Greenland - March 2022 - Ittoqqortoormiit

A short trip to Ittoqqortoormiit in north-east Greenland in March/April 2022. The film is longer than I wanted it to be, but there was nothing I was willing to remove, and it did not lend itself to being split into two parts.
My thanks to Mette Barselajsen (logistics and accommodation), "Janne" for the specialist cooking, and Aqqalu for the loan of the trousers! And of course to Arielle for triggering the trip to take place.
CKWIDaardvark28

[@itslovy02]

Words cannot express how wonderful this film is.

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thank you - you're very kind. :)

[@donna_lambo_weidner]

I've been to Ittoqqortoormiit...your film makes me want to return this minute!

[@EdwindePaula]

what an indescribable experience it must have been! thanks for sharing it with us. the dog-sledding, jesus... there are so many questions I wanna ask that man!

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thanks - ask away...!

[@olaakerstrom7143]

Very impressive Simon! It was awesome to share the helicopter ride and flight back to Island with you.

[@maco1713]

My dream place.I hope one day my dream will come true...Thank you for this film!

[@cathytreacy7857]

Hi Simon and Bea, Congratulations on a fabulous journey you have just taken me to. I wanted to jump out of my skin watching it , the dogs, the pristine beauty of sheer white and blue sky , travelling with the sled journey to abandoned homesteads , no wonder the Icelandic museum wants the video. It’s a magical journey through a landscape that most of us can only imagine what it’s like to be there and experience it. You captured so much in s a short time Simon , the night shots with the Aurora are a real treat, to see the faces of the healthy children playing in snow drifts, to a well stocked supermarket, I hope you loved this trip, and I loved watching it Simon . Thank you so much for sharing it. I have friends who will love to watch it so it’s going to be shared to many. Hope you are well and did not get any frozen fingers 🥶keep travelling and stay safe. Hug from afar. Cathy /Ann Cyprus👍🏼🥰

[@Josh14700]

Really impressive!!

[@jamesmusser6160]

There's alot in this video that reminds me of my time remote from Thule Air Base, NW Greenland in '61-'62. I love Huskies. Their stamina and work ethic is legendary, eh Poul? The very opening reminds me of the Rapcom site on South Mountain at TAB, and the fjord with its frozen bergs let's me recall the mighty Wolstenhomme Fjord that the Danes called " the world's biggest ice machine" , eh Gene?

[@TheURLofEaling]

Strictly speaking, they're not Huskies, but Greenlandic Sled-dogs. But they are indeed incredible animals. :)

[@lemphaboham]

Thankyou for sharing this, i really want to explore Greenland..... Watching your video makes me happy 🤩

[@TheURLofEaling]

My pleasure 😊

[@jamesfagan7823]

Amazing beauty a total paradise hopefully I will get there one day

[@rickomoi4441]

😀Amazing👍👍👍

[@Esureto11]

How nice it must be to live there, I think they don't even need the police

[@leylapage5132]

Fascinating to see glimpses of people's daily lives! Great vid as always. Slightly eerie seeing the abandoned property full of snow!

[@TheURLofEaling]

They should not have left the window open!

[@jondstewart]

Now only if Alaska’s people living on the tundra could keep it looking this nice and clean!

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thanks for your comment! :) You raise an interesting point - while a lot snow can hide a multitude, people in the far north tend to have small houses with little storage. Spare parts are hard to come by so they're shrewd recyclers and menders. So a lot of "stuff" tends to get left outside for possible future re-use. In Europe most people's garages are full of stuff, and the cars live outside. Also waste disposal in the arctic is an ongoing problem. I've not been to Alaska so I cannot comment specifically.

[@vanessafarias5272]

Pra mim é algo tão diferente. Chega a ser impressionante como pode haver pessoas que vivam num lugar tão frio e tão minimalista como esse, com as casas seguindo um padrão, com esse tipo de locomoção. Uau! Definitivamente uma cultura realmente diversa, por que será que escolheram viver lá?

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thanks! :) They didn't choose to live there, they were born there - so they have been there for over 4 thousand years. This particular settlement was established in the 1920s for various political/economic reasons, but the first residents of the settlement were brought from other parts of Greenland (which are very similar in all respects, e.g. climate, hunting, etc).

[@vanessafarias5272]

@@TheURLofEaling wow, impressionante! Obrigada por esclarecer

[@Macthedogchamp]

Fabulous. Going there in August (2024) to sail into Scoresby Sound.

[@Tony-Madisson]

Thank you for posting ❤

[@Vanessaaaaa_]

I loved everything about this video, so nice to see kids playing the same games all over the world, although it must be really difficult to do some roly poly on the snow ahahah!! Also those dogs are so dramatic, I love them so much! Such an enjoyable video Simon thank you for sharing it with us xx

[@TheURLofEaling]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@shackletonify]

I will be there in few weeks... Can't be more impatient !

[@TheURLofEaling]

Have a great trip, and make a film!😀

[@alexfreeman8705]

This is one heck of an original film. Keep making such art.

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thank you - I'm about to start work on a film (or maybe more than one) of Namibia and Botswana - we'll see how it comes out! :)

[@veronicaroach3667]

Fascinating ! But I really can't think of any reason to stay there - sure snowy landscapes have a special magic, which I enjoy for a few days each winter where I live - until the nuisance factor steps in that is ! Why anyone volunteers to live there is amazing to me. Sure I like aloneness too, but not as a permanent situation ! All I could think of was what do you do if the dogs run off & you are stuck in the middle of a freezing nowhere ?

[@TheURLofEaling]

Most people there were born there, though others are there on temporary contracts. Good dog-husbandry will ensure you are never abandoned!

[@dkcorderoyximenez3382]

What an adventure...!!! Northern Greenland looks like a young man's game...???

[@TheURLofEaling]

Not to visit (I was 61 in 2022), but it must be tough for the older residents. They were born there so they are used to it, but it's not such an easy place for others to retire to!

[@dayalmadhabmukherjee8685]

Great vedeo

[@banehawi]

Very enjoyable Simon. Its odd to see freezers in the stores, though of course necessary. Amazing how the dogs don't get tangle up in the lines. You need to mount an expedition to find the arctic Kangaroo!

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thanks Willie - yes it looks chaotic but the dogs seem to know where they're supposed to be, and on the command the line up obediently. Those footprints remain a mystery!!

[@oxygenslow8886]

Огромное спасибо за прекрасный фильм, великолепные кадры! Очень познавательно

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thank you for your kind words :)

[@itslovy02]

Wow I can't wait to travel like this one day.. It's so damn expensive to leave Canada nowadays.

[@shinbet6385]

Wonder world.... 🙏🙏🙏🙏🌿🌿🌿

[@Esureto11]

I would like to live there, I could calmly read my philosophy books, but what could a mathematics graduate do there?

[@TheURLofEaling]

I am also a maths (and physics) graduate! You could get a job at the meteorological station there maybe? Or work from home there..

[@davidhoather7143]

Apparently, incredible, Holiday what a fantastic exsperance very well done set up Video , suppurb Wonderful, senary , of a Holiday of a life time , exerlant Holiday's videos all you done of yours , , great stuff , mate, 👍👍👍 enjoy life ,

[@aclankaraman7530]

Aclan Karaman 1. Why were the abandoned settlements built and then why were they abandoned? 2. Is there running water from the tap in the houses? 3. Is the heating done centrally or does each house heat independently? 4. I have heard that there is an idea to move Ittoqqoortoormit and close it to settlement. Is this idea being talked about there in the village?

[@TheURLofEaling]

Very good questions. 1. Not sure why the settlements were originally located but maybe to share out hunting prospects while still maintaining a community. The population of the main village decreased leaving vacant property and a higher standard of living, so there was a drift from the more remote settlements towards the main village - the remote settlements were ultimately abandoned (around 2004). 2. No - houses have private water tanks filled for a charge by the local authority. 3. Each house has an oil-fired boiler. 4. It is - but it's tangled up with the politics of full independence from Denmark. I understand Copenhagen wants to close it as it's expensive to keep it running; Nuuk wants to keep it.

[@enricakita1]

Fantastic filming and gorgeous music! I was in Greenland this past summer 23. Would live to see it in the winter! A wee question: those wooden houses, how insulated are they? Thanks

[@TheURLofEaling]

Thanks 😊 In answer to your question, the answer is "very!". Although wooden, there is a thick layer of "rock-wool" between the inner and outer walls, which together with oil-powered boilers and/or wood stoves means that it's super warm inside, even when it's -30 or below outside. Whereabouts in Greenland were you?

[@enricakita1]

@@TheURLofEaling thank you. We were in Qaqortok and Nanortalik and the Quroq ice fjord

[@TheURLofEaling]

@@enricakita1 Cool - I don't know that part of Greenland at all - but Googling it it looks very beautiful there. It's a fantastic country to visit - not like anywhere else! Go in winter - it's a different place again!

[@aligujjar1118]

Green Landers supposed to start planning trees and vegetation ❤️

[@richardclarke9966]

They can't - it's too cold for anything to grow

[@GouganeBarra-u4t]

Mush doggy mush would sound better than yes yes yes. I'd love to spend a day there, but no way would I live there.I

[@slimabdou901]

A prison and a police station ? But why?

[@TheURLofEaling]

Why wouldn't there be? There are policemen everywhere in the world. They can be quite useful when people get into difficulties. And you need somewhere to lock people up if they are a danger to other people or to themselves. Having said that, I don't think they have needed to use the prison for many years now.

[@richardclarke9966]

@@TheURLofEaling I was going to ask if there were any inmates 😀

[@palomajose-diaz1381]

Or if outsiders come and misbehave you need somewhere to lock them away because there are people who will go to another person's country and make trouble.

[@mrshaunoboyle]

Great glimpse of remote Greenland. Can you say how much the flight from Iceland cost, and also the hotel cost. I'm interested in visiting this place for photography. Do you recommend the time of year that you visited? It seems best for dog sledding.

[@TheURLofEaling]

The flight from Reykjavik to Constable Point was £820 return, and the helicopter from there to Ittoqqortoormiit was £115 each way. The accommodation was £80 per night (self-catering guest-house). The photo opportunities are superb all year round as there are different things to see at different times of the year. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss it further - my email address is shown at the end of the film.

[@TheURLofEaling]

If you get to Greenland you will have a whole new set of photo ops that you won't get in Antarctica, Svalbard or Iceland - the Inuit culture! I've done 4 trips there now (would have been 5 but for Covid) and reckon to be back there again at some point.

[@mynewyork165]

What kind of graveyard is that? Who was buried there?

[@TheURLofEaling]

It's the graveyard for the local people who live in the settlement. Underneath the snow the bodies are covered by stones and rocks as there is no soil here.

[@sat5734]

8:17 معقوله سنتوب ؟

[@TheURLofEaling]

Google Translate suggests this means "Is it reasonable to repent?" I've no idea what that means.

[@sat5734]

@@TheURLofEaling Thank you, sir, I was surprised that the SUNTOP product is sold in the frozen city hill!

[@TheURLofEaling]

@@sat5734 Very observant of you! The shops sell only national produce and goods sent by ship from Denmark when the sea ice has melted. So I guess Denmark uses produce from Africa too. Still not sure where "repenting" would fit in with this though, but maybe that's just Google Translator for you!

[@sat5734]

@@TheURLofEaling I understood and thanks for the new information, and yes it is a Google translator 😅

[@cv507]

8:40 Frözzen büttce v v Friesehrce in warm in cöLD xD

[@oliveritnowme3883]

Lamla 🐕🐕🐕