Our first time experience staying in the wild Arctic

Tromsø – a city where Autumn feels like Winter. A beautiful city one would never want to leave. This is also the northernmost city in the Arctic circle. If you’d like to experience the wild arctic but also be safe from the Polar bears, then Tromsø is the place you need visit. Don’t forget to pack your warmest clothes when you visit Tromsø because this is one of the closest cities to the North Pole. It’s at a distance of 350 Km above the arctic circle and around 2000 Km from the north Pole.

Travelling to Norway was a trip of many firsts. It was my first time experiencing fall. Since we’d travelled to Norway by mid October and stayed until 1st week of November, we had the opportunity to witness Nature’s beauty at the cusp of Fall and Winter. It was also our first time being in the arctic and seeing the amazing Northern lights. Ahh! That is an experience worth discussing on a whole new blog. Even though we had experienced light snow showers before when we were at Cappadocia, Türkiye, it was our first time being in a city covered in snow. Being in the arctic for both of us, who have lived our whole lives in countries with tropical climate was a dream come true. If we had to talk about one thing that we noticed the moment we stepped foot in the arctic, it would be “Nature”.

I was intrigued by the term “Allemannsretten” (meaning “everyman’s right”), a word I came across while reading travel blogs to plan for our trip to Norway. The term “Allemannsretten”  refers to a law in Norway that allows everyone to roam freely and go hiking or wild camping or simply explore any uncultivated land in Norway as long as you respect nature and clean up before you leave. If camping is not allowed, there will usually be sign boards mentioning it placed nearby the restricted areas, in which case it’s best to respect it and find another place to camp. This time we chose to stay in cabins to experience the wild arctic. Norway is full of them.

The Valley in the pictures above is called “Tromsdalen” which literally translates to Troms Valley. Tromsø Bridge connects this valley to the mainland, hence to go to Tromsø city, we opted the public transport (busses 24, 26 and 28). The bus stop was at a 10 min walk from our stay- Tromsø  Lodge and camping. Make sure you pack a great pair of snowboots as this far north of Norway it’s a must as the entire place will be covered in Snow even in October. Walking on thick snow was fun, our boots managed to give us enough grip to walk. Though be careful when you walk on the road as the roads can be quite slippery.

There’s just one phrase that popped into my mind when I tried to describe this place- “Heaven on earth”. Honestly Norway has my heart. I never knew , I would ever get to experience a place as surreal as this. Coming to Norway has made me think about “Nature” a lot.

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I remember writing this blog from the verandah of our little cabin in Tromsø . An absolutely gorgeous place to be. If you haven’t been to Tromsø yet, we’d highly recommend renting one of the cabins of Tromsø Lodge & Camping. You can check out their website for the prices alloted for each type of cabin. They have different prices for peak season and off season.

[Tip: We booked through Booking.com months earlier, you’ll find price deals in the app if you book earlier. You can directly book from their website as well. Prices in Norway vary according to season and demand, this is one thing you’ll definitely have to consider before you plan your trip to Norway.]

Tromsø Lodge & Camping, they have around 52 cabins or more to choose from, based on your budget you can pick from these three types of cabins available- Explorer cabins, Traditional cabins and Deluxe Cabins. We had picked an Explorer Cabin (they are the brown ones you see in the pictures below), the red cabins are slightly bigger and they are the Traditional cabins. If you need the river view you’ll have to book either the Explorer cabins or the Traditional Cabins. The Deluxe cabins are the ones painted in white, they have the mountain view . Since we had travelled during the off season, we got a cabin with an excellent river view.

Travelling to Norway during the off season was the best. Not only do you feel like you get the whole of Norway to yourself but it’s also the perfect time to avoid the crowds. There is also the perk of getting your rooms upgraded due to low demand as well as get your stay booked at a lower price.

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Here are few pictures from our stay:

Joy of noticing the little things in the Arctic

First thing I noticed when we came here was the crystal clear river flowing alongside a stretch of red and brown cabins with a mountain view. The brown Explorer cabin with a board that read No16 was allotted to us. There were many other cabins lined in front of ours. A beautiful verandah, perfect to spend our nights watching the northern lights was the highlight of our stay. Even though it was freezing cold outside. -4°C, is cold, especially for those who travelled from a tropical climate, but with each day our bodies will get used to the cold. We stood in the Verandah in awe, listening to the sound of the gushing river in front of us.

I remember Unniii telling me that the sound of the river resembled that of a million beating hearts and it’s funny how every time I listened to the gushing waters after he said that felt exactly like that. All I know is that these were some peaceful quiet moments in our lives that helped us take in the beauty of nature and the unbelievable excitement of being in the northernmost part of the arctic. Someone rightly said, Happiness truly resides in every small moments in life. 24th December to 28th December, 2022 was how long we stayed in this cabin- that’s five precious days we got to live in the northernmost city in the arctic, the closest we have ever gotten to the North Pole.

A whimsical stay, where waking up to snow showers, watching the light rain drops freeze to ice, surprise visits by reindeers, plants and leaves covered in frozen dewdrops, a cup of hot chocolate keeping us warm at sub zero temperatures and bright starry night skies with shooting stars , distinct constellations accompanied by the dancing bright coloured lights had all become a magical part of our lives. As I sat and wrote part of this article in our cabin’s verandah, I felt my hands freezing as I typed. Though I still kept at it as I’d always wanted to write my blogs from beautiful places like these. How often do we get to write from gorgeous places such as this one? I definitely couldn’t miss a chance like that now, could I?

One phrase that popped into my mind when I tried to describe this place was – “Heaven on earth”. Honestly Norway has my heart. I never knew , I would ever get to experience a place as surreal as this. Coming to Norway has made me think a lot about “Nature and it’s raw beauty”. Visiting Norway has made me fall in love with the unparalleled beauty of Nature but at the same time I would be lying if I don’t talk about how strangely eerie the absolute stillness and vastness of nature can make you feel at times. I am starting to think maybe there’s a reason why most Norwegian tales have a spooky touch to them. 

Each cabin had a huge tree standing tall beside it, as if guarding us from the strong cold winds blowing in from the mountains in front of us. There were signs of the coming winter all around. This was supposed to be autumn as it was still October, but here, this far north in the arctic, we’d entered Winter. Parts of the river had already started to freeze. The trees had no leaves in them, not one. They were simply tall branches contorted at different angles, looking straight up at the empty sky above. Norway Spruce were the only trees that stood green in this winter land covered in snow.

Temperatures throughout the day dropped from 0°C to -4 °C. At night when we went to see the northern lights the temperatures at times had dropped to -9°C. There’s a beautiful saying that people in Norway often say, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”. So pack your winter clothes well. We’ll write a blog on all the winter clothes that helped us in the Arctic. Don’t forget to check them out.

As I sat writing wrapped up in a bundle of warm clothes, I noticed people walking up the hill with their dogs even at this time of the hour on the other bank of the river. Though it was only 4:45 pm at Tromsø, it already looked as dark as 8pm. Why travel to Norway you ask? I would say it’s the land where you see the most beautiful phenomenon of polar nights, midnight sun, stunning fjords, the northern lights and of course the reindeers.

It seemed like we weren’t alone, winter had travelled up north with us. I noticed how autumn in Oslo slowly changed to winter as we moved up to Tromsø, the change in season was gradual but definitely visible as we travelled across this beautiful land of Norway. Since we came to Norway, we noticed the sun set a few minutes earlier each day than the previous day. The earth was slowly getting ready to enter into polar nights. We were in Norway only till Nov 5th and weren’t there to witness the Polar nights which was to begin by around Nov 27th. Though if you visit Norway in October, you’ll for sure see signs of the approaching Polar nights. There were days were the sun never rose above the horizon, the entire day looked like evenings.

As we reached closer to November the sun set by around 3 pm. In the morning by around 10: 30 am was when we saw daylight, I wouldn’t call it a sun rise exactly as all we could see was the daylight. I can only imagine how dark it can get during the Polar nights. I have been grateful to the sun a lot since our visit to Norway. Being from a tropical country I don’t think I’ve paid much attention to Sun or really thought about how important the sun has been in our day to day life. To be able to appreciate the warmth of the Sun as well as truly appreciate Nature’s beauty, one must most definitely travel to the Arctic where you get to see Nature’s raw beauty at its best. Also, the temperatures can drop quite low in a place where nature feels at its best. Nevertheless, it’s still the best time to go see the Northern lights.

Visiting Norway has made us fall in love with the unparalleled beauty of Nature but at the same time we would be lying if we don’t talk about how strangely eerie the absolute stillness and vastness of nature can make you feel at times.

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Having travelled to Norway right at the cusp of fall and winter was mesmerizingly beautiful in many ways. Seasons for sure have their own beauty but have you noticed the time when one season changes to the other. It’s truly magical. By coming to Norway in the 2nd week of October, that’s exactly what we experienced. There is still so much more to tell about our trip. I think I’ll wrap this one here and will tell you the rest in my next blog.

Love,
Aswathi & Unni

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