Break Away: When the sky lit up
Vahishta Mistry in Greenland
Of all your Greenland adventures, the aurora borealis will stand out.
Greenland has been many things to me. A lesson in man overcoming his environment. A testament to the harsh and alien place that our planet can sometimes be. A warning against our own hubris, thinking ourselves to be without fault and our actions without consequence. An enduring monument to natural beauty.
And, above all this, literally and figuratively, the aurora borealis. That magical curtain of lights in the night sky. Clear as the methane haze above the cities I grew up in and yet so unfamiliar. If there is one thing that I have taken away with me in my heart it’s the experience of sitting in the freezing cold wind, watching the aurora dance above, a cold, mysterious fire in the skies.
The first night I saw the aurora in the skies above Greenland was my second night in the town of Kangerlussuaq. My host Philip, a researcher who was studying the lights, knew exactly where and when to look for them and we were treated to a view for the gods from his porch.
It started unassumingly, a lightening of the sky. Building fast, your entire vision is soon consumed with the dancing sprites. It’s a bit like looking at a cloud and seeing patterns in the puffy cumulus shape - but in this case, the shapes move with a slow, languid gait. I spent four nights taking over 10,000 pictures of the lights.
The nights were not the only things that were exciting, though. Most days, I would go off every morning on a long rambling hike and return in time to see the lights put on their show.
The air was so clear and crisp, it almost seemed to negate the need for sleep. And yet when sleep came,it was usually deep and dreamless, unaffected by any of the wonders I had experienced in the day.
On one of the days, I rode a makeshift bus made from a shipping container on wheels, pulled by a truck. We rode out to the Greenland ice cap with a few other tourists. A French couple who was with us decided to hike back, so they could stay the night under the lights.
Our fellow tourists, a bunch of Air Greenland cabin crew had an interesting story for us. They told us that the Inuit and Japanese cultures regard children conceived under the northern lights as gifted.
Depending on who you speak to, you might hear that males are strong warriors and females are fertile and beautiful. Or that conceiving a child under the northern lights means that the child will be rich, or male. Whatever the truth may be about one's progeny, you can’t deny the romantic allure of the lights. That French couple's time on the way back must have been rather spectacular!
The ice cap itself is a sight to behold. Miles and miles of icy wasteland. The snow drifts windblown into bizarre shapes. No form of food - animal or plant, as far as the eye can see. And in the clear, hazeless air, you can see a long way indeed. And despite that inhospitable vista, I must confess to a longing. As I turned my back on the ice cap and walked back to my waiting ride and the hot coffee, I felt unutterably sad that I was not able to keep going. To find the other side of that trackless waste. To reach the ocean on the far side of the ice cap and know the joy that comes with cheating a relentless death. Perhaps next time.
Vahishta Mistry, a 31-year-old marketing professional did something most of us have only dreamed of doing. He sold his possessions and set out to explore the world. Have a question for him? Ping him @vahishta and he’ll answer them here
Of all your Greenland adventures, the aurora borealis will stand out.
Greenland has been many things to me. A lesson in man overcoming his environment. A testament to the harsh and alien place that our planet can sometimes be. A warning against our own hubris, thinking ourselves to be without fault and our actions without consequence. An enduring monument to natural beauty.
It has been a place where I have seen stunning sights. A glacier, thousands of tons of prehistoric ice poised on the verge of calving off. A pair of falcons soaring, hunting for food; apex predators living off their kills, yet in perfect harmony with the land. Calm fjords, raging winds, a land in geologic upheaval.
And, above all this, literally and figuratively, the aurora borealis. That magical curtain of lights in the night sky. Clear as the methane haze above the cities I grew up in and yet so unfamiliar. If there is one thing that I have taken away with me in my heart it’s the experience of sitting in the freezing cold wind, watching the aurora dance above, a cold, mysterious fire in the skies.
The first night I saw the aurora in the skies above Greenland was my second night in the town of Kangerlussuaq. My host Philip, a researcher who was studying the lights, knew exactly where and when to look for them and we were treated to a view for the gods from his porch.
It started unassumingly, a lightening of the sky. Building fast, your entire vision is soon consumed with the dancing sprites. It’s a bit like looking at a cloud and seeing patterns in the puffy cumulus shape - but in this case, the shapes move with a slow, languid gait. I spent four nights taking over 10,000 pictures of the lights.
The nights were not the only things that were exciting, though. Most days, I would go off every morning on a long rambling hike and return in time to see the lights put on their show.
The air was so clear and crisp, it almost seemed to negate the need for sleep. And yet when sleep came,it was usually deep and dreamless, unaffected by any of the wonders I had experienced in the day.
On one of the days, I rode a makeshift bus made from a shipping container on wheels, pulled by a truck. We rode out to the Greenland ice cap with a few other tourists. A French couple who was with us decided to hike back, so they could stay the night under the lights.
Our fellow tourists, a bunch of Air Greenland cabin crew had an interesting story for us. They told us that the Inuit and Japanese cultures regard children conceived under the northern lights as gifted.
Depending on who you speak to, you might hear that males are strong warriors and females are fertile and beautiful. Or that conceiving a child under the northern lights means that the child will be rich, or male. Whatever the truth may be about one's progeny, you can’t deny the romantic allure of the lights. That French couple's time on the way back must have been rather spectacular!
The ice cap itself is a sight to behold. Miles and miles of icy wasteland. The snow drifts windblown into bizarre shapes. No form of food - animal or plant, as far as the eye can see. And in the clear, hazeless air, you can see a long way indeed. And despite that inhospitable vista, I must confess to a longing. As I turned my back on the ice cap and walked back to my waiting ride and the hot coffee, I felt unutterably sad that I was not able to keep going. To find the other side of that trackless waste. To reach the ocean on the far side of the ice cap and know the joy that comes with cheating a relentless death. Perhaps next time.
Vahishta Mistry, a 31-year-old marketing professional did something most of us have only dreamed of doing. He sold his possessions and set out to explore the world. Have a question for him? Ping him @vahishta and he’ll answer them here
