The return to Kulusuk: Goodbye East Greenland

November 27th 2019, 6 AM. I had set my alarm for this ungodly hour as it was the day of my departure from Tasiilaq, after having spent eleven weeks in the East Greenlandic town. My helicopter to Kulusuk, the first leg of the two-day journey, would depart four hours later. But first I had to finish packing and cleaning my apartment, before heading over to the museum.

Lars, the museum director, had bought breakfast for me and his employee Rasmus as well as Daniel who’d been my office mate after I’d switched offices to the youth cultural center following a break-in at the museum. We had our breakfast and Lars and I exchanged gifts. He gave me a photo book with photos of Greenland by the brilliant photographer Jette Bang, and I gifted him a painting I’d done of Tasiilaq (see below). I’d spent a lot of time painting in Tasiilaq, something I’ve never done before, and I was actually really happy with the result of my first ever painting.

I said goodbye to Daniel, and then Rasmus and Lars took me to the airport. There, I joined Mette, who I’d met the previous weekend at a Christmas party, and her friend Laura. They were going on the same helicopter and flight to Reykjavík as me, although a different flight to Copenhagen. At 09.55 AM we set off, away from Tasiilaq, the place I’d called home the past eleven weeks.

I’d had a wonderful time there, and I’d especially enjoyed waking up to otherworldly views everyday. Seeing it disappear in the horizon was sad, but at the same time, I was so excited to be going home to my family.

The 10-minute helicopter ride was so so so beautiful. I sat on the oceanside on the way out, and I’d completely forgotten my plan to sit on the other side on the way back to Kulusuk. But luckily, Mette and Laura went that side and I just happened to follow along – and it was so much more beautiful with the mountain views, especially with the snow covering the landscapes!

Unfortunately, my trusty camera, which I’ve had and loved for seven years, suddenly stopped working about a month earlier. I’d been able to borrow a Canon DSLR from the cultural youth center for rest of my time in Tasiilaq, but for the helicopter ride, I only had my phone, which has honestly seen better days. My photos in this post are therefore of terrible quality, and for that I apologize, but at least I had a phone so I could take some to capture this incredible memory!

Immediately after landing in Kulusuk, I went to get checked in for my next flight to Reykjavík at 12.20 PM, and asked when I should be back at the latest. They told me to be back 30 minutes before departure, which meant that I could make it to the village and back in time, if I just hurried a little.

I asked the girls if they wanted to join me, but they didn’t; instead, they looked after my heavy carry-on backpack for me, which was a tremendous help. That meant that I could half run/half power walk to the village.

When I had my stopover in Kulusuk on my way to Tasiilaq in September, I had walked – with my backpack – to a viewpoint above the village. It had taken me 35 minutes each way, so walking all the way to the town would probably take about 45 minutes – when walking along the main road.

This time, I found a much quicker route via a well-trodden foot path through the snow. Instead of 45 minutes, it took me just 20 minutes to reach the village!

I worked out that I could explore the town for about 45 minutes before having to turn back and walk to the airport. 45 minutes was not enough to see every corner of the village, but it was enough to explore a big chunk of it and to see some key sights.

I visited the little grocery store, where they have the most basic food products, clothes, toys etc. They had lots of fresh vegetables, although that will soon change as the last supply ship of the year has already come and gone. Christmas stockings for the village children hung on every aisle, a great way to bring some Christmas joy into the isolated village.

I also visited the village church, which was open. The interior is very quaint with wooden furniture and beautiful and unusual stained glass windows. I can imagine how cozy a Christmas service would be there.

The last thing I did was to walk up to a cairn at the highest point in the village. From there, I could see all the tiny colourful houses of the village. The sun peeped over the mountains just as I got up there. How wonderful it was to feel the heat from its rays on my cold face.

I was so lucky with the weather. I had been for almost the entire three months in East Greenland, but this day in Kulusuk couldn’t have been any better! It was so so so beautiful.

I was very excited that I’d finally got to see the village up close after seeing it from above three months earlier and dreaming about it ever since. I definitely pushed it timewise as much as I could, but eventually, I had to pull myself away so I wouldn’t miss my flight. If I’d had the time and money, I would’ve loved to stay for a few days, probably even longer.

I got back in plenty of time before my flight, especially since it was delayed about ten minutes so I had time for some souvenir shopping beforehand. The flight out was gorgeous with more amazing mountain views and a bright pink sunset throughout the entire flight as we travelled three timezones into the Icelandic night.