GREENLAND Greenlandic dogs in seperate dog areas, icebergs floating all around, musk ox sculls on the roofs and a hot arctic desert. This is a list of all the things I found different and interesting in the northern part of the West Greenland.
My strange Greenland experience started already flying inn.
– We can’t be landing here, there is nothing here!
I looked at the guy beside me in disbelief. Normally when you fly in to an airport you fly above a city, a town or at least some settlements. But that is certainly not the case when you fly in over the main airport in Greenland. The airport is located in the arctic desert Kangerlussuaq. Flying in to the airport it looks like you are flying over moon landscapes.
1. Kangerlussuaq is a tiny, dusty, hot place, with perfect weather conditions for air navigation, with over 300 days of sun every year. This was once an US air station, and there is still a lot of military houses here. A few hours drive from the town centre you can find the mouth of the inland ice and take a stroll on it.
2. Next place we visited with the Hurtigruten ship was the city of Sisimiut, one of the bigger cities in Greenland with about 5.200 inhabitants. We hiked to the top (or at least a bit up the hill) of one of the surrounding mountains, and had a perfect view of the city. Our first experience of how different Greenland is as a tourist destination was revealed later the same day taking a stroll in the village.
– This is for the locals, there is not so many tourists here. This is where we meet, says a Jahrige Dorthe Møller selling some things at the market.
3. The town of Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island is surrounded by beautiful icebergs. The University of Copenhagen has a Polar station here that studies the arctic flora and fauna. Hiking here is amazing. The town have a restaurant, a hotel and a café. But none where open when we arrived. All the locals were gathering at the harbor where some hunters were selling newly caught mink whale meat.
5. The picturesque town Ummanaq is situated at the foot of the 1 170 meter tall, heart-shaped mountain. The houses here cling to the barren mountainside, making it a picture perfect place for photography.
6. Ilulissat – Icebergs are called Ilulissat in Greenlandic, and the third largest town in Greenland is named after the icebergs that float all around it, coming from the Ilulissat Isfjord. In 2004 the fjord was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
7. My favourite place being Itilleq that I have already written about. This place have all the nice, quirky different features that I like about Greenland. Read more about it here.
Flying in to Greenlands main airport is strange. It feels like you are going to land in the middle of nowhere.
The airport town of Kangerlussuaq is very small.
And very different.
Right away you get the feeling that life in Greenland is something else.
Like the tradition with having sculls and heads around the house. But cool people tried to normalize the tradition for me. – We just like it, and have to put the sculls somewhere, this guy said.
Kangerlussuaq is also the place where a lot of explorers start their journey to cross the Greenland inland is.
The view on the ice is spectacular.
The view from the top of the mountains in Sisimuit is not that bad either.
Here was my first meeting with the Greenlandic dogs. They are only used in the northern part of Greenland from Sisimiut and up.
The city center in Sisimiut and the local market.
The town entrance and a museum with old Greenlandic houses.
And old Greenlandic stone house and the church.
In the 60s the Danish government put up big communal housing and forced the nature people to live in them. A political decision which have been crucial for a lot of locals that lost their former way of living.
But most people still live of fishing and hunting. Like this guy.
And there is wildlife everywhere.
The entrance to Qeqertarsuaq on Disko island.
This was my first views of the great icebergs.
Beautiful icebergs.
The icebergs float all around the island. Dogs are also all around the island, but not always easy to spot.
But oh so cute some of them are. And I love the colorful houses.
In all shades. Some times with shoes on the roof.
The island offers good hiking.
And a lot of opportunity to see birds.
If you watch closely, they are all around.
There are almost no roads on Greenland, therefore neither that many cars or gas stations. But we found one very cute one.
The displays in the stores are not that cute though. In the local grocery store you can get food, toys and guns. All displayed together.
Comercialism is not very obvious.
The most popular commercial business was at the harbour where people gathered to buy fresh whale meat.
And seal fat, all put in the same bag.
All around people hang up fish for drying.
Because of the arctic climate, all pipes are over ground.
The town of Uummannaq by the heart shaped mountain.
It is such a beautiful little town 590 kilometers above the arctic circle, but it was sunny and hot when we were there.
Fishing is the main livelihood here.
And this guy, Ole Quist, told us all about it.
The local market.
The town kids are making art with local artist Miki by the new gallery in Uummannaq
The small settlement of Ukkusissat.
Here you see the living standard is much lower.
And the town house much smaller.
The people here live of hunting.
But they seem very happy
And smiling. Like Erika does.
And their waterfall has rainbow colors.
We visited the abandoned Qullissat that was once a thriving mining town, and the biggest city in Greenland. But the coal mine was not profitable and was closed down in 1972 and people were forced to move.
Now the place feels like a ghost town, and not much is left of the houses here. But it is an interesting place for photography.
Illulisat is now one of the most visited places in Greenland. The icefjord here being the country´s main tourist attraction.
This is in north Greenland where dog sleighs are common.
And Santas sleigh…
As is the Greenlandic dog.
But the dogs are treated very differently from other western dogs. They are often kept in big dog areas outside the city, and just feed once a week.
Peolpe are adviced not to approach the dogs. But most of them are friendly.
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