The ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland. photos by Paul Shoul.

Blogging from Greenland:
Sharing a trip to a place
no one goes

Valley Advocate photographer Paul Shoul and GoNOMAD.com Editor Max Hartshorne went to Greenland in early November 2006. The opportunity to see the world's largest island and share this unknown place with readers was worth minus ten degree temperatures and ferocious wind chills that November brings to this sparsely settled and beautiful landscape.

As the polar ice cap melts and recedes, Greenland is changing, and despite its remoteness, it is becoming a travel destination.  Air Greenland will begin regular air service between the US and Greenland in May 2007. Below are some of the daily posts from Max's blog, Readuponit, put up during the trip.

Friday November 3, 2006
Greenland: A First Glimpse of Life Above the Circle

We landed in Greenland's biggest airport called Kangerlussuaq, above the Arctic circle, and stepped onto the windy tarmac. Inside the small airport, four youths stood in a row, as if waiting for us, they had features of eskimoes, the high cheekbones and Asian eyes.

We had a late dinner of reindeer, smoked halibut and salmon, and in the middle of the plate, a little bowl of 1/4" long white squares with black at the ends. This was whale blubber, chewy, indistinct taste, but the flavor stays with you the next day. We were shown to spartan rooms, (this is a former military base), with common bathrooms and I fell deep asleep while the wind howled outside.

The next morning I got a glimpse of Greenland. It was stark, barren, absolutely treeless, and the only snow I saw was a dusting on a faraway mountain.  Our first excursion was into a huge 16-wheel tundra buggy that took us 38 km out onto the inland ice cap, that covers about 85% of this home-ruled Danish territory.

The inland ice at the Russell Glacier was breathtaking -- aquamarine stripes in white, crevices and huge frozen streams where tons of water spews forth to a giant river during the summer. The glaciers here melt off more water in a day than NYC uses over 2 years! The billions of gallons that melt into the sea would make Saudi Arabia cry. In places there was clear ice, and walking on the pack, you looked for snow to step on so you wouldn't slip. There were crevices and places where you easily could perish in a fall. I wore my silk longjohns, lined flannel pants, down

vest, thick down parka, gloves, scarf and hat, and felt totally warm, despite the blowing winds on the pack.

The Russell Glacier, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Photo by Paul Shoul.

Greenlanders are hardy and reticent, they mostly look like eskimoes and have bright red cheeks like they've been outside in the wind a lot. There is almost nowhere to drive, so few roads, that nearly all travel is done by snowmobile or mostly, by plane. Air Greenland runs a fleet of helicopters and small fixed wing aircraft to get the folks to and from the towns, the biggest of which is Nuuk, with 15,000 souls.

 
Wednesday November 8, 2006
Take Her, She’s Yours for the Night

While I was in Greenland, there was plenty of time to snuggle next to your fellow travelers and get to know them. That's what a cold climate does to people, brings them closer, to keep out the chill. I met a woman in Greenland who said that up there people had a different view of sex. A husband could invite his friend to enjoy his wife for the night. "Go ahead, she's yours," he would say.

Fashion show that displayed impressive seal skin apparel popular in Greenland. photo by Paul Shoul.

The normal course up here is for the girls to get pregnant at 15 or so. They rarely marry; the custom is to have kids then and merge later. Another tradition is for the first born to be a gift for the grandparents to raise. Since they no doubt, the idea goes, miss having children around, you pass along son #1 to grandpa to raise.

We learned all this in a bar in Ilulissat, the furthest north and the coldest of the places we visited in Greenland. A warm bar where beers were $9 and the snow slants sideways out the window.

Thursday November 9, 2006

The Last Fisherman Hangs on in Assaqutaq

This afternoon we joined Bo Lings, a movie-star handsome, strong and rugged boat captain who took 12 of us out in his new 35-foot cabin cruiser called the Sirius. We cruised up the coast 6 km to an abandoned village called Assaqutaq.

The last villagers finally left in 1967, and today, just one soul lives there: an old fisherman who comes to town once a week to sell his halibut and seabirds. The buildings are abandoned, the fish factory long silenced, in the whipping winds we slogged through the snow to peer inside old houses filled with dilapidated bunk beds and the remnants of life.

After the fishing plant closed, there was nothing here for anyone, and the one store and tiny church just closed up. Bo said that when he was young this harbor used to freeze, but for the past fifteen years, it hasn't. Another sign of the ominous warming.

Saturday November 11, 2006

At Nuuk's Barista Web Cafe, a Chance to Catch Up

We are comfy in an internet cafe called Barista Cafe in downtown Nuuk. During World War II, when Denmark was occupied by the Germans, Greenland was run by the Allies, and 14 bases were built here. Today only one, far north in Thule, remains. But the impact of all of those soldiers forever changed this place...soon people began chewing Wrigleys Juicy Fruit gum, and listening to rock music...and ordering from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Downtown Nuuk, Greenland's capital, a town of about 15,000. photo by Paul Shoul.

We saw a sealskin coverall that protected the Inuits from the wind and snow, completely waterproof, and they used these out in their open boats.

Spending just a few minutes out on the deck of the boat we took to tour Ilulissat’s ice fjord makes you appreciate how hardy these early residents were. And today, in November, most of these open boats are still in the water, covered with snow, and the people use them to visit neighbors and go fishing even when it is below zero.

At the airport we met a pretty young woman who said she loved the hunt. She was wild about hunting seals, she loved the sport, the chase, the thrill of shooting and of course, like all Greenlanders, she loved to eat them. It is hard for us to fathom but that is the way of life and the custom that has never changed over the centuries.

Follow more of Max Hartshorne’s trips and observations on media and travel at www.gonomad.com/readuponit. Valley Advocate regular Paul Shoul is a Northampton MA based photographer and travel writer and regular contributor to GoNOMAD.

Max Hartshorne's traveled to Greenland in November 2006. Read about his adventures on his blog 'Readuponit', updated every day.

Visit our Max Hartshorne Page with links to all his stories.

Read more GoNOMAD stories About Greenland:

Greenland: Island of Melting Traditions

Cod Fishing in Greenland

Granny Goes to Greenland

Greenland: The Greatness of Silence