Day 6 - Home. Meh. Some reflections...

Good sleeps are had. We're both pretty well rested after our combined plane / car / bed sleeps. We've both been blown-away during our Arctic trip. A few reflections...

1) The Arctic Circle (generally) and Tromso/Lyngen (specifically) are places of superlatives - the coldest, the furthest north, the most beautiful. Cannot recommend highly enough that you go and check it out for yourselves. Just a wonderful place inhabited by wonderful people.
2) If you do go, you really do need proper winter weather gear to keep you warm. The first couple of days of our stay at Lyngen had an incredible wind-chill, and without some serious ski gear, even a minute outside was painfully cold. For our activities, we were provided with heavy-duty winter clothing, but even just for getting around our resort, well padded ski trousers, and a down-insulated jacket were a must.
3) There exists a disagreement as to whether we 'saw' the Northern Lights. I'm in Team YES, my beloved in Team SCEPTICAL. It's important to know that even those of us in team YES acknowledge that ours was a limited sighting. The dancing white lights of the Aurora were clearly visible to the naked eye, but the green hue only visible to a camera lens. There's a version of our experience out there where the green is much more intense, the movement of the lights jauntier. Do I consider it a bucket list item ticked? Yeah, kind of. I would deffo go Aurora hunting again though...
4) Norway is wicked expensive. The country has a tax to GDP rate of around 45% (compared to the UK's 35%, and closer to 20% in the USA). At face value that seems high - until you realise that Norway has outstanding public services. Everything just works as it's meant to. Not that we needed to use it, but the public health system is modern, efficient and well funded. Compare and contrast... On that basis, I don't begrudge paying £10 for a bog standard pint of lager, but do be aware before you travel that your £s won't stretch far!

That's all for now folks. Join me in a little under two weeks for a womble around the tropical island of Sri Lanka...Baca lagi