Kiruna

This blog has been in the making since my arrival in Sweden. Most have it on their 'Bucket list' but few know how lucky you have to be to actually get to view it- Aurora Borealis. A wave of scintillating protons due to the magnetic field of Earth most likely visible to the very northern settlers in Scandinavia (Kiruna, Lapland area of Finland). The plan to take a chance at viewing it was in the making since I reached Sweden but only managed to get it done in style at the start of 2013.

My colleague, her partner, a friend and I had planned to visit the very north of Sweden during the very end of last year to celebrate the eve of New years in Kiruna and then go on to see the Aurora magic. It went according to play. An overnight train journey took us to Kiruna from Uppsala. A fairly long journey delayed by galloping reindeers around the railway. Back then, it was irregularly snowing in Uppsala, but up north, it was all covered in white. I could see why Lapland was chosed to be Santa Claus's abode. I had kept an eye out to catch a glimpse of Rudy the reindeer but I was asking for too much.

Reaching the station early evening, the sky was crimson-lilac and very little population except for the tourists like us. Checking into the hotel we did, we were told it had the only operating club that night in all of Kiruna. We were in luck. There was also a balcony on the 7th floor offering a great view to the Iron ore mines nearby with smoking allowed. There was also a very classy sauna a level above it with a fire place inside. We got into party mood soon after. Everything from then on till morning was a blur (thanks to exotic vodka imported by my colleagues partner).

We had another tourist attraction on our list that is world renowned - The Ice hotel at Jukkasjarvi. A hotel constructed purely from ice, from a bar to suites. What is unique is that the site invites ice sculptors from all over the world to create ambiences for suite with their native aesthetics- for example, a bunch of Mongolians had created this marvellous suite with the theme of Dragon.  I ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The entrance.

I went straight to the suites!

In case someone brought it loads of napalm to obliterate the establishment, one should press this button.

Some other luxury suits would give you a feelign of being digested by a  whale.

While others were if Spock from star trek designed it.

 The Mongolian touch.

 'Beam me up' was the name of this suite

 Snug as a bug on a rug.

My favourite!

 Wheres theres Will, there a bar.

The construction was ongoing.

 Where the magic begins. From its source by the river Torne.

 A chapel where weddings happen.

 Exhibition room with pictures of sculptors laid out in holes on the wall.

 That evening concluded with a warm hot chocolate and a tip to Tipsy, the local reindeer.

The following days in Kiruna were spent looking at the mines. We couldnt go to the tour as they need atleast 15 persons to work out the costs. The town in itself is not very big. A map from the tourist station gives you plenty of ideas to get busy with if you can walk around in the cold. We met a bunch of Americans that were travelling around with the same quest all over the north of Sweden-Norway at a bar. We left the bar together and Natalie from the bunch asked us if we wanted to join them to see the northern lights (20 minutes away from where we were). One of them in the bunch was an environmentalist who turned out to be a walking-talking encyclopedia on Aurora Borealis. He knew web resources that relayed pictures of the sky (at the point we were walking to).

Upon reaching the hillock we noticed it was a direct view to the mines facing the north. We saw a horde of a gathering. Many seemed oriental in origin. Many seemed to speak a language that I thought was Japanese. Some were resting on the ground on padded shiny insulators. The snow was knee deep. The sky was clear and air was crisp and still. And then, we saw it.

For those who have only seen pictures on the internet, its not that at all when you are actually looking at it. After thinking a lot on how to decribe it, I ve come up with this. It is like a stream of plankton in the sky glowing green (not vibrant green). The outline of the stream have a misty feel to it and that, upon very slow exposure from a SLR, gives you the picture that you see on the net.

A very interesting this happened. Thanks to the horde that was glued to the sky, we heard a whimpering in unison. There was a formation right over our standing position. The only difference was this was a quicker moving stream that was glowing bright white and with shades of pink. This lasted for only about 2 minutes. The presentation was so beautiful, that we starting clapping and wooing. The sky made cracking sounds with the form it took.

This is a marvel of nature and has to be seen. Pictures only do so much justice to it. You have to be in the moment to get the holistic experience- the crispy cold still air, the clear sky and the lights. A very spiritual moment, indeed.