Murmansk, a city beyond the Arctic circle

Murmansk is in the northwest of Russia and is the largest city beyond the Arctic Circle. What made me go there? I wanted to see the Arctic Ocean and experience how it feels to be on the edge of the earth. While reading about Murmansk, I also read about the high chances of seeing the northern lights. It was quite an adventurous journey as a solo female traveller and it was worth it. After going there, I ended up visiting a few more interesting places and came back with wonderful memories.

Watch Murmansk Video

Train from Saint Petersburg- Murmansk

On the morning of October 19th, I boarded the ”Arktika train” from Saint Petersburg to Murmansk. The very feeling of going to the end of the earth was exhilarating.

My first ride on a Russian train

I travelled in second class on Train number 16, a premium train. It was a modern carriage that included facilities like a Shower, Kitchenette and even free Wifi. There were 2 charging points for the phones in the cabin. Each passenger gets an access card to the cabin. One meal was included in the ticket price.

Met friendly Russians

I met two lovely Russian ladies who helped me a lot with everything they could. They familiarized me with the facilities on the train and were good company. Another lady Vera was travelling in our cabin to Murmansk and was surprised to hear that I was travelling alone. She was concerned about me travelling solo in the country but also mentioned that she loves to travel solo too but is not as brave as me.

After the train started moving, I was given a travel kit, and bed linen and was asked if I would like Fish or Chicken. I said ‘ I had requested a vegetarian meal while booking the ticket’. I guess there was some confusion. Anyway, Ira sorted it out telling the Prodovnista(coach attendant) to get vegetarian food for me. After a while, I was served steamed vegetables and some bread. It wasn’t great but passable.

The 24-hour train journey was super comfortable.

The lovely ladies got down at Petrozavodsk station after which it was just me and the Pediatrician Vera in the cabin. We exchanged candies, and snacks and had a great time together. She gave me her number and we were in touch while I was travelling in Russia.

Honestly, I felt very safe in Russia. Of course, follow the safety precautions like you do in your home country or elsewhere and most of all, trust your intuition. That has worked great for me so far. Vera was a really nice lady, willing to answer my questions about travelling in Russia and we ended up having great conversations.

The scenery on the way to Murmansk was strikingly beautiful. The number of lakes and breathtaking landscapes makes you feel like you are in an exceptionally exotic place.

I couldn’t wait to reach Murmansk and see the northern lights and the Arctic Ocean. We reached Murmansk and upon arrival, the welcome was the most unexpected.

At Murmansk Railway station- Interrogation or a Red Carpet welcome?

Soon after the train stopped at the station, we all got ready to alight the train. As soon as my turn came, two men were waiting for me and asked me to go with them. I thought them to be porters or helpers to carry my luggage(as we have some in India except that in India, the authorized porters have uniforms). I said ”No, thank you”. After a minute I asked ”how much will you charge”?Haha, one of them displayed his ID card and I saw he was from the Police department. I was a little confused. Then, came Vera to figure out what was happening. She just asked me to go with them and nothing to worry about. I was tired at that moment and just followed them.

I must now say that these two gentlemen( police officers in casual clothes) carried my luggage and took me to their office pulled up a chair and asked me to wait for 2 minutes. They wanted me to show my passport and other documents. That’s it.

A smile makes a lot of difference

While I was leaving their office, one of them called me and used Google translator and said with a smile” Take rest, welcome and enjoy your trip ” I was so relieved. I smiled back. Then he also carried my luggage again, showed me where ” Azimut Hotel” was, and walked me till I could see the building. I felt wow! Where else will you get this kind of royal treatment? It was like two people were waiting to welcome me to Murmansk :).

It was an adventurous experience. I must mention here that they were extremely polite and friendly.  Murmansk is situated in a strategic location bordering Norway and Finland. Also, the naval base for the Russian northern fleet is just next to Murmansk making it a highly sensitive area. This makes it a normal procedure to check the documents of foreigners, especially solo travellers.

Accommodation

I stayed at Azimut Hotel Murmansk and loved staying here as it is centrally located, just a 3-minute walk to the railway station and there is an ATM on the premises. A grocery store is situated just behind the hotel and across the road is a mall, should you need to do any shopping.

Another hotel recommended by my friends who stayed there recently is Mini Hotel Rooms & Breakfast

Day trips from Murmansk

I contacted a couple of tour companies before leaving for Russia and found ” Russian Freedom” (also known as Arctic Freedom) to be good. Their website is  Arctic Freedom. They were prompt in responding to all my queries and also honest about what I could expect from the tours. I had booked 3 different tours on 3 different days with them. They agreed to a total price of 15000 rubles for all the trips. The entire experience, from hotel pick-up to drop-off, was efficiently organized.

Hunting the Aurora Borealis

This was my first day in Murmansk and soon after checking into the hotel, I rested for a while and went around to explore a bit. It was a great feeling to be watching the city from my room on the 16th floor of the tallest building beyond the Arctic Circle.

Azimut Hotel-Awestruck by the magnificent view of the city and the harbour from the 16th floor of my room

8:30 pm was the pick-up time for the Northern Lights hunting. Northern lights are a natural phenomenon and they can happen anytime. We know they happen when solar activity is high and the larger the Kp index( It is a system for measuring the strength of Aurora lights) on a day, the better the chances of seeing the lights. I have read that there have been instances where despite having a high Kp index, the colours were still not clearly visible. I was just hoping that I would get lucky to see the lights.

Our tour begins: The tour started around 8:30 pm and we drove to many places to see where the lights were visible.

It looked like this when we started the hunt

The hunting part itself was so much fun and then finally the sky with so many stars and beautiful lights took me to an altogether different plane.

We were served hot berry tea with some candies. It was cold and even smiling for the pictures was getting difficult. My fingers and toes were freezing. Now I had to go sit inside the car. I can’t thank the lovely Thai ladies Eed and Jym enough for giving me hand warmers that worked like magic. Returned to the hotel at 2 am. What a memorable night it was!

Saami Village

The village is about 120 km from Murmansk city. At the entrance, we were given tokens to enter the village. We walked through an alley of ancient wooden idols that the Saami people had created. Each of these idols is believed to be immensely powerful and magical enough to grant your wishes. There were 6 Idols and each one had significance for different things. Love, Health, Happiness, fate and Luck. You have to offer one coin for each idol to make your wish come true. This was interesting. I am not superstitious but I do believe in the power of the universe.

Saami people are the indigenous people of Northern Europe. They are settled in the Kola Peninsula of Russia, parts of Finland and Sweden. The total number of Saami people in Russia is close to 1500.

Traditional Saamis

They believe that all-natural objects like rocks, animals, plants etc have a soul and believe in the spirits. In the village, there were animals like rabbits, reindeer and huskies. I bought a packet of carrots from the vending machine in the cafeteria to feed the bunnies.

Meeting the Reindeer

The most interesting part was when one of the Saami men opened the huge gate and called out names and there came a running herd of Reindeer. I was told that each one of them has a name. They came rushing towards us. Their antlers were so heavy and strong. Saamis use the velvet from growing antlers to make traditional medicines that can cure a number of ailments.

Playing Saami games

We also got an opportunity to play a traditional Saami lasso game and rode the ATVs ( we were of course given the instructions on how to drive). Driving the ATV was the most fun part although it was for a very short duration.

Lunchtime

It was getting very cold and after a while, we were taken inside a Saami home where the walls were made of reindeer fur. It was very warm inside and it was time for lunch. We all had lunch, I was served plain rice with some salad and herbal tea. Others had Saami speciality cuisine(Venison soup and fish). Finally, we all posed wearing a Saami outfit. That was an interesting day to learn about the Saami people and their culture.

Teriberka-on the coast of the Arctic Ocean

Drive from Murmansk to Teriberka

The drive from Murmansk to Teriberka took around 2.5 hours. We were a total of 3 people for this tour. We first went to the airport to pick up a Thai couple and from there headed for Teriberka. The drive was beautiful with stunning scenery. I couldn’t stop taking pictures and did not want to turn off my camera at all. On the way, we stopped at a place to have some coffee. It is best to use the washroom here because I don’t remember seeing any more restrooms after this till we reached Teriberka village.

For the first time in my life, I saw the Arctic tundra for real, I had only read about it during my school days. Our guide Sergei was so enthusiastic to show us the region and we all shared some lovely conversations about our countries.

I was casually asking Sergei if there were chances of encountering any animals on our way and it came as a surprise that we saw a fox running. Sergei stopped the car and reversed immediately. I gave some chocolate cookies to the fox and it ate it all. Initially, it was reluctant to come near our vehicle but then it came to have those cookies and ran back. Our next stop was ”Seyd Stone” to see the tundra landscapes. It was simply beautiful. Words aren’t enough to explain the beauty of this place, it has to be experienced.

The drive is smooth till some kilometres but after a while, it becomes pretty rough and bumpy but that is fun too. We could also see some defence aircraft flying. A few minutes before reaching Teriberka, the landscape was breathtaking.

Teriberka

I could hear the ocean roar. We got down and I immediately ran to the coast to see the jaw-dropping beauty of the Barents Sea coast. I couldn’t believe I was at the edge of the earth and that too next to the ocean( This was also partly because I am a Thalassophile). The experience was unique.

The whole setting with the village behind you looks amazing. I didn’t feel like leaving the place but it was very windy and chilly. We went inside the only restaurant there where you can have your lunch facing the Arctic Ocean.

They arranged a vegan lunch for me. It was delicious. I must thank the ”Russian Freedom tour company” for arranging a special meal.

The Waterfall

After finishing our lunch we drove to see a waterfall that flows into the Arctic Ocean. We had to hike for some time. We picked some wild berries on our way and the trek itself was enjoyable. It can get a bit slippery in places because of the ice. We saw a beautiful half-frozen lake and tried skating there. Luckily, I did not fall and had lots of fun.

Finally, I spent some time sitting on the rolling stones beach and watching the waves splashing against the rocks. Watching the beautiful sunset, it was time to bid goodbye to Teriberka taking along a lot of beautiful memories. My next destination in Russia was Moscow. Read my post on  Moscow and my journey on the Trans-Siberian train in first class.