Day 8 (Saturday, 25-7-98)

Because of the drizzle breakfast was as usual in bed, by now we had the system well worked out. From here it was downhill all the way to the fjord. It was easy going until we picked the wrong side of the valley and got impeded by steep side. Realising our mistake we could do nothing, going back was out of the question (too far and up hill), going down to the river and up the other side would have been possible but looked very tricky and strenuous. So we opted for the carry-on-regardless option, it meant going up about 100m to get above the steep slopes. All is well that ends well and we got down to the shores of the fjord and then to Qagssiarsuk by 14h00.
First thing to the shop, oops, its closed, next thing, lets phone to sort out this ferry business, oops telephone is also locked up. Next thing to the hostel to book beds for the night, Jim didn't want to, it required my most extreme power of persuasion. It cost us Dkr 125 per person and we had proper beds and proper toilets and hot showers. The manager or owner also allowed us to use his cell phone to phone the other side about the ferry. Same story, the person that knows is not there phone back in an hour or so.
A young couple from Denmark was sitting in the hostel drinking coffee, so naturally we started talking to find out where from, and why are they here and what do they do for a living and how is life in general. It turned out that they were sitting there waiting for the ferry to take them to Igaliku, and the ferry was already 4 hours late. Some problem with the engine and apparently waiting for a ferry is not uncommon. Now, this made us think, our plan was to walk to Narsaq and catch the morning ferry from there the day we were going to fly back to Copenhagen. A delayed ferry could mean we loose our connection and have to sit in Narsarsuaq for a few days waiting for the next plane. This was very risky and we decided on a revision of our plans. The next time I phoned to confirm our booking for the ferry I cancelled it. We would now take a hike over to the other side of the mountain, a place called Tasiusaq to look at the Twin Glaciers and after that to cross over to Narsarsuaq and to do the two glaciers there. On hindsight that was a much more exciting trip anyway.
Having settled in we could now hit the town. The aim was to have a good look at the ruins and the rest of the settlement. But first we had to stop at the cafe, that is the cafe Brattahlid, for some refreshment, coffee and hot dogs. After another coffee and a coke and a piece of cake we were off to have look at the ruins. Ruins would be a misnomer, its only the foundations that can still be seen. The most famous ruin is the one of a church dating from about 1300, which is surrounded by a grave yard. It was diggings here that made archaeologists come to the theory that the demise of the viking civilisation in Greenland was due to lack of food. This was concluded from the size of the skeletons showing signs of malnourishment. Their disappearance also coincides with the little ice age in the 14th century which would have affected their crop production. It could make sense.
The oldest ruin is that of the most likely original church built there in around 1000. Its very small and only measures 2x3m. Enough room for the preacher and a congregation of about a handful. Other ruins were those of stables and living quarters. Of course the guide will also point out ruins of buildings used by Inuits (Eskimos) from long time before the arrival of the Eric the Red, but I personally can't get very excited about those ruins because I have no cultural connection to them, so call me a racist if you want to.
Excitement was a big helicopter trying to land near the ruins, the pilot was obviously new to this landing spot, because one could see that he didn't trust the ground where he was landing and send out his copilot before actually putting the full mass of the chopper down on it. It spewed out a group of Asian tourists coming to have a quick look at the ruins, we were told they came from Red China. A clear indication that the market economy has taken roots there and produced a new class of newly rich Chinese.
The present church is a wooden building, very quaint and on the inside very beautiful and absolutely spotlessly clean. I actually didn;t want to walk further in than the vestibule. Whoever looks after that place is obviously extremely proud of their little church. Religion? I am not sure, the hymn book I looked at was printed in Norway, does it mean we can classify them as Lutherans? And now back into the cafe for another hotdog and meeting more people. There was this guy who went fishing with his son and brought back some good fish. His wife is an archaeologist digging away at some place, trying to unravel more of the mystery of the disappearing vikings. And then there was Ole, who is here to introduce bees to Greenland. He thinks he has been partially successful and reckons Greenland honey is very good. I tried to find some in the shop but couldn't, all you find is expensive Danish honey. I am not sure its such a great idea to bring a new species into the country. The harvest from such a hive surely must be very limited, because of the short flowering season and the long winter.
And not to forget: Naja, the girl from Greenland Travel. She was a Danish student, not earning any money, but having a free trip, food and lodgings acting as a tourist guide. She spend some time at our table telling us about live in Greenland and in Denmark.
We had the hostel to ourselves. All the heating elements were turned on, cloth washed and dried on the elements. Also our boots could receive a bit of drying treatment. There was also a TV with two channels, both showed the same, some Inuit festival in Nuuk (the capital of Greenland) of singing and dancing. Not our cup of tea, every song sounded the same. What was interesting is that this was part of a movement of bringing together all the Inuits of the north, i.e. Greenland, Canada and Alaska. A banner above the stage proclaimed:
INUIT SPIRIT
The Global Partnership
It sounds like 'Inuit of the world unite'.

Day 9 (Sunday, 26-7-98)

Had a very good night and got up at 6h30. Had breakfast and started out by 8h00. Our aim was Tasiusaq, a small settlement (even smaller then Qassiarsuk) on the shores of the next fjord to the west. It was Sunday and passing the little church again we were hoping to see some worshipers, just being nosy to see how they dress up to go to church.
There is a road over to Tasiusaq, but that was not for us, we preferred cross country. And it turned out to be much better. Starting off following a lovely valley, past beautiful inland lakes and once over the ridge a view over the ice filled bay of Tasiusaq.
Just beyond the settlement on the shores of the fjord the tent was erected. Dropping everything and only taking the essentials we walked on to the point from where we would be able to view the Twin Glacier. The walk along the shore gave us the opportunity to admire the large number of pieces of ice floating in the water and resting on the beach, there colour was from ice like to very blue. I still haven't established what makes some of the ice look so blue compared to others.
At the view point we made a little fire for warmth and drying, whilst at the same time looking over to the other side admiring the Twin Glacier coming down from the ice cap. Here one can actually see all the way up to the icecap.
The walk started to get to us, we had underestimated the distance, from our campsite to the view point was 7km, adding to this the 5km we had done coming from Qassiarsuk, means for the day we had done 19km. Mushroom collection was done on the way back, we got sufficient to have a reasonable meal. We also managed to collect enough wood to have a decent fire, but the starting rain put a stop to that. We had to retreat into the tent, not to come out again until the next morning. It was my first night that I had a full supper, fried mushrooms, noodles and curried beef.

Day 10 (Monday, 27-7-98)

Instead of the previous evening we had the fire in the morning. It was a dry day and we took a slow walk over to Qassiarsuk, taking the shortest route by following the road. First stop in Qassiarsuk was the Cafe Brattahlid for a hot dog and coffee.
Some observations along the way. The farmers here don't seem to look after their equipment very well, one finds old machinery standing around, machinery that looks like could still be repaired. New machinery, looks like, is left out in the open. If I was farming there, surely, that would be one of my first priorities, to have the tractors and balers under cover at least. On our wanderings we found a number of dead snow mobiles just left where they had broken down. One has to wonder about this, does it mean that the farmers are paid so much subsidy that they don't have to worry about looking after the equipment. Walking past some houses one also gets the impression that their housekeeping is not quiet to Eleni's standard. Equipment, toys, tools etc laying around wherever they have been dropped.
From the cafe to the shop, here I purchased amongst other things a Grapefruit from Outspan which I thought was an orange for something like DKr 5. I also acquired some Camembert cheese and a loaf of bread. We had to get over the fjord to the other side to Narsarsuaq. Inquiring at the KNI shop didn't result in very much, just wait, at about 21h00 there will be a boat. That wasn't good enough for us, we kept on asking. A Dane who was about to take his daughter and boyfriend over said 'no problem', we could come along free of charge, Jim still gave him DKr 100 on the other side which he accepted also no problem. He is a teacher in Nanortalik and has been in Greenland for 21 years and has no intentions of leaving. Holidays he spends on his yacht going up and down the fjords with his dog.
In Narsarsuaq we first had to hit the KNI shop again, Jim still needed a new gas cylinder for his gas cooker. The shop in Qagsiarsuq didn't have. We found one at DKr 30. I bought a red tomatoe for DKr 3, which was consumed immediately. I also had a look for a mutton chop because I felt like having a braai tonight. But at DKr 46 for one chop I dropped the idea. Than I though that I would like to have some salami but only found a large one for DKr 33, which was much more than I was prepared to carry. Jim obtained some chicken liver which went down very well in the evening with noodles.
And now we had to carry our load out of town, up the valley of the Kuusuak river. Initially following the only road of Narsarsuak, this is a road that goes from the harbour, past the air port up to a place about 5 km out of town. Why it goes that far is historical, nowadays there is nothing at the end of the road. But in the past when it was an American Air Force base, the hospital was situated at the end of this road. Nothing remains of that, except a few foundations.
Just before the end of the road is a lake that invited for a stop. Taking my boots off and wading into the water gave me the impression that it was not too cold and I made an attempt. It was only the top layer that was not so cold, underneath that it was icy. Jim did it nevertheless, lasting only a few seconds. Getting closer to the the glacier we put up camp on a sandy place not far from it.

Day 11 (Tuesday, 28-7-98

We just couldn't get up, it was 7h30 before w moved and had breakfast. Packed up and went to the place where the path goes steeply up the mountain. We dropped our rucksacks there and first followed the gorge to get to the bottom end of the glacier. The strong flowing stream blocked our progress and we didn’t get to touch the ice. So we had to shoulder our heavy packs and schlepp them up the mountain for about 250 meters vertical distance. On top it was announced that we should set up camp next to one of the lovely lakes and explore from there.
After lunch we were off to have look at the glacier Kuussuup. An impressive sight, just like the last one. To have a closer look required to go down again, i.e. the 250 meters up we had to descent to get to the actual ice. I was a bit hesitant because it looked like a long way back up again. Getting to this glacier was possibly one of the highlights of the trip, it was beautiful.
At the place where we made contact was this milky blue glacier lake next to the ice in striking contrast to the rocks and the ice. Both of us had a turn at climbing the ice, not for far, only as far as it was safe, Jim first, of course. Further out on the ice it becomes very uncomfortable, I would think, looking at the ice being crunched up forming mountains and valleys and cracks in between. At this stage the ice is also melting forming underground or rather under ice cavities. The ice in these cavities looks blue and the deeper one looks the more blue it becomes to purple. We partially entered one of these caves and found a waterfall coming from above, possible originating from the melting of the ice. Its absolutely fantastic, like a fairyland. Also of interest, the bottom picture shows how the glacier acts like a plough, as it carves its way through the landscape. Should have added a scale to it, its too late for this, the biggish stones are about 100mm across.
The evening was nice, with sunshine, but the insects still forced us to eat inside the tent. At this time my mosquito veil came in very handy. I could walk around without feeling too bothered by the little pests.
Sleeping tonight was a bit problematic, because we had not taken enough care with our selection of the camp spot. It was full of bumps and my back could feel it.