The Northerns Lights – Aurora Borealis – are on most travellers’ bucket list. One of the best locations in the world to catch a glimpse of them is in the northern parts of Scandinavia. Rovaniemi in Finland – the so called Santa Claus village -, Kiruna in Sweden, and the cities along the coast of Norway, curving all the way over the top of Scandinavia towards Russia. Bodø, Tromsø, Hammerfest, Kirkenes. The bad news is that summer doesn’t work for the Aurora because the midnight sun will be too bright, and so winter, with its polar nights, is the time to visit. 

I arrived in Tromsø on December 4th. At this date, there is no more daylight. Between 10 ‘o clock in the morning and 2 ‘o clock in the afternoon, there is what they call civil twilight and that is all the light you get. Unless it happens to be cloudy during those hours and then you’re plain out of luck: try again for some light next day, fella. Temperature around -4 C (24 F), often dropping to -13 C (8 F) at night. The air so dry that I could hardly breath, and static shocks followed me constantly. I am not built for this climate, and neither are most humans. The constant freezing cold and darkness could only be battled with woollen clothes, hot showers and hibernation.

The Tromsonians love Christmas, and the white town had transformed into a fairy tale Christmas village. Even though I was bundled up like a Michelin man, this put some warmth into me. It is amazing though how most Norwegians still walk around in yoga pants and sneakers in these temperatures. Anyway, I had joined an Aurora chasing tour, in which a bus would pick me up at 18:00 and for the next six hours the tour guide would use aurora and weather apps to drive us to the locations with the highest chance for seeing the Lights, taking us all the way into Finland if necessary. I had some free time before that evening tour and walked around Tromsø. It is one of the largest cities this far north in the world, eclipsed only by Murmansk. I visited the troll museum, ate reindeer sausage and the unique Norwegian brown cheese, an acquired taste.

It was already freezing badly when the tour guide picked us up, and the rest of the night would be a war of attrition with the cold. I would exit the bus, stand around for twenty minutes, enter the bus again because my toes would hurt too much and warm up, exit again, and so forth. Some Philippine tourists didn’t take it well. We were, however, incredibly lucky. We hit the jackpot. Early in December the weather is often very cloudy, snowy, and so is not yet the most ideal time to see the Lights. January may be optimal. We were given stunning displays. Entire light bands crossing the heavens. The occasional shooting star falling through them. What’s sacrificing a toe or two for that?

It took me a day to recover. The constant coldness and darkness left me exhausted. I took a trip up the mountains by cable car from Tromsø to take in the views, but a snow storm passed and visibility wasn’t the best. The chocolate milk at the restaurant up top was divine though.

For my final day I took a tour of the arctic landscapes. Again, between 10 and 2 ‘o clock was the only time to take in the views, so we left for one of the bigger islands which boasts stunning fjords. This tour affected me emotionally just as much as the Aurora tour. The landscape was so beautiful and inhospitable at the same time that it evoked an awe for raw natural beauty that exists beyond what humanity can tame. We saw reindeer, the little heads of sea lions, and the occasional Christmas-lighted house dwarfed by enormous white-powdered mountains and black freezing water.

I will leave you with a Sami song. This is a lament, sung in traditional Sami way. Listening to this while driving through the fjords, while twilight gathers, is a spiritual experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9_INg9u-E