July 31, 2016: Kulusuk Greenland Day trip
Please look at the Iceland blog for the bulk of this home exchange based trip.
Finally the day for the humongously expensive day trip to Greenland has arrived. AlteCocker hauls herself out of bed and to the local airport for her 1 1/2 hour flight to Kulusuk on Greenland's east coast. She has to check her hiking poles and is worried about them getting lost, but the local Reykjavik Airport deals only with small planes, so there was no problem retrieving them.
This experience leaves from the local Reykjavik Airport--not the one at Keflavik where you will fly in from the US or major European cities. Keflavik is a good hour from downtown Reykjavik. The Reykjavik Airport is for flights within Iceland and flights to Greenland only. It is 2.8 kilometers from AlteCocker's exchange apartment.
This is a larger plane than AlteCocker had expected and is a little more than half full. No sitting up with the pilot in the copilot's seat--just a regular plane. AlteCocker did have the same seat on the plane going in both directions. She got some good shots from the plane, but, you can see the plane's propellers in some of the photos. Yes, the plane had propellers. From where AlteCocker was seated, she could see the landing gear go up and down as it was located on the wings.T
The previously linked website provides a good explanation of the tour. Stops were made at the supermarket, small museum, church and for a drum dance performance. The islanders are all Lutherans--the national religion of Denmark--but traditional religion is still honored. It reminded AlteCocker of a side trip she took from a home exchange on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to a place on Nootka Sound in the extreme west of the island where the island is connected only by boat and everyone rushes down to the grocery store when the boat comes in with provisions. In Kulusuk, however, the provisions come in only twice a month--and not on the plane AlteCocker took in. In Nootka Sound there was a road connection to the mainland, but very difficult driving. Kulusuk is isolated without any connection to other Greenland towns--and life is, therefore, even tougher.
We did pass a hotel walking to the town. AlteCocker was told that the hotel had flush toilets. Other toilets in the town are just buckets with weekly collection of their contents. The hostel in the town of Kulusuk does have showers--but bucket toilets. Imagine if you had to live that way all year--not for a tourist visit!
Our guides, Sulu and Lola, met the group outside what passed for customs and immigration. AlteCocker had to check her hiking poles flying from Reykjavik to Kulusuk. Luggage is delivered outside the terminal. Flights to Kulusuk largely do not run in winter except for emergencies. Some hotels use their own helicopters to get guests to their accommodations. Everything is very expensive.
Sulu told us that the dialects in Greenland can be mutually incomprehensible. He and Lola (who was training) spoke a different dialect from the local one--which was East Greenlandic. In school they are taught both their local dialtect and Danish before going on to learn English. Greenland is administered by Denmark for historic reasons. It is therefore part of the EU but it uses Danish kroner. All Scandinavian countries except Finland, use their own local currency. This made the situation very confusing for visitors. Everyone comes in from Iceland and has Icelandic krona. AlteCocker, and some others, also had euros, but no one had Danish krona. When the first stop was made at the supermarket, AlteCocker simply did not buy anything because she didn't want to get involved with trying to use a credit card there or paying too much in non local currency.
The most notable thing about the supermarket is that it sells everything--including guns; after all, this is a subsistence culture. You are not allowed to take photos in the supermarket. It is the only store in Kulusuk, so sort of Walmart in miniature. AlteCocker did not ask about alcoholism in the town because isolated indigenous communities all have such a problem. She did ask Sulu what people did for entertainment. He said they go hiking, hunting or fishing--a different way of life for sure--and that some do drink. Lest you think that everything was negative, it wasn't. The kids could leave their toys anywhere and no one would take them. There were small groups of children playing everywhere. Kulusuk is a safe place to grow up.
After the supermarket, the group went to a small museum up a hill. At that point, AlteCocker bailed. She was not doing any more walking than was necessary. There was still more to come. One of the fellow tour group members, Awas, told her that she missed nothing. AlteCocker enjoyed a rest and took more photos of the small glacier that dominates the rugged mountains surrounding the town (the name of the glacier is actually the words for "small glacier" in Icelandic. Sulu insisted on going with her. AlteCocker has done tour work and she did not like it when members of her tour group thought she should make special accommodations for them. She told Sulu it was not necessary, but he was insistent. Perhaps the tour company has given him instructions. In any case, he was very nice.
After the others were done at the museum, we visited the small colorful church. There were some gorgeous modern stained glass windows that a German glass artist had made for the church as a donation. The church had green painted pews and seal and polar bear skin on the area around the altar. However, survival is more important than religious services and occasionally the minister cancels services because he is "out hunting". Our guides tried to sing the Greenlandic version of "Near My God to Thee." They told us that it was the song from the Titanic. No one could remember the name of the song so it was not just AlteCocker having a senior moment. AlteCocker looked it up when she wrote the blog.
After the church we had a traditional drum dance performance--which reminded AlteCocker of drum chants she has heard from native Americans. Then we had a choice: We could go in a boat to see a Glacial Lagoon with icebergs or walk directly back. 6 of us chose the boat ride and had to pay 40 euros extra for it. AlteCocker had, of course, done the Glacial Lagoon thing earlier on her trip to Iceland in the south of the country. However, the chief advantage of the boat was that you were left closer to the airport--although still a good walk in to your flight out. For that reason, AlteCocker took the boat. She had a lot of difficulty getting into the boat (no real dock; just over some rocks); getting out was a bit easier as there were stairs but there was still a huge step.
Having done the day trip, AlteCocker was glad she was able to do it. It was a bit beyond her abilities and physical condition. Had she really known what was involved, perhaps she would not have done it, but she was glad she did. When the hell else is she likely to get an opportunity to go to Greenland? When she finally walked into the airport, the plane was boarding. She did not have a chance to buy a fridge magnert or t-shirt, but she did ask someone to stamp her passport as proof that she had now been to Greenland. When she boarded the plane to return to Reykjavik, she asked where she could check her hiking poles. The response was to take them on the plane. When she asked about having to check them in Reykjavik, the response was, "You are in Greenland now." Everything is apparently more simple there.
After taking a few photos at the take off, AlteCocker slept for the first hour of the flight back to Reykjavik. When she got back, she ate, yes, at Ruby Tuesday, before hitting the house and almost immediately falling asleep for 3 hours. OK, it's an American chain, but it is one of the closest restaurants to the house and she did not have to walk at all from the parking as she would have downtown. All she wanted was a hamburger, so please forgive AlteCocker. It was also less expensive than one of the full service places near the harbor--and AlteCocker has had a lot of Icelandic fish.
When she got home, AlteCocker cleaned out the car. Tomorrow it will be time to deal with trash and pack. She slept for 3 solid hours before getting up and doing the blog.
Finally the day for the humongously expensive day trip to Greenland has arrived. AlteCocker hauls herself out of bed and to the local airport for her 1 1/2 hour flight to Kulusuk on Greenland's east coast. She has to check her hiking poles and is worried about them getting lost, but the local Reykjavik Airport deals only with small planes, so there was no problem retrieving them.
This experience leaves from the local Reykjavik Airport--not the one at Keflavik where you will fly in from the US or major European cities. Keflavik is a good hour from downtown Reykjavik. The Reykjavik Airport is for flights within Iceland and flights to Greenland only. It is 2.8 kilometers from AlteCocker's exchange apartment.
This is a larger plane than AlteCocker had expected and is a little more than half full. No sitting up with the pilot in the copilot's seat--just a regular plane. AlteCocker did have the same seat on the plane going in both directions. She got some good shots from the plane, but, you can see the plane's propellers in some of the photos. Yes, the plane had propellers. From where AlteCocker was seated, she could see the landing gear go up and down as it was located on the wings.T
The previously linked website provides a good explanation of the tour. Stops were made at the supermarket, small museum, church and for a drum dance performance. The islanders are all Lutherans--the national religion of Denmark--but traditional religion is still honored. It reminded AlteCocker of a side trip she took from a home exchange on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to a place on Nootka Sound in the extreme west of the island where the island is connected only by boat and everyone rushes down to the grocery store when the boat comes in with provisions. In Kulusuk, however, the provisions come in only twice a month--and not on the plane AlteCocker took in. In Nootka Sound there was a road connection to the mainland, but very difficult driving. Kulusuk is isolated without any connection to other Greenland towns--and life is, therefore, even tougher.
We did pass a hotel walking to the town. AlteCocker was told that the hotel had flush toilets. Other toilets in the town are just buckets with weekly collection of their contents. The hostel in the town of Kulusuk does have showers--but bucket toilets. Imagine if you had to live that way all year--not for a tourist visit!
Our guides, Sulu and Lola, met the group outside what passed for customs and immigration. AlteCocker had to check her hiking poles flying from Reykjavik to Kulusuk. Luggage is delivered outside the terminal. Flights to Kulusuk largely do not run in winter except for emergencies. Some hotels use their own helicopters to get guests to their accommodations. Everything is very expensive.
Sulu told us that the dialects in Greenland can be mutually incomprehensible. He and Lola (who was training) spoke a different dialect from the local one--which was East Greenlandic. In school they are taught both their local dialtect and Danish before going on to learn English. Greenland is administered by Denmark for historic reasons. It is therefore part of the EU but it uses Danish kroner. All Scandinavian countries except Finland, use their own local currency. This made the situation very confusing for visitors. Everyone comes in from Iceland and has Icelandic krona. AlteCocker, and some others, also had euros, but no one had Danish krona. When the first stop was made at the supermarket, AlteCocker simply did not buy anything because she didn't want to get involved with trying to use a credit card there or paying too much in non local currency.
The most notable thing about the supermarket is that it sells everything--including guns; after all, this is a subsistence culture. You are not allowed to take photos in the supermarket. It is the only store in Kulusuk, so sort of Walmart in miniature. AlteCocker did not ask about alcoholism in the town because isolated indigenous communities all have such a problem. She did ask Sulu what people did for entertainment. He said they go hiking, hunting or fishing--a different way of life for sure--and that some do drink. Lest you think that everything was negative, it wasn't. The kids could leave their toys anywhere and no one would take them. There were small groups of children playing everywhere. Kulusuk is a safe place to grow up.
After the supermarket, the group went to a small museum up a hill. At that point, AlteCocker bailed. She was not doing any more walking than was necessary. There was still more to come. One of the fellow tour group members, Awas, told her that she missed nothing. AlteCocker enjoyed a rest and took more photos of the small glacier that dominates the rugged mountains surrounding the town (the name of the glacier is actually the words for "small glacier" in Icelandic. Sulu insisted on going with her. AlteCocker has done tour work and she did not like it when members of her tour group thought she should make special accommodations for them. She told Sulu it was not necessary, but he was insistent. Perhaps the tour company has given him instructions. In any case, he was very nice.
After the others were done at the museum, we visited the small colorful church. There were some gorgeous modern stained glass windows that a German glass artist had made for the church as a donation. The church had green painted pews and seal and polar bear skin on the area around the altar. However, survival is more important than religious services and occasionally the minister cancels services because he is "out hunting". Our guides tried to sing the Greenlandic version of "Near My God to Thee." They told us that it was the song from the Titanic. No one could remember the name of the song so it was not just AlteCocker having a senior moment. AlteCocker looked it up when she wrote the blog.
After the church we had a traditional drum dance performance--which reminded AlteCocker of drum chants she has heard from native Americans. Then we had a choice: We could go in a boat to see a Glacial Lagoon with icebergs or walk directly back. 6 of us chose the boat ride and had to pay 40 euros extra for it. AlteCocker had, of course, done the Glacial Lagoon thing earlier on her trip to Iceland in the south of the country. However, the chief advantage of the boat was that you were left closer to the airport--although still a good walk in to your flight out. For that reason, AlteCocker took the boat. She had a lot of difficulty getting into the boat (no real dock; just over some rocks); getting out was a bit easier as there were stairs but there was still a huge step.
Having done the day trip, AlteCocker was glad she was able to do it. It was a bit beyond her abilities and physical condition. Had she really known what was involved, perhaps she would not have done it, but she was glad she did. When the hell else is she likely to get an opportunity to go to Greenland? When she finally walked into the airport, the plane was boarding. She did not have a chance to buy a fridge magnert or t-shirt, but she did ask someone to stamp her passport as proof that she had now been to Greenland. When she boarded the plane to return to Reykjavik, she asked where she could check her hiking poles. The response was to take them on the plane. When she asked about having to check them in Reykjavik, the response was, "You are in Greenland now." Everything is apparently more simple there.
After taking a few photos at the take off, AlteCocker slept for the first hour of the flight back to Reykjavik. When she got back, she ate, yes, at Ruby Tuesday, before hitting the house and almost immediately falling asleep for 3 hours. OK, it's an American chain, but it is one of the closest restaurants to the house and she did not have to walk at all from the parking as she would have downtown. All she wanted was a hamburger, so please forgive AlteCocker. It was also less expensive than one of the full service places near the harbor--and AlteCocker has had a lot of Icelandic fish.
When she got home, AlteCocker cleaned out the car. Tomorrow it will be time to deal with trash and pack. She slept for 3 solid hours before getting up and doing the blog.