I believe that life is a long journey to explore the world, nature and the vast universe. For someone who sees exploring the world as a mission, the more challenging the journey, the more exciting I am. I am talking about the journey to conquer the North Pole by dog sled and the reward is the opportunity to experience the amazing Northern Lights, more than anything else I have had in my life.
Follow “The Call of the Wild”
When I started this trip, I wondered if it was because of the strange attraction of the icy land for the guy who was out of season and against the weather. Or maybe it was just my fate with cold countries that most of my trips, over and over again, were the Himalayas, Moscow and this time the North Pole. I felt like there was a call from far away urging me to set off.
On the first day, I did not start the journey right away. I was taken to Sweden, met an expert who had trained for many years in the army. We were taught the knowledge to survive during our journey. I had two days to meet and get to know friends from many different countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the US, Korea...
We started from Signaldalen Bay (Norway), northeast of Treriksroset, then headed south through Sweden, and ended up by the Vakkarajarvi River. The Arctic is a land of ice and snow all year round, the snow layers getting thicker and thicker and melting occasionally but never completely. Even though I was used to temperatures of -30°C, it still took me a few days to adjust my body temperature. The longer you stay, the more you get used to the cold here, but getting used to it doesn't mean you can endure it better. The longer I stay in the cold, the more my tropical body shows resistance. My skin becomes chapped, burned and red, like a combination of sunburn and frostbite, causing me a lot of pain and discomfort. Every gust of cold wind makes my whole body numb and turn to stone. But even that is nothing compared to the beautiful scenery unfolding before my eyes.
4 days 300km journey
Every morning, my first job is to prepare food for my 6 Husky friends. Their attitude throughout the day is reflected in how well you take care of them. Therefore, making breakfast for these friends is extremely important. After their breakfast comes my breakfast. Then comes tasks such as packing luggage, dismantling tents, cleaning up, everything must be neat and quick.
Traveling by dog sled was a unique experience. I had to hold the leash tightly while keeping the sled on the track and standing for 7-8 hours a day in the bitter cold was an experience I had never experienced before.
To compensate for our endurance and patience, nature rewarded us with breathtakingly beautiful scenery. I walked through barren tundra, crossed glaciers, snow-covered forests, and slid on thick snow. The scenery around me constantly changed like a beautiful and strange film. There were times when the sun brought sunlight to illuminate a pure white area, the sky became blue and clear, I felt like I was lost between heaven and earth. The scenery was only contained in the blue of the sky and the white of the snow. And our group was like a line of ants following each other, going on and on into the frozen world.
On other roads, the sky suddenly turned white, the wind carried snow, bringing with it the freezing cold and painful collisions. Looking up and down, all around was pure white. Without the dogs leading me, sometimes I would not know where I was going, because there was no color to show me the way. The only thought in my mind at that time was to trust the dogs' scent.
The journey felt more adventurous and dangerous than ever. The car slid along in a numb silence. All I could hear was the soft squeal of the cart and the snort of the dogs. The weather was unpredictable, a few hours ago the sky was cloudless blue and the next it was covered in snow. Still, we tore through the white space to make it to our next stop. When it got dark, we stopped to set up camp.
Our strength was just enough to set up the tent and have a quick dinner. So sleep was very good and like a natural restorative. Our four days and nights went on like this, rhythmically and regularly. And then, the last night on the glacier and snowfields arrived!
Watch the Northern Lights dance
It was a very meaningful evening for the expedition. Because the trip was quite tight and on schedule, there was almost no time for chatting and chatting. During the whole journey, the person I talked to the most was the Greek friend in the same tent. Therefore, the evening together, not having to eat frozen food was extremely precious. We grilled reindeer meat and ate Swedish bread, a type of bread that does not freeze at -30°C, a type of bread made from whole grains such as wheat, barley, which is very nutritious and ensures enough fiber for the user.
After dinner came a very interesting little challenge - sleeping without tents. At this time, we had to build our own walls to block the snow that might cover us the next morning. Because the snow was quite soft and spongy, we spent many hours compacting it, then sawing it into different round and irregular blocks. Finally, we used those blocks of snow to pile up to create a wall about 1m high, enough to block the snow wind. For a first-timer like me, my wall looked very funny. For the first time in my life, I slept in the cold snow. All we had was the newly built ice wall, sleeping bags and the Arctic night sky.
The later the night, the clearer the sky. There were billions of stars appearing in the sky at this time, they began to shine brighter and clearer. In my opinion, each star was shining in its own way. Because it was the last night, almost none of us slept right away, just lying there watching the starry sky as if we had no intention of leaving this place. That beautiful shimmering scene was like a curtain covering all of us - small people in front of nature.
In the cold darkness, strange streaks of light suddenly appeared in the sky. They constantly moved and changed shape. Sometimes they looked like colored silk strips, sometimes like waves, sometimes they took the shape of spirals, sometimes they looked like streaks of smoke. None of us realized what this strange phenomenon was until we heard shouts: “Aurora borealis”, “Aurora borealis”. Our excitement at that moment seemed to tear apart the silence and the cold night.
You know, the Northern Lights is one of the wonders of nature that not everyone is lucky enough to see. For countries near the equator, tropical countries, it is something that is not easy to have in a lifetime. And for countries near the North Pole or in the North Pole itself, seeing the Northern Lights is also a rare thing. That is the reason why I feel the trip is more complete and meaningful.
Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. This is an optical phenomenon, produced by the interaction of charged particles from the solar wind with the upper atmosphere of the Earth, creating a beautiful scene at night. Those light bands are given a very figurative name by travelers as "Dance of Light" because of their continuous movement and color change.
I must admit that they are incredibly beautiful, mysterious and magical. They stimulate a person’s imagination and sense of discovery, and above all, they satisfy my own dreams of conquering the sky and conquering new lands. Perhaps I will never be able to explain all the extraordinary things of the universe in my entire life.
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Lessons learned along the way
Become the leader of the pack
Each member of the Fjallraven Polar expedition is assigned 6 dogs to pull their sled. So the first thing is to get used to these new companions. At first, they don't really trust you. So you have to learn to make them believe that you will take good care of them. Each dog has its own personality, some are grumpy, some are irritable, some are fat, some are thin. You need to learn how to take care of them differently. Especially, when they encounter problems on the way, if you help them, they will trust you more. For example, on downhill sections, with their wild nature, they will rush very fast, you need to slow them down. On steep slopes, when they are too strong to pull the sled, you need to get off and push them. Practice becoming the leader of the dog pack.
Mend the relationships in your life
One morning, as usual, we turned on the stove to boil water and food, but the stove broke down. After a while of trying, we put it aside and borrowed the stove from the neighboring tent. When our guide found out about it, he told me: “Our relationship with the stove is the same as our relationship with life. If you have problems with them, try and fix them. Usually, we have a habit of not fixing them when they have problems, because we have too many other options.” That was the big lesson of my trip.
How to make fire
On the last night of the trip, we were tasked with making fire from bark. It is one of the important lessons for those who love to explore the harsh lands. We were instructed and given the necessary items: a knife and a fire starter. Then, we had to find birch bark - a thin-barked tree - and learn how to make fire. Besides bark, you can use cotton - one of the things that can catch fire easily. You know, where there is fire and water, there is life.
Protect our world
Our expedition team has 35 members including the training team and a total of 210 sled dogs. Therefore, the personal waste or waste from the dogs is extremely large. However, at each stop or after taking down the tent, we collect all of that waste and bring it back for processing. In the land of ice and snow all year round, whether it is a toothpick or a thread, it is very difficult to decompose. Therefore, we do not leave any trace on this white land. That is how we protect the wonderful things that nature has given to humans. And also how we keep this beauty intact for other expeditions.
Hoang Le Giang
Studied marketing at Jonkoping University (Sweden). Interestingly, this strong-built guy had asthma and obesity as a child, but has been involved in mountain climbing since 2011. Up to now, he has conquered the Himalayas 8 times and set foot in 30 countries around the world. Talking about the journey to conquer the North Pole by dog sled, he is the first Vietnamese person to be named in the Fjallraven Polar expedition.
Article: Bao Khuyen / Photo: Hoang Le Giang, Fjallraven Polar
