I'd wanted to plan for a longer time in Tromso before researching for the trip but after researching on Iceland, I got more interested in Iceland than Tromso. But it was only in Tromso that we saw the northern lights; it would have been really beautiful to see the lights in Iceland in Jokulsarlon area but we had to drive back to Vik for the night. A real pity as the forecast for the lights was strong during the first 2 nights we were in Vik. I guess this calls for a return trip to Iceland.
Tromso has its merits as it is very tourist-centric with restaurants, bars, activities, a good information center, etc. the town is compact and within a day, you can explore almost the entire "city centre". Bus fares were crazy expensive, with a boarding fee of sgd 8 regardless of the no of stops you took. We took a boat ride out to see the aurora and it was there that we saw very strong lights. It's true when they say that the lights seem to dance. It streaks across the skies and explodes like fireworks. We also took a bus ride out to a lavvo (Sami's tent) to wait for the lights. That was a failure as we didn't see it and there weren't many stars as well to justify a worthwhile trip. However, on the ride back to the hotel, we had 5 minutes of aurora but it wasn't as beautiful as it was a relatively "still" aurora. We did the quintessential tourist thing of reindeer riding which also turned out to be our lunch. The fjords were beautiful and so was the harbour. We went to a pipe organ, flute, and soprano midnight concert in the Arctic cathedral, which was quite nice but horribly cold as it was raining like crazy. But still, I'm glad we went.
Iceland is magnificent because it offers a constant feast for the eyes. Every corner you turn you see beautiful landscapes and the landscapes just keep changing. You have mountains, rivers, oceans, lava fields, barren fields, waterfalls, glaciers, lagoons, etc. it's just amazing. I really liked the glacier lagoon and where the icebergs flowed out to the sea, and the moss-covered lava fields. The earth felt like cushion on these fields, it's like walking on clouds. During the time we visit, we didn't get to see many animals such as puffins or whales & I believe it will be a completely different feeling to visit Iceland again in summer.
On the whole, I like Iceland more and although both places are crazy expensive , you can probably get by with a lot less in Iceland since most of the attractions are free.
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