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Chasing the Lights in Finland

“Wide-spread they stand, the Northland’s dusky forests. Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams; within them dwells the Forest’s mighty god. And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets,” writes renowned Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in his last work, Tapiola. Although the hotel wasn’t worthy of its name Aurora, it reflected the music master’s symphonic poem, playing a solitary yet charming tune in the nearby coniferous forest. Located 100 kilometers north from the Arctic Circle, Luosto isn’t a town that is frequented by visitors except during the solar maximum period, which comes around about every 10 years. At peak season, business-minded people, Northern Lights photography enthusiasts and tourists who don’t know better visit Luosto, where the Aurora Borealis is said to be visible over 200 evenings every year. The hotel was called the Aurora Chalet and it was the most authentic Northern Lights hotel when I visited. Next to the bed was a Nokia dial pad phone – a total stranger to those born in the ’90s or after. The purpose of the phone was to remind the occupants when to move their heads towards the north so that they could experience the Northern Lights right from their warm beds. Unfortunately, it never needed to be used. I flew to Lapland, where no bird is in flight over a thousand hills and not one foot-print is in sight on myriads paths, just as a famous Chinese poem depicts. Although getting there was expensive, I reminded myself that the luxury in this part of Scandinavia wouldn’t be like that of the Alps. There would be no champagne, strawberries, Persian silk carpet or Czech chandelier. I was instead hoping for a warm bedroom, a comfortable king-size bed, a good meal and a personal hot spring. That couldn’t be too much to ask for, right? Looking around, there was only one hotel staff member and a bell at the reception desk. I wondered whether it was normal that no one else was present. The lobby featured a souvenir area, and there was no elevator in sight. The receptionist reminded me to have my room key on me at all times, since no one was working between 10pm and 7am. I started to get suspicious, especially seeing what’s outside – a massive coniferous forest. It wasn’t clear how we could appreciate the Northern Lights when the woods were blocking much of the sky to the north. I could accept that the king-sized bed was composed of two singles, that the TV was an old cathode-ray tube one and the fireplace with help-your-self firewood. But to claim that visitors could see the Northern Lights right from their beds was a little too much. After hauling my luggage to my room on the top floor, I settled down with a cup of tea while figuring out how to watch the Finnish MOD and get the fireplace working. It was then that the street lights toward the north of the hotel were turned on. Would they be on the whole night? Yes. Were they in the way no matter what room in the hotel you’re in? Yes. As such, would I be able to see the Northern Lights? Hmm. As it turned out, I wasn’t the first person to have protested the arrangement. A hotel staffer who’d just finished their shift took out a map and told me that, if I were to walk eastward for 10 minutes, I would reach a lake, and after another 5 minutes I would reach a mountain. I wondered if I got myself all dressed up against the cold, ran out with a flashlight in one hand and a camera tripod in another, and then connected the shutter release cable… would Aurora Borealis be there for me? To look on the bright side, the dinner was truly delicious: reindeer meat on mashed potatoes with berries and pickles on the side. This might have been the third plate of reindeer meat I had eaten that week, but it was better than that at the Karasjok Rica hotel and the Igloo in Lapland. The steak tartare I had as an appetizer was fresh, and the berry pudding dessert was just sweet enough. The young chef was flirting with the receptionist, spreading some young vibes in silent Lapland. The scenery in the Arctic Circle reflected not just breath-taking views, but also challenges of local life, even for high-income North European countries. The Nokia didn’t ring all night. To be honest, I hadn’t believed it would, anyway. Who would be staring at the sky if no one was working throughout the night? It reminded me of the unpunctuality of the buses and trains in Finland. Later, I saw many visitors complaining online about the Nokia not doing its job. During the day when I wasn’t chasing the lights, I went to the nearby Pyha-Luosto National Park. In winter, it’s home to a well-known skiing trail. When I visited the ruska hiking trail, it was as mesmerizing as the Urho Kekkonen National Park, where I went just prior to Luosto. After the coniferous forest, I reached a dense and magnificent forest of European spruce, white birch, aspen, and beech. The season was changing, the variety of colors of the leaves made my walk in the forest a marvelous experience. The ski and weather stations are at the peak. The higher I got, the less stable the weather was. On the way back, the wooden path became more difficult, but the red leaves were even more impressive. For me, the autumn scenery in the Pyha-Luosto National Park was no less magical than the Northern Lights. I walked for six hours in total, and three of them was in rain. But I didn’t feel like ending the journey. If this is autumn in Lapland, I don’t see why it is not more famous for visitors. In the end, I didn’t see any Northern Lights in Luosto. The next few days were gloomy and rainy. My two-week journey chasing the lights began in Trmoso, of Norway, took me to Saariselkä, of Finland, and then to the touristy Rovaniemi Santa village, which wasn’t located in the Arctic Circle and had severe light pollution. In the end, I was able to see the lights on only two evenings. I visited Pyha-Luosto again the morning of my departure. The day was sunny, and the bewildering light in the forest made me think I was in heaven. If I had stayed in Luosto that night, I probably would have seen the Northern lights. This reminded me of the day at Trmos when I had booked my trip, and the old Norwegian lady next to me said: “Oh, the Northern Lights are like men: you can’t get a hold of them.” There I thought the description was apt for women! I guess there are a lot of things we can’t get a hold of in the Arctic Circle.

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