The trip from Kakslauttanen to Ivalo took about 1 hour, and we drop off at the bus stop in front of Hotel Ivalo. As it is not the peak season yet, we were offered the rooms with better views (facing the Ivalo River).
Rocking chair next to the fireplace where you could relax while staying warm
Our room
After settling down, we spent some time strolling along the Ivalo River, before walking to the town centre for our late lunch.
Ivalo River
There aren't too many shops in the town other than a big K-Mart, and we settled our lunch at a random burger shop.
Even though there is virtually nothing to do in Ivalo, we made a point to come here as Ivalo is listed in many websites as 1 of the top 5 locations to view the Northern Lights in the world. Since our knowledge of the Northern Lights came mainly from the Internet, we decided to understand more from a local - our friendly receptionist in Hotel Ivalo. She taught us to check the local meteorological website for cloud coverage, and also the aurora forecast website of the University of Alaska Fairbanks for aurora activities as the website uses the satellite data to do the analysis. Kudos to her for patiently answering our all questions, and also giving us suggestion on where to go the next day! Based on her checks, there is a solar storm that night. However, as the cloud coverage is also high, she suggested that we could join the Northern Lights hunting tour organised by Club Nord, Hotel Ivalo's in-house tour company, as the tour would bring us to places where the clouds are usually less dense to wait for the Northern Lights.
My friends and I discussed our options while doing our sauna; I was looking forward to soaking in the jacuzzi pool before the sauna, but unfortunately Hotel Ivalo did not open the pool, probably because it was not the peak season yet. Anyway, we were not too optimistic that the clouds will disperse, and from various reviews, we knew that if we were lucky enough, we could also see the Northern Lights conveniently at the back of Hotel Ivalo along the Ivalo River. Coupled with the information from some other smartphone apps, we came to a conclusion that we will not join the tour, and try to wake up close to midnight to do some aurora hunting ourselves along the Ivalo River.
Indeed, our strategy paid off, and we managed to see some Northern Lights after waiting along the river for a while. Although it was not visible across the whole sky due to the heavy clouds, it was already a very awesome feeling for us to be able to witness this natural phenomenon.
As the clouds move in once again, we went back to our rooms to "thaw" ourselves, and we really look forward to seeing more sightings of the Northern Lights in the days to come.
My friends and I discussed our options while doing our sauna; I was looking forward to soaking in the jacuzzi pool before the sauna, but unfortunately Hotel Ivalo did not open the pool, probably because it was not the peak season yet. Anyway, we were not too optimistic that the clouds will disperse, and from various reviews, we knew that if we were lucky enough, we could also see the Northern Lights conveniently at the back of Hotel Ivalo along the Ivalo River. Coupled with the information from some other smartphone apps, we came to a conclusion that we will not join the tour, and try to wake up close to midnight to do some aurora hunting ourselves along the Ivalo River.
Indeed, our strategy paid off, and we managed to see some Northern Lights after waiting along the river for a while. Although it was not visible across the whole sky due to the heavy clouds, it was already a very awesome feeling for us to be able to witness this natural phenomenon.
As the clouds move in once again, we went back to our rooms to "thaw" ourselves, and we really look forward to seeing more sightings of the Northern Lights in the days to come.
Previously: Finland & Norway Trip Day 5 Part 1 - Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort
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