Sisimiut - first stop in Greenland (with the AIDAaura to Greenland and Iceland 7)

The first place we visited in Greenland was Sisimiut. With a population of about 5600, it is the second-largest city on the island and is located approximately 50 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.

Unfortunately, the ship could not dock in the harbor, even though it offers plenty of space for larger ships. So we took a tender boat to shore.

We explored Sisimiut on our own.

First, we went to the town's museum, which houses an exhibition on the history and life in Greenland in various old buildings.

Among the houses to be visited, there was a sod house that was built on a stone base out of a mixture of earth material and grass sods due to the lack of wood.

The local residents financed the old blue church with whale blubber.

However, it now only houses an exhibition. The new and larger church was built nearby, just a little higher up.

From there, we had a beautiful view of the bay.

Overall, our city walk was a bit strenuous due to the many inclines.

So we were glad when our path led us along an old coastal road that was mostly flat.

Sisimiut has also grown rapidly in the past because residents from smaller villages were relocated to larger settlements to simplify the population's supply.

There are several larger residential blocks in the town that were built to provide housing for the newcomers.

We also hiked to the peninsula called Zimmermann Island. However, access was prohibited in several places and the accessible areas did not seem particularly attractive to us.

Back at the harbor, we continued along the fjord Kangerluarsunnguaq.

At first, the path was a bit bleak as we passed the industrial harbor and several of the numerous junkyards that are found here. (We even found two small houses that had been disposed of on one of them.)

However, our mood improved instantly when we left the city and saw numerous sled dogs instead of trash along the way.

It appears that the town's huskies are kept outside the city and wait here for their owners to arrive.

Most of the dogs were on a leash, but some particularly friendly ones were running freely.

Even the smaller dogs were free to roam and would approach the walkers to be petted.

Overall, the many dog houses and their residents stretch over quite a long distance along our path.

Occasionally, a car would pass by, bringing food.

You could also hear which group of dogs the respective owner belonged to: Once the dogs recognized the car, there was a loud barking, but it was always limited to one group. Apparently, the dogs knew exactly which car provided food.

Further along, we entered nature and took the hiking trail towards Mount Nasaasaaq.

We actually wanted to climb this mountain (there was some disagreement at the start of the hike about how far to go).

The path started out flat but swampy and led to a lake.

Then a small path went steeply uphill. After a short distance, there was a rock that had to be climbed, and parts of it had already broken off.

Since it went steeply downhill right next to it, we decided to turn back and continue along the lake.

Eventually, the path turned into more of a stream, so we turned back again to try out a hiking trail on the other side of the river that had branched off earlier.

It went uphill, and from the top, we could see the bay and our ship.

On the way back, we walked through the town and also visited one of the local supermarkets, of which there are quite a few with surprisingly long opening hours (for example, daily from 7 am to midnight). While the lower floor had groceries, upstairs you could buy everything from washing machines and craft supplies to life-size dolls, clothing, and even a new sofa. However, we wondered what one would do with a foldable beach tent in Greenland...

When we finally arrived back at the ship, we had walked almost 30,000 steps and were glad to be able to rest on board.