The evasive Aurora Borealis, a beautiful natural phenomenon that many travellers have yearned to feast their eyes upon. It was nothing but a miracle that we managed to see it for 5 consecutive nights in our adventures in the Arctic Circle. Our journey begins in Stockholm in the month of February right along the shoulders of winter.

Fifteen Hour Train Ride into the Arctic Circle

With heavy backpacks full of warm clothing and snacks we prepped for the ride, we boarded the train at around 6pm in the evening. While the rest of my friends selected a cheaper upright seat, i opted for a sleeper compartment as i fell very ill the night before (It must have been the oysters we had from Borough market in London the day before).

This sleeper train was so much more comfortable than the couchettes i experienced on a train to Budapest back in 2017. The pillow and mattress was really soft, and they even provided a proper duvet blanket. Moreover, there was a sink in the room, along with key cards that one could use to shower in the facilities down the hallway. Although the train ride was really comfortable, we arrived at Kiruna station two hours late at about 10am. This was considered lucky compared to our friends who experienced a far worse delay on the same train the night before, making their journey a total of 28 hours long. We spoke to locals in Kiruna later on and learnt that this particular train was known for its long delays in winter.

Snowmobile Ride to Vakkakoski Campsite

We were introduced to our camping guide, Martha, who is a local Swedish that is born and raised in Kiruna — a true Arctic veteran. She ushered us into a cab which then dropped us off at a location seemingly in the middle of nowhere. There was a little hut in which we stored our larger bags, while Martha then issued everyone a solid pair of snow pants and snow boots. She then showed us how to operate the snowmobiles that we were about to take turns driving.

I went first, with Grace sitting at the back of the snowmobile. It was my very first time driving a snowmobile and it was such an exciting experience. Driving was extremely simple: to go you press a button down with your thumb; to stop all you had to do was stop pressing it and let the weight of the sleds behind slow you down.

At the mid point of the journey, Grace and I swapped seats. As i got off the snowmobile, i fell into the knee-deep snow adjacent to the snowmobile tracks, who knew they were so deep? We drove about 10 kilometers through forested terrain as well as over a frozen lake, with gentle turns and slight slopes not stopping us from going really fast. Finally, we arrived at a snug looking campsite.

The Cosy Campsite

The campsite was cosy, several tiny cabins which the guests would stay in, with a guide cabin in the middle of the campsite. There was a toilet cabin which had two cubicles, each had a toilet bowl made up of styrofoam placed at the top of a deep hole. A creatively recycled roadside "P" parking sign was used to demarcate where guys should do their number one business. Despite it being out in the cold, it was a cool experience as you get to do your number one business right under the northern lights at night!

The guide cabin was where Martha and the other guides sleep, meals were also prepared and eaten there. There was also books and a guitar in the guide cabin, which doubles as a lounge for campers to socialize in. This was where you could also find the only source of electricity in the campsite, powered by a generator.

We were shown to our cabins, where we had warm tea and coffee as we waited for Martha to prepare lunch. Our cabin had four beds, each with a duvet and a pillow. We were required to bring our own bedsheets, pillow covers and duvet covers. While the other cabins were heated with firewood, ours was heated with a gas heater which meant that we could keep nice and warm in the harsh arctic winter nights.

Lunch was a hearty traditional stew made of vegetables and moose meat, definitely an exotic type of meat to us Singaporeans.

Campsite Chores: Gathering Firewood & Water

Although our cabin was being heated by a gas canister, we wanted to help out with the very first camp chore: chopping firewood. The other cabins were heated by burning firewood in a small fireplace, and everyone needed help prepare it in order to not freeze to death at night. Besides, campsite chores are what completes a camping experience!

Martha brought out a bunch of un-chopped firewood from a shed that keeps them dry from the snow. With a single swing of an axe, she made it look easy to chop up firewood. However, giving it a go ourselves, we realized how it was not an easy feat.

After chopping up sufficient firewood for the evening, we headed down to the frozen lake to collect some fresh water. The first thing we had to do was to use an axe to break through the thick layer of surface ice. Next, we used an ice saw to cut open the ice (those things you see in the opening scene of the movie 'Frozen'). Finally, we could scoop up the broken ice chunks and access the clean water below the surface. This TikTok shows how we did it.

Barbecue Dinner & First Northern Lights Sightings

The temperature plunged as night fell, it was time for dinner. We were having Barbecued Falukorv, a Swedish sausage made of smoked pork and beef. As we were helping to move the firewood that we chopped up in the day into the Barbecue cabin, i playfully decided to prank my friends by yelling "Hey look! Northern Lights!". Naturally they believed me and turned to look, but there was nothing there. They carried on into the guide cabin to grab more Falukorv.

That was when i saw a faint glow in the sky. Martha walked by and i excitedly pointed at the direction the glow came from and asked her if that was it. Martha confirmed it, however unimpressed, being a local she must have seen the lights probably a thousand times in her life. I grabbed the nearest friend i could find, Megan, and pointed it out to her, thankfully she was just as excited as i am. It was still partially cloudy, and Martha said that we should be able to spot more later in the evening when the skies are clearer.

Dinner was cooked in the Barbecue cabin, which could hold about 12 of us. As we grilled Falukorv and smores over the open flame, the cabin was filled with a delightful aroma of caramel and barbecued meat. We then headed over to the guide cabin for some mashed potatoes and baked beans, as well as to chill.

You may be wondering, how cold was it in the Arctic in the evening? It was frigid. I was wearing thermals and jeans inside of my winter pants and i still felt cold. The coldest parts of our body were our hands and feet, so we used the barbecue's flame to warm our gloves up. Thankfully they did not catch on fire.

Impromptu Midnight Snowmobile Expedition with Northern Lights

Our other Singaporean friends from another cabin (firewood heated) wanted to check out our gas heated cabin. They joined us in our cabin where they realized it was really much warmer, we invited them to stay. Grace and i decided to go over to the guide cabin to charge our phones, this was when we ran into Martha who needed some help as she did not have enough camp guides around. The task was to drive the snowmobiles with her out to the starting point, she would then ferry us back in one sled. We excitedly agreed!

We grabbed the two nearest people at the campsite, two Slovenian girls, who were just as excited as us to freeze ourselves out in the arctic darkness. Martha led us to where the snowmobiles were, it was in complete darkness. The five of us set off into the pitch blackness in a neat single file of a snowmobile convoy, with Martha in the lead. We had to stay close to her so that we did not lose her in the darkness, as also she warned us that there may be wildlife in the forests and not to run into them.

Just as we were halfway into our journey, the skies were suddenly illuminated with the faint glow of Northern Lights, we definitely had to stop to take photos! Martha led the convoy to an open area so that we could stop to take some photos with the auroras, it appears to be a frozen lake or a river.

This blog post has not been completed yet :(

Unfortunately, i am still in the midst of writing this blog post. Do let me know if reading about this trip particularly interests you, and i could expedite the writing of this particular blog post. You could also contact me for an itinerary or help planning a simillar trip, i would be glad to help you out!