8/7/25: Aasiaat Adieu & Quick Qeqertarsauq Visit!

Since Steven and I had several unexpected hours in the small West Greenland town of Aasiaat after the Disko Line ferry was unable to depart the day before, we decided to explore the section of town farther from the town center. Although we had seen a tremendous amount of Aasiaat and parts of it several times, we were looking forward to discovering the last three historic houses on the self-guided tour.

Over the previous few days in Aasiaat, we'd had plenty of opportunities to see the many dark red colonial houses, the vast, dated apartment blocks with the picturesque Inuit-themed murals at the ends, some self-build homes, and a few new homes under construction, but these larger, more modern apartments were different.

The Ado Lynges School was built in the 1950s by the Red Cross as a nationwide daycare institution for children. It was later transformed by Greenland's Home Rule government and was inaugurated in 1982. I wonder if the brochure describing the town's historical houses was dated because it said the school "now functions as a special school for young people with mental retardation." The terms commonly used now, at least now in North America, are "intellectual disability" or "special needs."

The back of the school:

The school looked over another small harbor and a medium-sized hill. Aasiaat is one of the few towns in West Greenland that is not surrounded by mountains.

As we continued our walk along the harbor, we had some commanding views. Looking on the bright side, Steven and I were happy that the ferry had been postponed by one day, as it allowed us to investigate this part of Aasiaat!

You likely remember that aboveground pipes were commonplace in Aasiaat.

Days earlier, we had viewed this small lake from one of Greenland's four high schools on the opposite shore. Aasiaat's high school was on the right below.

A close-up view of the high school known as Gux Aasiaat, which was originally an elementary school inaugurated in 1974. Until the 1980s, Danish and Greenlandic students were "separated" - perhaps "segregated" is a more accurate term. After the school was renovated and expanded in 2014, it was inaugurated two years later.

On the opposite side of town, by the former Girls' School that had been converted into the Town Library, we had looked at different types of self-build houses located close together. Here was another example of a Self-Build Home, but this one was solitary. Built in 1949, the two-story home featured an unusual half-hip roof and was inspired by the other self-build homes.

Rather than playing it "safe" and returning to the center of town along the road, we took a chance finding our way back by walking through a maze of boardwalks, up and down stairways, and across rocks. It was far more interesting, as it allowed us to walk much closer to the older homes. As I wrote in a previous post, there are no private backyards, as homeowners own only their homes, not the property surrounding them.

Another view of the town's Courthouse, which we'd seen previously, and was the largest government building in Aasiaat:

We hadn't noticed the harpoon gun by the Courthouse previously!

We remembered that the walking tour guide had told us that Aasiaat's high school graduates celebrate their graduation by walking together from the school to this rock by the Courthouse.

This was Nancy Lupo, whom we had seen on the Sarfak Ittuk ferry we'd taken up the coast, and who was the only other guest at our first hotel in Aasiaat. An acclaimed artist now living in Europe, Nancy had kindly come down to the harbor to say goodbye, as she was staying put in Aasiaat and we were heading further north in Disko Bay to Qeqertarsuaq.

After four days in Aasiaat, Steven and I figured we could have opened up a tour agency in town and offered tourists our own walking tours of the community, as we knew it so well! That was why when the 2 p.m. departure time rolled around and we saw a small boat entering the harbor, we were excited to start the next phase of our Greenland adventure.

But, as boat after boat arrived and left and the hours slowly passed, I admit our enthusiasm dimmed somewhat.

You can imagine that we heaved a huge sigh of relief when the ferry finally arrived, two plus hours later than we'd been told. 

We hadn't known that the ferry also served as a mail boat, delivering and picking up mail to and from other communities along the coast.

By that point, we were quite happy to bid a hearty farewell to Aasiaat!

Part of the former American base in Aasiaat that operated during World War II:

Disko Bay is the largest open bay in western Greenland, spanning an astonishing 93 miles! I spent most of the 90-minute trip on the deck, gazing at the icebergs, which enchanted me.

I'm sure some five- or six-year-old boy could have told me what dinosaur shape this iceberg looked like!

One of the ferry's crew told us they needed to stop and deliver two bags of mail to Kitissuarsuit, a settlement founded in 1830 as Hunde Ejlande, or Dogs' Island, although it had already been used as a whaling station since 1817. Its population was 50 in 2020.

Notice the whale jawbone arch in the background, which likely welcomed people to the small community, just like one had in Sisimiut, further south. 

Leaving Kitissuarsuit, the ferry seemed to almost hug the rocky cliffs for a long time rather than stay in the open water.

The immense size and grandeur of the icebergs in the bay continued to enthrall me!

This was our first sight of Qeqertarsauq, on the southern coast of Disko Island, our home now for just one night, after the previous day's ferry was cancelled. Though Eirík the Red had visited the island in AD893 looking for new hunting grounds, artefacts found on the island prove that the Inuit lived in the area for thousands of years before his arrival. Whalers came to the island during the 18th century, and whaler Svend Sandgreen officially founded the settlement, naming it Godhavn, now known as Qeqertarsuaq.

The Greenlandic name for Disko Island, Greenland's largest island, is Qeqertarsuaq, meaning "the great island." There are only two towns on the island: Qeqertarsuaq on the south tip, and a smaller village, Kangerluk, or Diskofjord, located 21 miles northwest.

What a great idea to have a city map on the shore as soon as people disembark from the ferry or other boats!

Surprise, surprise - another town, another whale jawbone arch greeting people! The King's Bridge, marked at the landfall by the arch, was built for King Christian X's 1921 visit. Over time, the bridge has been visited by several other members of the Danish Royal Family, including in 1952 and 2024. The bridge is used daily by sailors arriving and departing from Qeqertarsauq. The arch, erected in 1973 for the community's 200th anniversary, is known as the Gateway to the World. It symbolizes the town's history, which began as a whaling station. 

Minutes from the harbor was the Qeqertarsauq Museum, located in the commanding former residence of North Greenland's bailiff. As we'd arrived much later than we anticipated, we put off seeing it until the following day. 

By far the largest building in town was Pilersuisoq, the local grocery store, which we'd also shopped in at other stops up the west coast. 

Qeqertarsauq had a beautiful red wooden church, nicknamed God's Ink Pot for its unusual shape.

Months ago, we'd reserved an apartment at Hotel Disko Island that overlooked the bay. We didn't realize until we arrived that it wasn't located in the hotel proper but in its own building away from the center. 

As there were slim pickings for both accommodation and restaurants in the community of just 850 people, we'd been strongly encouraged to make a dinner reservation at the hotel as well. Though we'd planned to dine at the hotel's very upscale restaurant on our second night after a relaxing day exploring the town, that day had disappeared due to the ferry cancellation and the subsequent late departure from Aasiaat. A 48-hour stay had shrunk to under 20 hours! The only upside was that we were only charged one night's stay at the exorbitantly priced hotel!

The purple flower, Dwarf Fireweed, was Greenland's national flower.

We'd only had half an hour to collect our wits after leaving the ferry and sitting down for dinner at the appointed hour, which was way too crazy. Don't forget to click the menu picture to enlarge it and see which delicacy you would have ordered! I'd love to know what might have tickled your taste buds.

Steven feasted on snow crab that had been harvested locally, and I dined on reindeer from Kangerlussuaq. My portion comprised two tiny slices that tasted like tough roast beef! Safe to say, I wasn't a big fan, but the company was perfect, as was the ambience after a long day.

We recognized the large group sitting across from us, as they had been on the walking tour of Aasiaat with us the day before. It was only a couple of days later that Steven and I realized how small the tourist circuit is in Greenland, as we repeatedly came across them and other people we met on our next stop, further north in Ilulissat, and again in Nuuk, Greenland's capital city!

Next post: A Meet the Greenlandic Sled Dog tour at a local musher’s sled dog camp that night!

Posted on October 27th, 2025, from sunny Denver, where Steven and I hope you are taking care of yourself and your loved ones. As a huge sports fan, I am rooting for the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, and was happy that our hometown Denver Broncos football team and Denver Nuggets basketball team each had convincing wins this weekend!