Editor’s guide: how to spend 4 days in East Greenland

We arrive in Kulusuk and I’m welcomed by my Greenlandic colleague as well as a blue sky. The Arctic sunlight is sharp and insistent and it almost makes up for my jet lag. Therefore it is also tempting to take a stroll down the road from the airport, before catching a helicopter to Tasiilaq.

I chuckle as I spot a dogsled parked outside next to a couple of snowmobiles – here an airport shuttle looks slightly different. The road has been cleared, on both sides of the path the snow is over 3 meters tall, and my colleague tells me that a polar bear has gone for the same stroll as us just the day before – a friendly reminder that it is always a good idea to venture out with a local.

After dreaming about skiing down the snow covered mountain sides, we return to the terminal to check in.

Flying in a helicopter has been a personal goal for quite some time and luckily it is the only option for traveling from Kulusuk to Tasiilaq in the winter season. The flight is peaceful and I manage to score a window seat and take in the frozen fjord speckled by royal blue in the places where the early spring has made the ice break.

In Tasiilaq heliport I stand on the snow covered ground and watch as the helicopter takes off – it won’t return for three days, and for a brief moment I feel like an actual explorer.

We are picked up at the airport by Hotel Ammassalik, our accommodation. I have been warned that Tasiilaq is hilly and on the drive I feel grateful for not having to hike my way to the hotel (especially traveling with a photographer and his equipment).

But the location on top of the hill makes for the best view – it has a vintage après ski atmosphere and lounge areas with sheepskin and a 180 degree view of the cityscape and steep mountain peaks.

We pack up and are picked up at the hotel on two snowmobiles and cruise the city – one of the most fun sightseeing trips I have ever been on. The destination is the frozen fjord, the main road out of town, where we are catching our ride: dogsled.

Enox, our 19-year old musher, readies the dogs and with the pitter patter of paw-power we take off. As I enjoy steaming hot tea from a thermos I have brought with me, the city becomes smaller behind us, and the mountains slide by – I feel very peaceful – just cruising on a Sunday afternoon – the Greenlandic way.

We set up camp – Line and Tobias, our two hosts, cook steaming fish soup which we enjoy while sitting on reindeer furs. As I afterwards sip a cup of hot cocoa the sun makes the landscape blush and the mountains fall completely quiet. As my colleague tells me: “The silence makes my thoughts speak louder”.

I had imagined that the hours spent outside in this Arctic outback would be passing slowly, but I don’t turn over a single page in the paperback I have brought with me. Instead I take in this ice cold corner of the world, where everything is peaceful. Here I can think, breathe and exist for a moment without anything else – without any cell reception or concept of time except for the sun going to sleep on the horizon.

We jump on the snowmobiles and head towards Tiilerilaaq. Known also by its nickname Tinit, this settlement in East Greenland has about 100 citizens and is located 40 km from Tasiilaq. This makes a favored weekend spot for locals – going fishing, hunting or staying over in their “vacation cabins’.

I can’t explain the scale of things in East Greenland, as I am not sure my brain can grasp the landscape. Everything seems to stretch out for miles, with massive mountainous giants towering into the sky. And just when you think you can’t possibly descend a steep mountainside or travel across the icy fjord, the locals will know a path.

The snowmobile takes us across a glacier and it is a lot of fun experiencing the hilly landscape at full speed with the wind in my hair. The descent into the settlement is also breathtaking as the colorful houses pop up from the vast snowscape like this is the Game of Thrones intro.

In Tiilerilaaq we frequent the local store to supply us with snacks, including dried fish (a local delicacy.) We then locate Tobias’ open boat. Greenlanders have glacial water running through their veins, so a bit of ice won’t stop them from venturing out on the main road: the sea. With the spring approaching more and more open water appears, but Tobias still takes us across some lumpy ice, breaking it up and proving that local knowledge makes it possible for a motorboat to walk on ice.

The snow covered peaks become reflected in the water, making artworks and confusing the brain, as we scout for a seal for dinner. No seals are found, but suddenly a transmission sounds through the radio: two locals have spotted polar bear tracks. We head in the direction and sure enough – on the ice are fresh paw prints, not more than a day old.

We don’t meet this sharp toothed local, but I’m sure the memory of being that close will stay with me forever.

We are joined by another colleague, shop for food in one of the local stores and meet up with Rasmus from Tasiilaq Tours who is taking us on a snowmobile to Arctic Dream’s huts by Sermilik Fjord.

Today the sky is moody white and this makes the trip difficult. On the 28 km from Tasiilaq to the huts the visibility is low and the bright sunlight through the white veil erases every level – the road and sky becomes one big cloud. We arrive safely thanks to Rasmus’ expert driving, but ski goggles and strong nerves are definitely a necessity.

The 5 twin huts are located by Sermilik Fjord across from Tillerilaaq. In summer time 10,000 icebergs drift by outside the windows. Apart from the sleeping huts, the small cluster also has a shed and a main hut with a fully functional kitchen.

Icicles hang from the roofs, where we collect snow to boil for coffee in a large pot on the stove. The snow stands 2 meters tall, and the temperatures are warm and friendly (around 0 degrees).

We cook dinner and tell ghost stories in the glow of the oil lamp. Then pick up snowshoes in the shed and venture up on a hill. It is pitch black out, but that’s the point. My colleague wants to photograph the cozy glow from the huts underneath.

After our nighttime stroll we tuck in in sleeping bags in our individual huts. We’re all alone out here, the quiet of the polar night embraces us and the snow lights up the darkness. As I turn off my petrol furnace and enjoy the warm and comfy sleeping bag, I think to myself: four days here and I am completely transformed! That’s it, I’m staying, I never want to return home.