Feb 13 - 16
Initially I booked this trip to Lapland JUST so I could attempt to see the Northern Lights. But of course, we got three very cloudy nights where the lights were not at all visible. Luckily, there was plenty of other stuff to keep us entertained!
After waiting an hour and the airport, then spending an hour on the bus into town, our first day was almost gone! We walked into town, admiring the masses of snow, and bought our food supply for the following days. After dinner, we walked down to the frozen lake. We went out into the middle of the lake, attempting to see the northern lights...no luck. But a cool walk, nonetheless.
The following morning our adventures began. First up: snowmobiling! This was insanely fun. I wasn't brave enough to go much past about 40km/hr, but when Rach drove we got up to about 50km/hr. We wound around through snowy tracks, passing the odd cross country skiier here and there. Absolutely beautiful and a little bit scary going over some of the bumps!
Eventually we made it to the 'husky farm' - although...there were very few huskies. 138 dogs of many different breeds were housed there and spend their days running around the tracks with visitors. Some of them even race! We got to know the dogs and then jumped on board a sled for a ride. Again, stunning snow-covered forests surrounded us, but this ride was a little more peaceful than the snowmobiling ride!!
We drove our snowmobiles back into town and warmed up with some salmon soup. As the sun was setting, we walked back out onto the lake, to see it in daylight. I can't describe how weird it is to walk out into the middle of a frozen lake! But people cross country ski across it - so it's obviously very safe! Stunning sunset.
That evening, in yet another failed attempt to see the northern lights, we took a sled down to the lake with us. So much fun! We took turns pushing and sitting. Very hard work uphill, but immense fun going down hill!! While we couldn't see the lights... I'm pretty sure they were there, tucked away behind the clouds.
We started our last day in Akaslompolo at the Snow Village - the world's biggest igloo! There, the hotel, bar, restaurant, chapel and small cinema room were all made of ice and snow! Some incredible sculptures lined the walls, particularly in the suite rooms of the hotel - each of them individually themed, including a honeymoon suite, an Easter Island themed room and rooms filled with arctic animals, greek gods, snowflakes..etc.
When we returned to town in the afternoon we climbed up the 'fell' behind our hostel. The hike up to the Kuertunturi peak took less than an hour but it was sometimes difficult to follow the path, and so we would accidentally end up hip-deep in snow! Eventually we made it, and were treated to spectacular panoramic views.
While at the top, we met some locals who helped us find our way down without losing the path. We rode toboggans most of the way down - which was ridiculous amounts of fun!!! I was absolutely terrible at steering it the right way, which meant I would end up burried in snow, just off the track. But my god, it was the BEST fun I've had in a long time. Just felt like a big kid!
For our last evening in Lapland we went out for a traditional Finnish dinner - reindeer! Tasty. It was snowing all night - so definitely no chance of the northern lights coming out.
On our way to the bus stop in the morning we spotted some reindeer! So it seems we ticked off just about eveything you'd want to see and do in Lapland...except the northen lights! Ohhhhh well. Next time!
