オーロラビレッジ（一日目の夜）

22時過ぎにオーロラビレッジに到着。

私達一行は初日なので、ガイドのお兄さんにビレッジ全体をざっと案内してもらってから、その日のテント、ティーピーに入る。
ティーピーは先住民族の移動式住居。ここで待機、出入りしながらオーロラの出現を待つ。

この日のティーピーはNo.9。
意外と広く、20人は入る。薪ストーブがボンボン焚かれていて、暖かい。

ティーピーは約20箇所あり、凍った湖に沿って10箇所、更に、奥の丘をのぼる途中にもう10箇所。
これ以外にダイニングホールと呼ばれるロッジみたいな建物や、お土産物を売ってる小屋もあり、そこで零下20度以下ならではのデモンストレーション（バナナで釘を打つ、コップに入った熱湯をぶちまけた途端に凍る、等）を見せてくれる。

この日は晴れていたが、オーロラはなかなか出現せず、終了時刻の1時が迫ってきて、タイムアウト。
バスへ戻る途中、周りの皆が指摘する。空に白いモヤのような光が…！

これがオーロラらしい。
たしかに、今まで見たことがないものだ。
でも、白い…のね。

明日こそ、いかにもオーロラってわかりやすいやつが見たい!
と後ろ髪ひかれつつバスに乗る。
ホテルに戻りシャワーなど浴びて、ベッドに入ったのは午前3時。

長過ぎる、旅行1日目。
時差ボケもへったくれもなく、すぐに眠りに落ちる。

We arrived at Aurora Village a little after 10 pm.

Since it was our first day, our guide gave us a quick tour of the entire village.
Tepees are the mobile homes of the indigenous people. We waited for the Northern Lights to appear as we entered and exited the teepees.

This day's tepee was number 9.
It was surprisingly spacious and could accommodate up to 20 people. It was warm with a wood stove burning.

There are about 20 tepees, 10 along the frozen lake and another 10 halfway up the back hill.
In addition, there is a “dining hall,” a lodge-like building, and a hut selling souvenirs, where demonstrations of what is possible when the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius (e.g., driving a nail with a banana, freezing a cup of boiling water as soon as it is poured) are held.

The day was clear, but the Northern Lights did not appear, and time ran out as 1:00 p.m., the end of the tour, approached.
On the way back to the bus, everyone around us pointed out that they saw a white blur in the sky.
I could see it for sure!

This is the aurora borealis, apparently.
Indeed, it was something I had never seen before.
But it was just white…

Tomorrow is the day I want to see a light that everyone will recognize as the Northern Lights!
We boarded the bus with our hair pulled back.
I returned to the hotel, took a shower, and went to bed at 3:00 am.

The first day of the trip was too long.
I fell asleep in no time.