Adventure

The Northern Lights from the Hotel Room in Finland

robinfinger — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 12:22:18 +0000

The Northern Lights from the Hotel Room in Finland robinfinger Wed, 11/17/2021 - 13:22

Imagine that your bed is floating through the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy, and you’re sipping from a hot cocoa after a long day out on snow shoes. Your muscles are relaxed as you gaze in panorama, and marvel at the jade majesty of Aurora Borealis that swirls around you from every angle within your periphery. You might see a shooting star streak across the sky and disappear into infinity as the rest of the sky lights your face with an auspicious and welcoming glow. Your arms and legs tingle, but that’s because you’re warming back up after a long day, but the tingling feels almost supernatural this time. It feels like you’re settling back into yourself for the first time in years as the very sky itself heals you.

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort

Losing yourself in the wilderness, and feasting your eyes upon the silent magnificence above you might seem like a lucid dream beyond your wildest imagination, but it’s not too far from the truth. Arctic cabins and glass igloos hide in the wilderness of Finland in cozy atmospheres that will wrap around you like a weighted blanket slowly lulling you into a gentle sleep. As you dream, you might flail and toss at first, but as you let the heavens wrap themselves around you, you will gently fade into the universe that surrounds you with a sense of all accepting familiarity, and be one with the Dawn of the North as you fade into where you truly belong. We’ve tried to use the proper words to explain it, but you really have to see it for yourself.

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort photographed by Helivideo

What you need to know

Booking: While you can book year-round, the most popular option is during the winter when the sky is the darkest and the stars are the most visible. Autumn offers myriad colors that you may not see during the winter, but the Aurora is visible from late August to late April.

Winter Attire: Some of the best stargazing will take place outside of your dwelling, and it’s encouraged to dress snug and warm. Thermals, gloves, a lined jacket, and comfortable boots are recommended, because comfort will directly influence the enjoyment of the spectacle that awaits you.

Accommodations: Cabins, igloos, and hybrids vary in size and price. Whether you’re looking for an intimate escape, or a family retreat, there are plenty of options for lodging.

Apukka Resort photographed by Alaa Othman

Santa's Home photographed by Alaa Othman

What is Aurora Borealis?

The phenomena known as Aurora Borealis is the result of solar wind at high altitudes. This solar wind causes disturbances in the magnetosphere, and creates the illusion of a ghostly green blanket that wraps itself around the sky. The visual stimulation is vibrant, awe inspiring, and all consuming. Pale green and pink are the most common of colors, and they display themselves in magnificent arcs of color and shape. You can easily lose yourself in the spirals as the Aurora Borealis encomposses your surroundings. Roughly translating to “The Dawn of the North,” Aurora Borealis occurs between the twilight and the obscurity of the early morning. It doesn’t matter if you’re an early riser, or a night owl, because the overlapping circle of this Venn Diagram is one of total awe-inspiring beauty, and majestic optical magnificence.

The Northern Lights photographed by Alaa Othman

The beauty that awaits you

Imagine hiking up a hill in snow shoes, eagerly awaiting your homestead; your body aching, and your soul weary. Maybe you were hunting, or maybe you were just hiking while your neck did all the work gathering in all of the surroundings. As you press on, and on, you catch a glimpse of the horizon that awaits you. You seat yourself on the incline for just a second, and take a sip of water as you look up. What waits for you in the sky at first seems like it’s too good to be true, but as you wipe your weary eyes, you cannot believe what you are seeing. Explosions of color and shapes that you once only thought belonged in long-lost fairy tales and stories innocently youthful exuberance. Your mind, your body, and your soul are rejuvenated by your surroundings. You can finally close your eyes and rest under a sky that you can call your home.

The Northern Lights photographed by Alaa Othman

The Majesty of Your Surroundings

Whether you’re residing in a glass igloo, a cabin, or a combination of the two, you’ll never have to worry about the amenities. As you warm yourself in the early evening waiting for the Aurora Alarm that waits for you in your sleeping quarters, you know that you’re taking things slow as the twilight emerges. Sleep might hit your eyes, but you know that laying back and staying awake for just a little while longer will treat you to the magnetic magnificence that will show itself in all of its splendor. Whether you choose to spend your day in a snow tank safari, skiing or snowboarding, ice fishing on Lake Inarinjarvi, or bathing in the icy bay of Bothnia, comfort will encapsulate your existence as you wrap yourself up and lay back to admire the natural beauty that you didn’t know you were missing.

The Northern Lights photographed by Alaa Othman

What You’re Missing

We get lost in the day to day of modern society; cars stalled in traffic, lines for lattes, mid day lunch recesses, and that aching desire to escape from the monotony that encapsulates our existence. Meanwhile, the sky has its own glorious map full of stories and bursting with light; an enchanting kaleidoscope of cosmic creation. We all get so lost in modern day minutia, that we often forget about what’s beyond the periphery; the universe precedes our existence, and will continue to exist long after we’re gone. We owe it to ourselves to feast our eyes upon it’s magnificent glory, and take it all in.

The Northern Lights photographed by Alaa Othman

GPS location

68.33463892153503, 27.33479301610306

The aurora season lasts from late August until the end of April

Finnish

Adventure Secret places Unique lodges

Europe

The Northern Lights from the Hotel Room in Finland

Teaser image large

Off

Country

Finland

Nenets: The Women Standing at Land’s End

dhaval — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 04:34:24 +0000

Nenets: The Women Standing at Land’s End dhaval Fri, 10/22/2021 - 06:34

For centuries, the Nenets have traveled across the Siberian arctic in one of the most challenging feats humanly possible. The Nenets are nomadic reindeer herders. In fact, they are the last tribe of their kind that herds reindeer in this way. The reindeer play a critical role in the Nenets culture.

In fact, they rely heavily on their reindeer for everything from tools and clothing, to food and transportation. They take these herds of reindeer with them along the same ancient migration routes they always have. Each Nenet not only has a responsibility to help care for the herd along their journey, but they are each given a sacred reindeer, which is not harnessed or slaughtered until it is unable to walk. It is one of the many traditions that the tribe maintains along their journey.

Photo by: Kim Frank

However, now that the modern world knowns that this peninsula they travel on is home to one of the largest gas reserves in the planet, things have started to change along this path. There is now new infrastructure in place, and the Nenets’ migration routes are threatened by this infrastructure. Roads are difficult for reindeer to cross and the pollution from this development impacts the quality of the pastures the reindeer migrate to.

The pollution and climate change is also impacting the vegetation in the tundra, which is the only source of food for the reindeer along their journey. Every year, this group of indigenous people moves their herds from summer pastures in the north, to winter pastures in the south. As they travel to the arctic circle, this group, and their herd of reindeer are faced with unpredictable landscapes and temperatures that can drop as low as -50C. In addition to walking and sledding through these long stretches of land, they must also cross the fifth largest river in the world right as it freezes.

Photo by: Kim Frank

However, this tribe isn’t just about their struggles or difficult journey. They are a tribe that is characterized by their bold and beautiful culture. They are also a tribe with a difficult history, and one that saw them overcome early Russian colonization and the threats of Stalin’s regime. However, even after all they have overcome, the modern-day threats of climate change and oil and gas development is poised to provide them with their greatest challenge yet. In a recent article from Maptia, writers Alegra Ally and Kim Frank take a deep dive into the women of this indigenous tribe, highlighting the day-to-day excursions of tribe member Lena and her family. Using a series of field journal entries, the article details what it is like to travel across the freezing tundra as the family tries to migrate to winter grazing lands, reindeer in tow.

They must cover themselves in swathes of fur to keep frost bite at bay, travel along some of the most dangerous frozen lands in the world, and they stay only in small tents known as “chums” when it is time to rest. The women along for the journey help create warm homes out of these tents, pack and unpack their sleds filled with supplies, and keep the family fed, healthy and happy along the journey—even the mothers who are caring for small children or expecting children of their own.

Photo by: Kim Frank

This is just the story they tell in their piece. While detailing a 50 day journey with the Nenet, they tell Lena’s tale, the tale of a woman who is not only trying to survive with her family on their journey, but who is on the brink of giving birth as well. As she navigates the challenges presented in her trek along with the attempt to safely deliver her baby and return back to her tribe, you see the intricacies that come with making this type of life work. It is a fascinating look at the sheer strength it takes not only traveling in such an extreme environment, but in maintaining this tradition amidst a changing climate.

The passage is part of a larger, photography book that showcases images from this amazing journey. It is riddled with stories about the impact of extreme cold, the physical responsibilities of taking a journey like this and how rapid climate change and industrial development are starting to pose a threat to this tribe’s way of life. In this journey alone, travel is delayed by weeks because not enough snow has fallen to take the journey. And every year, it only has potential to get worse.

Photo by: Kim Frank

The photos of this tribe and of their journey in the arctic truly has to be seen to be believed. They continue to hold family values and traditions, while navigating the unpredictable tundra ahead of them—in a journey that is truly awe-inspiring to behold. They make their way through areas of the arctic that have rarely even been photographed on an annual journey that is nothing more than a day’s work for this nomadic clan.

Photo by: Kim Frank

Every year, the tribe, travels to “Yamal” which means “the end of the world” in their native language. They go through this excruciating process year after year, whether or not there is a global pandemic, whether or not they are with child and whether or not the weather cooperates. It is part of their being. And once they have done that, once they have found the grazing lands for their herd, their journey isn’t done. They will trave again, face extreme conditions again and move again as their ancestors always have. Their nomadic life means their journey is never complete so they power through as they continue to keep their tribe’s traditions alive.

GPS location

70.0004529805843, 69.9996569557579

Yamal

Adventure

Europe

Nenets: The Women Standing at Land’s End

Teaser image large

Country

Russia