Qeqertarsuaq: Sled Dogs, Swimming in the Arctic Ocean, and a Race to the Airport.
Qeqertarsuaq is located on the Disco Island and boat tickets are available available both at the Disco Line website and at the visitor center in Ilulissat. We were a little late: the time constrain put us on the wrong side of the harbor. Well, we had the strategy ready: we jumped and waved to attract the attention of the captain. The boat came to pick us up.
The map of the city, located right next to the dock entrance wasn't inspiring: apart from the museum, the supermarket and the tourist office there was not much to see. We raided the supermarket for some food and the bathroom and headed towards the tourist office, which turned out to be a monopolistic tour company.
We entered a spacious room filled with souvenir shelves and a big computer. Four people were sitting next to the round table ready to depart. Little Lars, the guide and the owner of the place, quickly introduced us to the local prices of the rare attractions on the list: guided walk + sled dogging + food for 1500 DKR or just sled dogging for 900 DKR. We chose the latter, I was pretty sure we could walk 10 km without the guidance.
We entered a spacious room filled with souvenir shelves and a big computer. Four people were sitting next to the round table ready to depart. Little Lars, the guide and the owner of the place, quickly introduced us to the local prices of the rare attractions on the list: guided walk + sled dogging + food for 1500 DKR or just sled dogging for 900 DKR. We chose the latter, I was pretty sure we could walk 10 km without the guidance.
At 10:30 we were already on the way - there was about 700 meters of elevation to gain that day and at least 7.5 km to the first hut. Half the way to the glacier, we took a long break to look at the beauty below: ten or twelve whales were circling around, making blowhole water fountains, and slapping the ocean surface with their tails.
3.5 hours later, we were already at the hut where everyone we met on the way (4 people from the tourist office and 3 people on the trail) were waiting for the food.
Apparently, we couldn't start the dog sledding tour because the WOW Airline CEO with a beautiful Icelandic woman was about to land on the glacier on (his private) helicopter.
Well, I guess rich people go first, we waited for 4 hours, while Lars tried to entertain us with his stories about Greenland. Greenlandic language is polysynthetic, which means you can build as long words as possible by adding different suffices to the main root of the word. There is literally no theoretical longest word in the language! No wonder why every single word we saw was like half the page long.
Lars also mentioned that sled dogs are not pets, it's their job. If one dog bites the person, then, according to greenlandic laws the owner has to kill all the dogs of the group, because they learn how to bite. He also advised not to fall, because the dog might think that you are food and start eating you (oh, god).
3.5 hours later, we were already at the hut where everyone we met on the way (4 people from the tourist office and 3 people on the trail) were waiting for the food.
Apparently, we couldn't start the dog sledding tour because the WOW Airline CEO with a beautiful Icelandic woman was about to land on the glacier on (his private) helicopter.
Well, I guess rich people go first, we waited for 4 hours, while Lars tried to entertain us with his stories about Greenland. Greenlandic language is polysynthetic, which means you can build as long words as possible by adding different suffices to the main root of the word. There is literally no theoretical longest word in the language! No wonder why every single word we saw was like half the page long.
Lars also mentioned that sled dogs are not pets, it's their job. If one dog bites the person, then, according to greenlandic laws the owner has to kill all the dogs of the group, because they learn how to bite. He also advised not to fall, because the dog might think that you are food and start eating you (oh, god).
Finally, the rich people flew back to Iceland, so it was our turn to have fun. Lars gave us a ride to the glacier on his snowmobile. Dogs were whining really loud, which, according to Lars, meant that they were very excited to go for a ride.
We rode for one hour through the ice and water. Even here, at the only place in Greenland where you can try dog-sledding during the summer, the glacier melts really fast. Just 15-20 years ago it was 50 meters higher and will probably disappear in the next 20. Dogs were very excited to run in a snow and hated when they had to run through the water. The guide never bit them, but kept calling "U-U-U, AMA-AMA" to make the dogs keep going. In general he treated the dogs very well: we took several long breaks to let the dogs rest.
We rode for one hour through the ice and water. Even here, at the only place in Greenland where you can try dog-sledding during the summer, the glacier melts really fast. Just 15-20 years ago it was 50 meters higher and will probably disappear in the next 20. Dogs were very excited to run in a snow and hated when they had to run through the water. The guide never bit them, but kept calling "U-U-U, AMA-AMA" to make the dogs keep going. In general he treated the dogs very well: we took several long breaks to let the dogs rest.
Our last day beyond the Arctic Circle started with dipping in the Arctic Ocean. We woke up, made an effort to undress and after 30 minutes of hesitating run into the literally ice-cold water. It was surprisingly warm - not much colder than Russian January Epiphany bathing, when everyone dives in the lakes three times, even it it's -30C (-22F) outside. I was ready to keep swimming for several more seconds, but my husband was already running back to the sleeping bag!
After an hour of warming up, we headed to the harbor to catch a boat back to Ilulissat. We didn't expect anything to go wrong when we approached the boat at 9:20, and tried to get in.
- Where are you going? - asked the captain.
- Ilulissat.
- No Ilulissat - he turned away.
What? Why? We showed him our tickets and the schedule.
- No, no, we go to Assiat. Come back at 1 pm.
Well, we had a plane that day at 2 pm, the boat was at least two hours, so there was no way we would make it back on time - we explained.
- No, no, no boat.
The boat slowly disappeared from the view. Well, we had to call Disco Line and Air Greenland to see what we could do. The only place where we were able to do it was the tourist office, with the owner we befriended the day before.
Lars called Disco Line as soon as they opened: no response. He tried several more times - nope. We managed to find an email from Disko Island saying "Unfortunately, your boat has been cancelled. You are rebooked for 18:00". Considering that our plane was at 2 pm, we couldn't take the boat at 6 pm. We called Air Greenland - no, it wasn't possible to change our tickets. The only way to get a ticket next day was to buy a new one for 2560 DKR ($400).
The Disko Line still hasn't answered.
"Would someone at the harbor agree to give us a ride back if we pay them?" - we asked Lars. Apparently yes, it was possible, if we were ready to pay at least 1000 DRK/person ($140). I asked Lars to print out the note in Greenlandic explaining the situation - he printed it in both Greenlandic and Danish. In theory, the note said "We have to go to Ilulissat now, ready to pay, please", but it could say anything, including "we are so dumb, need to go to Ilulissat".
- Where are you going? - asked the captain.
- Ilulissat.
- No Ilulissat - he turned away.
What? Why? We showed him our tickets and the schedule.
- No, no, we go to Assiat. Come back at 1 pm.
Well, we had a plane that day at 2 pm, the boat was at least two hours, so there was no way we would make it back on time - we explained.
- No, no, no boat.
The boat slowly disappeared from the view. Well, we had to call Disco Line and Air Greenland to see what we could do. The only place where we were able to do it was the tourist office, with the owner we befriended the day before.
Lars called Disco Line as soon as they opened: no response. He tried several more times - nope. We managed to find an email from Disko Island saying "Unfortunately, your boat has been cancelled. You are rebooked for 18:00". Considering that our plane was at 2 pm, we couldn't take the boat at 6 pm. We called Air Greenland - no, it wasn't possible to change our tickets. The only way to get a ticket next day was to buy a new one for 2560 DKR ($400).
The Disko Line still hasn't answered.
"Would someone at the harbor agree to give us a ride back if we pay them?" - we asked Lars. Apparently yes, it was possible, if we were ready to pay at least 1000 DRK/person ($140). I asked Lars to print out the note in Greenlandic explaining the situation - he printed it in both Greenlandic and Danish. In theory, the note said "We have to go to Ilulissat now, ready to pay, please", but it could say anything, including "we are so dumb, need to go to Ilulissat".
The only flaw in our plan was the final of the soccer championship that was happening in Qeqertasuaq that day. The local team was playing for the third place with the team from the capital. The game started at 1 pm, exactly when our theoretical boat would be carrying us to Ilulissat. Nobody wanted to miss the most important even of the year, even CNN came so far to film a movie about it.
As we walked around the harbor with the sign, people were pointing at us and shaking their heads: everyone was clearly going to watch the match. Finally, one guy approached us asking how much we were ready to pay. 2000 for both of us. He showed with his hand that the price was too low - the soccer match was more important than 2000. Maybe we could pay 3000 instead? We bargained it down to 2500. After consulting with his wife the fisherman agreed.$450 in 3 hours? Sounds like a deal to me.
The boat ride was one of the most painful and exciting experiences in my life. We were upgraded to sit on the bench after 15 minutes of rolling around the floor of the empty, minimalistic boat. Cruising around the icebergs and catching high waves at the speed of 28 knots (70km/h, 43miles/h) on the open 1000 pound piece of metal means you are bouncing on a bench high enough to hurt when you land back 30 times a minute.
Wrapped into the warmest clothes, I was very happy that I never had seasickness. 2 hours later we were in a cab on the way to the airport. The fisherman was rushing back to watch the game.
As we walked around the harbor with the sign, people were pointing at us and shaking their heads: everyone was clearly going to watch the match. Finally, one guy approached us asking how much we were ready to pay. 2000 for both of us. He showed with his hand that the price was too low - the soccer match was more important than 2000. Maybe we could pay 3000 instead? We bargained it down to 2500. After consulting with his wife the fisherman agreed.$450 in 3 hours? Sounds like a deal to me.
The boat ride was one of the most painful and exciting experiences in my life. We were upgraded to sit on the bench after 15 minutes of rolling around the floor of the empty, minimalistic boat. Cruising around the icebergs and catching high waves at the speed of 28 knots (70km/h, 43miles/h) on the open 1000 pound piece of metal means you are bouncing on a bench high enough to hurt when you land back 30 times a minute.
Wrapped into the warmest clothes, I was very happy that I never had seasickness. 2 hours later we were in a cab on the way to the airport. The fisherman was rushing back to watch the game.
