NOTE: You will enjoy to read article of Tulay Filiz. She’s first guest author of Azgezmis.

The stars were so close, I thought I could just reach out and touch them… The Orion Nebula which is my favorite constellation, seemed to move so fast I could follow it changing its place in the sky. The heaven above me was like a small dome where countless small and bigger stars were twinkling. The sky was a festival of lights that night in Tromso, a small Norwegian town, placed in the Arctic Circle.

After the sound and lights of the car that took us to Camp Tamok faded away, we were just 3 people on that isolated, quiet mountain top. The only light was that of the stars and the only sound, from the river nearby flowing slowly.

The reason why we were on this mountain top which is 2 hours flight from Oslo and 1,5 hours drive from Tromso was to see the Northern Lights.

I was there on that mountain top with my friend Afitap, whose lifelong dream, like mine, was to see the Northern Lights and all we could do was just wait for our dream to come true. I had read a lot about Northern Lights and had found out that the best time to see them was between November and February and that Tromso was one of the best places on earth to see them. But the comments made since we entered Norway were very discouraging, starting from passport control at the airport. When the officer at the customs asked me the reason why we came to Norway I told him that we were here to see the Northern Lights. His answer was “You are too early, the right time to see them is January”.

The people we talked to in Oslo and even in Tromso repeated that it was not very probable to see the Northern Lights in a short stay. Even if the period between November and February seemed to be the proper time, the weather had to be clear with no rain or snow, not even cloudy. However, there was a terrible storm in Tromso a day before we came there and people were hopeless that there would be a possibility to see the Northern Lights in a short time after this big storm.

In our program prepared by Fjord Travel, we would be taken to Camp Tamok for the “Northern Lights Safari” on November 4th. When we arrived at our hotel in Tromso, there was a note for us. The agency had exchanged the date of the safari with dog sledding. The reason for this change was; there was not enough soft snow for dog sledding and snow fall was expected on the 4th of November. So, we would be taken to Camp Tamok for the “Northern Lights Safari” on the 3rd of November. As there was no guarantee to see the Northern Lights, I think the agency had planned to guarantee, at least, our dog sledding activity.
So, there we were under a sky full of brilliant stars, at a temparature -15 degrees C, waiting for our dream come true.

After we came over the shock of seeing a night sky with so many stars, so close to us, we went into the Sami tent where our guide Roy had lit all the candles on the wooden tables and prepared a fire. The tent we entered is called Lavvu. Lavvus are the houses of the Sami people who are the first inhabitants of Europe. At present, they live mainly in Northern Scandinavia.

The air in the tent was warm by the light coming from the candles and the fireplace. We pulled the stools covered with reindeer posts close to the fireplace and started to listen to our guide Roy. He had been living in these mountains for 30 years. He was a great admirer of nature. He guided the tourists who came to Camp Tamok during winter. In his free time; he went fishing to the river or picked wild fruits in the forest and sent them to town. During the summer months, he guided trekking tours in the mountains around. We listened to his words “I have a thanksgiving job!” with admiration and envy.

Roy said that he wanted to prepare some coffee for us and if we wouldn’t mind he would go to a nearby spring to get some water. We didn’t know what to say because a few minutes ago he had told us that arctic foxes came close to this tent and a brown bear was seen 20 days ago. “Maybe it would be beter without coffee!!!” was our answer.

Sometime later he went out to get wood for the fireplace and when he came in we heard the words ; “Northern Lights started”. There are no words that can explain our joy and excitement at that moment. We ran out of the tent.

Roy had shown us when we came to Camp Tamok, the direction that Northern Lights would start to be seen be seen, if they could be seen that night. Just at that direction there was a green light behind the hills. It was as if there were city lights coming from behind the hill but the lights were green.

A little later this green light formed an arc in the sky and the dance of the Northern Lights started. It was changing its shape, fading and becoming stronger again like the rhythm of a heart but beating very slowly and with long intervals.

When it faded, it was as if it went back and when it became stronger, it formed wonderful shapes. The most interesting part is, the stars could still be seen under this strong green light. The sky was an incredible and fantastic feast. We were watching the beauty and power of the universe with amazement.

Roy had told us that Northern Lights needed a special adjustment of the camera to be photographed, so I gladly gave him my camera and concentrated only in watching this wonderful show of the universe.
Sometime later, I think it had been about an hour that Northern Lights had began, very different shapes started to be seen in the sky. The lights were like a curtain formed by rays of light, expanding all over the sky. The rhythm of a heart was still going on, the light was fading away and coming back again in different parts of the sky with strong hues. Sometime later this curtain expanded so wide, all the sky around us was green and when I raised my head I saw that even that small dome over us had been covered with this enchanting curtain.

From the articles that I read about Northern Lights, I had learned that they were generally green but sometimes purple, yellow or blue hues could be seen. This green curtain of lights covering us, hugging us, started to change color. We could see purple, yellow, blue rays of light… You can’t imagine our happiness and gratitude.

The rays of light became like the keys of a piano covering the sky and a pianist was touching these keys from left to right in a harmonious movement. This sight excited Roy. He had been on these mountains for 30 years and heaven knows how many nights he had watched Northern Lights. He went into the tent to take his own camera and a second pod saying “Northern Lights are very beautiful tonight, I want to photograph them with my own camera, too.” A little later a friend of Roy’s came by with his snowmobile and he also wanted to take photos of Northern Lights and went to his cabin 10 minutes away, to take his camera. However, when he came back this fascinating show had ended and a few minutes later there were no lights in the sky, only the stars.

When we came to Camp Tamok, our guide had told us that generally Northern Lights could be seen between 21:00 and 23:00 hours. According to our program we would be at Camp Tamok betweem 19:00 and 22:00. Our car would come to take us at 10 pm. It’s so wonderful that Northern Lights started to be seen at half past 7 and lasted till half past 9 that night. I really think this is a gift to us from the universe.

At 10 pm our car came to take us back to Tromso. On the way our drive said “Look up, the lights are over us!” I looked out from the front window of the car, I saw a faded green arc over us and it followed us till town.
When I saw the city lights of Tromso in the distance, I perceived something green from the side window of the car which was covered with ice. I tried to wipe the ice with my gloves trying to get a better view and there it was, one of the best forms of Northern Lights; like a smoke coming from a chimney. For a few minutes I watched it with tears in my eyes and it faded away leaving the sky with its usual color; black spotted with stars.

This was the farewell of Northern Lights… It had blessed the love I had for this wonderful act of nature.