Enigmatic ice world's unexpected warm embrace

[Photo by Sindy Chan / For China Daily]

In the early morning of Day 4, we cross the Arctic Circle. I join the cheering crowd on the open deck the moment we see the globe icon.

My husband Troy is overwhelmed when tour leader Weinreich announces there is a great chance to see the northern lights that evening.

Our new travel companion - the Hasselblad Lunar camera that had given Troy so much fun capturing very fine-quality high-definition pictures of the Svartisen glacier, or partial-red images of a lone lighthouse in the Norwegian waterway - is put to good use.

Aurora borealis is the academic name for the northern lights. Named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, borealis, it is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high-latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high-altitude atmosphere.

That night, on the open deck, I lift my head to a very dark sky. It starts with a regiment of light, and then, from the viewer of the Hasselblad Lunar camera, I see a fluorescent greenish glow expand to illuminate the northern horizon.

The northern lights were a random feature rather than the typical curtain-like structure. I had read how different amounts of oxygen and nitrogen emissions give out different colors, such as green, red or blue, and how the state can change within seconds or glow unchanging for hours. Because of that, it has a beautiful nickname: Dance of the Spirits. But I am content with what I saw - and deem it to be a lasting impression.

The excursion to the North Cape is very popular for the opportunity to set foot on the northernmost point on the European continent and meet the indigenous Sami people of Scandinavia.

Related: History of Bergen