Monthly Archives: August 2012

Our first and only full day in Nuuk began in earnest. We woke up at dawn… then again, dawn is relative here in Greenland. It is hard to quantify what is day and what is night when the sun is still shining at ten p.m., and after a brief darkness spell the sky turns bright once again come four a.m.

And then we were out of the door to visit the National Greenland Museum, where we learned much about the history of the Greenlandic people. In fact, the museum seems to be the only place you can learn about the history of this country. Unlike other European nations, where you can glean its past and culture while exploring the place itself, much of Greenland’s history has been erased with foreign colonialism, Christianity “war” and harsh climate. It is impossible to connect the disparate Nuuk with its illustrative past… save for the immaculately curated exhibits at the museum.

And that was a shame.

Further to our dismay I realised our Lonely Planet was far from being helpful. The world famous Nipisa Restaurant was closed during the entire duration while we were there. Its location has moved from the Maximut Pub to above the Nuuk tourism office, which was also gone by the time visited, replaced by the cheerful Tour Greenland.

The Santa Claus Post Office was also somewhat diminished, reduced to a Christmas postal service, while the picturesque postal post was moved to Illulisat. Or so we were told.

With so many changes afoot in Nuuk, how can anyone be prepared for a trip here?

But there were some upside, of course. Disappointed though we were that the boat trip we booked was cancelled due to insufficient tourists (in the height of summer, no less!), the extremely friendly tour operators told us many nuggets about getting around Greenland, including one of their favorite cafe in town, located at the Katuag Cultural Centre. The Greenlandic tapas was to die for. And so was the waitress, whom wasted no time in telling us that the music played over the stereo was of a Greenland singer, which was her friend.

Everyone knows everyone in Greenland, it seems. I am not kidding. You should hear our cabbie yesterday.

And then we walked around the Kolonihavn. From certain angle Nuuk looks like the postcard-perfect European town, complete with a statue of its famous Norwegian conqueror and possibly the only stone house in the region, yet one can’t help but notice the sad state of development and housing in this town. Perhaps I was a little cynical, coming from developed cities like Singapore and Hong Kong.

For the locals certainly didn’t seem to mind the hardship they must be enduring. In fact, they are enjoying the great summer weather, which at 10 degrees or so was “warm” by the local standard, so much so that we could help but smile at the children’s laughter and friendly nods from the adults.

Visiting Nuuk made me realise we often take too much for granted.

See more of my Greenland 2013 posts:
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At first I didn’t realise if we were flying over Greenland. All that I can see out of my 20-seater propeller plane was vast expanse of whiteness. Is that cloud, or land mass? Or more accurately, (gasp!) snow-covered land mass? Turned out that it was the latter. I was witnessing, for the first time in my life, the unbelievable large continent of ice this far up north of earth.

It was incredible, not only by how dwarfed I felt, but also how vulnerable I was flying this high up in a small plane. But soon enough, the flight ended and we landed in the smallest airport with the shortest conveyer belt in the world. There was no security to speak of and I almost volunteered myself to take my luggage directly from the plane’s cargo compartment.

First impression of the people – incredibly nice and friendly. And I do mean it. Everyone we met spoke to us with great sincerity and seemingly enthusiastic to help. Much later on I realised that’s properly they find us intriguing; we look like one of them, only much Asian.

For Greenlanders are devastatingly good looking people. A definite cross between Caucasians and Asians, many of the people we saw here spotted blonde hair with cherubic, white skin, yet slanty, dark eyes. It was intoxicating to be surrounded by such beauty, and their surprisingly good grasp of English didn’t help my over-the-top adoration for them.

Nuuk is the capital town of Greenland, and by any standard it was the smallest country capital I ever visited. Though I didn’t realise then, Nuuk town is a mix of the old and new, the traditional and modern, the local and the colonial, and it is not always pleasant.

But against the backdrop of snow-capped mountain, candy-coloured dainty houses and icebergs drifting lazily across its surrounding sea, there is a magic in the air that is almost tangible to the touch.

Liping made an excellent, excellent choice with our accomodation. It is a large apartments with plenty of space and look out to the sea, I can see icebergs – icebergs! – out of the window while I sipped on my Nescafe – Nescafe! – and type this.

A quick word about our dinner that night. Charoen Porn was my choice as it was indeed recommended by many guides and even some locals, but I was left decidedly underwhelmed by the food we experienced that night. Though probably not the wisest decision to go for set menus for the two of us, the Greenlandic sushi was certainly a first, where I get to taste whale meat (a delightful cross between beef and chicken) and whale skin (blubbered skins that tasted like crunchy pork neck).

What will tomorrow bring?

See more of my Greenland 2013 posts:
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