OIL!Many a times, the main reason or drive behind every decision is commercial interest.Why these people endure such harsh weather? You guess right!Oil!!!The Alaska Pipeline... Alyaska Oil Co.Well, we finally get to see traces of human intervention in nature.Without it, we won't even have the path to drive on, let alone road!
I live in a city where I've sunshine & light everyday. It's hot, hot, hot & bright, bright, bright.We don't need to suntan.It's there everyday since I was borned!Well, embarking on trips to the two "ends" of the world changes life-perspective & made me realise how lucky I've been.Lucky, because the elements were never something we have to contend with. It's rather something we have all along taken for granted. (& sometimes we do that to people as well, unfortunately.)Yet, there are people who live & survive in this part of the world 365 days/nights a year. How do they do it?What makes them stay put?I wonder...Brett, I've to ask Brett. & I did.More of that later.
Ever seen a vehicle engulfed by the snow?This is it!Who in their right minds live here?I was branded "crazy" for having wanting to visit the Arctic in the winter!But I'm a rare species, 1 of 300 every year who made their way here ;-)Rare indeed! Even rarer than gems! ;-)
At this juncture, the question which came to me was:"Hey Brett, have u eaten Moose before? What's it like?"The answer was: "Yes, it was really good! Better than caribou!" Ok, let's find more & shoot them ;-)I dunno, Brett jokes a lot, so...I figured if they eat reindeer in the land of Santa Claus, why not moose in Alaska? ;-)Reindeer, hmmmmm, yummmmmmy!!!
Jan. 29, 2004: I flew from Anchorage & arrived Fairbanks almost midnight after an evening of VT meet with member Kaloz & Stargazer1. It was quite an exciting day after what I went through in Anchorage b4 my VT meet. That story will appear in my Anchorage page later.Midnight - no I didn't see any Aurora here though I had hope for. Boy, it was the coldest I've ever experienced in my life. How could I tell? As soon as I'm out of the airport, I could feel "icicles" forming inside my nose! That must be at least -40 deg (I was told it's the same for centigrade & farenheit when it reaches this point!) that night. Luckily for me, the shuttle bus to the hotel was already waiting for me. That poor boy who drove to the airport was actually standing outside the van waiting for me! I felt so bad that I tipped him more than I had b4 in my entire life! Trust me, it was cold. Even if you pay me a...
Another quiet little village.. at first sight not as nice as some others, but deeper inside... very rich in term of things to see. Aside from glorius scenery, there's three interesting museums to visit - and this can easily fill up one day. The least interesting of the three is the Lofoten Aquarium - but has a nice pool for seals and interesting slides show programs. Much better and more informative is the Lofoten Museum, which deals with life in Lofoten in the old days. The real jewel, however, is the The Kåre Espolin Johnson Gallery: this fantastic artist has painted the hard life of the fishermen of the Lofoten islands in very dramatic paintings. So if you thought that Norway's best (and maybe only) painter was Munch, you'll find something to meditate upon here
Reine is described as the nicest village on the Lofoten Islands. All the villages i saw were delightful - and I'd be really hard prssed to chose a favourite one. Âbout Reine I have to say that it had more red rorbues than any other village I went to, but it also looked slightly more touristc than the others.However the Reine fjord is one of the most spectacular: from there you can take a boat to the even more charming Nusfjord, and go for a fantastic secluded hike from there. Not to be missed!
Å i Lofoten is a village/museum of the very southern tips of the Lofoten Islands: red rorbeus line the harbour - and most of them belong to the museum: they host museums or else they are rented out to tourists. As for museums, the Torrfisk museum (the cod museum) is great and informative: it teaches you all about cod, which is the reason why people live on these windswept islands. There's also a lake behind the village, locked in within towering mountains: it's a nice walk to go around it one afternoon.
Stamsund is a small sleepy village where the hurtigrten boat docks. There's a few houses and rorbues, a shop, the best hostel I've ever stayed in, a wooden path along the sea, hundreds of cod-racks and not much else in terms of civilisation. But there's wonderful nature all around: secluded coves and amazing mountains and hill that scream to be hiked. I only went on top of Skifjell, a short and eas hike, but never have I seen more amazing scenery
If there's one place that I'll never forget is Wiseman: pop 25 (other statistics say 28) - a handful of cabins - very primitive- and a significant population of ove 125 dogs! People came during a goldrush and some never left - when there was no more god, they started breeding dogs.Today you can visit the hostoric "village" - very last frontier-like, see a small museum, and delight in the two amazing sights: a public phone (working!) and a post office (closed!).
Reviews and photos of Arctic attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Arctic sightseeing.
Q: I suddenly mused that it might/should be more interesting to check out the Canadian North, the Inuits etc instead of checking out...
A: Sheherezad, I think “Into the Northwest Passage” tour is definitely unique and is the kind of tour that you’d remember for the rest of your life. I’d say, go for...
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