White night adventure

MANILA, Philippines - A white night or midnight sun experience has been part of my bucket list. This once-a-year occurrence during the summer solstice in the Arctic region is an exotic phenomenon, especially for someone who lives in the tropics where the lengths of day and night are almost the same throughout the year.

A trip to Sweden with some friends in June therefore provided a perfect and timely opportunity to fly to Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, to see the midnight sun. Simply put, during this period the sun doesn’t set and one gets to experience 24 hours of sunlight.

Before flying to Kiruna, we had the chance to join Stockholm’s midsummer celebration, one of the most important holidays in Sweden. During this period, people make and wear crowns of leaves, twigs and flowers and in Skansen, Stockholm’s open air park and museum of cultural heritage. Swedes dance around a tall maypole accompanied by folk songs. It is said that midsummer is a time when magic is most potent, so alongside the locals we collected seven kinds of wild flowers and placed them under our pillows that night to make our wishes come true.

Early the following day on June 23, we took a one-and-a-half hour flight to Kiruna for the white night experience. Kiruna is a small city with a population of only 20,000. It is largely known for its iron mining industry. Being located in the Lapland province, Kiruna is part of the Arctic area of the Sapmi region encompassing the northern portions of Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The region is inhabited by the Sami indigenous people with a distinct culture shaped by the geography, history and the cold Arctic climate.

The Sami culture has been an important and popular facet of tourism in Kiruna, which averages around 300,000 visitors a year. Popular destinations are the nature reserves for adventure and sports activities, a tour of the mines, the Ice Hotel during winter, the Jukkasjarvi church and, during summer, the midnight sun experience.

We were met at the airport by Barbara, the charming and friendly general manager of Hotel Arctic Eden, where we were billeted. Barbara is a bionic woman. She was our driver; she helped us with our luggage; she arranged our itinerary; she helped cook our meals; and acted as our waitress during the outdoor cook-out. She is proud of the fact that many VIPs, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, stayed in her hotel during the Arctic Summit on Climate Change held in May 2013 in Kiruna.

Over lunch at the hotel restaurant, we were treated to a gourmet menu of breast of ptarmigan (a game bird from the grouse family) with morel risotto, smoked topside of reindeer served with game gravy flavored with lingonberries, shiitake mushrooms, deep fried reindeer lichen and celeriac puree and, for dessert, meadowsweet parfait served with touille and berries. The flavors of each dish allowed us to taste the exotic Sami cuisine and prepared us for a long grueling day of adventure.

After the hearty lunch, we set out to see the sights of Kiruna. First stop was the high altitude nature reserve overlooking the whole Kiruna area, including the mining areas. For a midsummer day, the temperature was rather cold at 12°C, aggravated by windy conditions.

Next destination was the world-famous Ice Hotel in the Jukkasjärvi village 11 miles from Kiruna. I was quite excited to see the place because I had seen a documentary on it on the National Geographic Channel. Being summertime, however, the Ice Hotel has already melted. But there are traditional lodges for summer hotel guests and Ice Hotel model rooms preserved inside a huge refrigerated building.

The Ice Hotel is constructed along the Torne River every December and is open to winter guests until April when the temperature is below zero.

The amazing thing is that the entire hotel is made of ice and snow – from the walls to the ceilings, beds, furniture, and even the glasses. Tons of ice are harvested from the frozen river and stored in the nearby production hall. Following the designs made by artists from around the world, these huge ice blocks are shaped and sculpted into guest rooms, hotel lobby, bar, and even the church where weddings are held. Ice Hotel can accommodate 100 guests who usually come from Great Britain, Europe and Japan. I asked our guide why on earth would people want to sleep in a hotel whose average temperature is -5°C? “Because the temperature outside is -35°C” he says, adding, “But the beds are lined with reindeer fur so it’s quite comfortable.”

Next stop was the Jukkasjärvi church, a small beautiful wooden church 18 kms east of Kiruna. Completed in 1608, it is the oldest church in the Lapland region and is famous for its modern Sami paintings, sculptures and pipe organ.

We went back to our hotel at 6 pm for merienda of Norrländska tapas – small bites of smoked reindeer heart, whitefish roe, marinated elk, pickled mountain trout, smoked cranberries and almonds with wild mushroom. After a 3-hour rest, we set out for the Sami lodge located 10 miles from the town proper for the midnight sun experience. We were welcomed at the lodge with champagne cocktails and thereafter, we were flown in two batches to the top of the Eatnamvárri mountain where we would have the cook-out and view the sunset-sunrise from 10 pm to 1 am. The mountaintop we were on didn’t have trees because it has a tundra biome – an ecosystem where cold temperatures allow only the growth of dwarf shrubs, sedges, moss and lichen.

The unimpeded view of the Kiruna valley and its surrounding mountains was nothing short of spectacular. On a 360-degree panorama we could see Kiruna town, further down the iron mines, then the snow-capped Loussavaara and Kirunavaara mountains, and miles and miles of untouched wilderness.

Upon landing, Barbara and Johann, our hotel’s chef, were already there preparing our dinner. A nice table with linen, glassware and dinnerware has been laid out. Wine was served while we took photos of the sunset, the mountains and the valley. I walked around the mountain top and chanced upon three reindeer grazing on a slope 50 meters below where I stood. 

Our dinner was simple but very delicious – marinated herring with caviar, traditional Sami bread, stir-fried souvas reindeer with summer vegetables and yogurt, and shiitake mushrooms all served with white and red wine pairings. All of these dishes, including the bread, were prepared by Johann right before our eyes on an open fire.

But of course the highlight of the evening was the midnight sun, whose dramatic interplay with the clouds and the sky brought about a dazzling show of colors all of us have never seen before. The sun slowly went down the horizon, hovered above the distant mountains for about an hour, then at around 1:00 am started to rise again. By then it was time for us to fly back to the Sami lodge and head for the hotel to catch the early morning flight back to Stockholm.

Yes, it was a tiring day, but one of the most memorable for all of us.