lofoten Islands first before we can tell you about them.