Husky Safari
Our first activity was a trip to a husky kennel outside of Saariselka. When we arrived, we were funnelled into a round, wooden Saami hut, fed tea and cinnamon rolls around an open iron hearthplace and allowed to ask questions about the facility and the huskies. Huskies are not native to Finland at all, actually; they are native only to Siberia, Alaska, and Canada. Until recently, the Saami people only used reindeer for transportation by sled. I couldn't help but wonder how genuine the experience was given the lack of husky history and culture in Finland: was the kennel here only for tourist reasons, or do the natives actually use them for legitimate purposes? Soon thereafter my brain answered "Who cares, PUPPIES!!!" They took us out to a caged area where we could play with some of the younger dogs. They were all very well trained, friendly, and allowed everybody to pick them up. They were puppies, though, so I had the pleasure of having one gnaw on my hair and ear before letting him down.
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| Just adorable. The dog is pretty cute, too |
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| Puppies! |
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| The love of goofy animal pictures is universal |
After the dogs nibbled enough holes in my gloves and my head, we were shown the basic skill set needed to drive a sled. To my disappointment, they didn't teach us any vocal commands, so I didn't get to yell "MUSH!" We divided into pairs and were assigned our sled. Each sled had five dogs. It's amazing how much power and endurance the little guys have; they really weren't even big dogs, just lean and fast as hell. We were led in a train guided by several snowmobiles, so the ride was very linear and scripted. We would stop every so often so that stragglers could catch up or to switch positions. Whenever we stopped, you could see steam rising off of the dogs bodies and they would roll in the snow to cool off. The two dogs closest to our sled were less interested in cooling off, though, as they would become possessed by demonic feral instinct and ferociously barking and snapping in each others faces.
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| It's a lot colder than it looks... |
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| Gorik and I |
If you'll notice, my driver, Gorik, doesn't seem as happy as I am. They encourage the drivers to ease pressure on the dogs as much as possible by pushing with one leg or getting off and running along and pushing the sled, especially when going up a hill. I'm completely out of shape, the dogs run fast, and we were in sub-zero temperatures, so both of us were exhausted after our shifts. The whole ride took about an hour. After we finished we were allowed to take pictures with our dog bros.
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| My leading sled dog bros |
Norway and the Arctic Ocean
Our next event was a bus ride to Bugoynes, a small fishing village on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in Norway. As if we hadn't had enough time on the bus already, we spent another 5 hours driving further north. The temperature actually rose as we approached the Arctic Ocean because, even this far north, the warm gulf stream waters regulate the region's temperature, which usually stays above -10 (14 F). It is so far north that for two months in the winter there is absolutely no Sunlight, and two months in summer there is daylight all day.
Our first stop, and most memorable, was our dip in the Arctic Ocean. Somehow, it had become a thing for visiting tourists to take a dip in the icy arctic waters (the bay is very inviting). The Norwegians didn't understand why but since so many people did it they built a Sauna close to the water so people wouldn't freeze to death. I like Norwegians.
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| The cozy Arctic Beach |
So we warmed up in the Sauna before taking our dip. Despite the Sauna's purpose, it's still a decent walk from the actual water's edge. Most people make the mistake of running to the water; this is the wrong way A. because you look like a sissy and B. because the frozen ground hurts like hell when you run. Our guide, Stewart, instructed us the proper Finnish way to take a dip is to walk in calmly and deliberately, showing no emotion. The hardest part of the walk was over the rocks; there is no clearly defined path right to the beach, so we had to walk over slippery frozen, watermelon sized rocks to reach the shore.
This video is my second dip in; the first time, I lost a sock, hence my asymmetric dress. If you'll notice, the ocean stole my second sock this time around...
Anyways, after our dip we went to a restaurant nearby where an old Norwegian guy gave us cod soup and showed us a video he made of his town. The man was like the Grandpa everybody wishes they had: you could tell he couldn't wait for each busload of student tourists to come so he could show them his video, which was a just a mash up of pictures of the town in no apparent order to a bizarre soundtrack that didn't make any sense. Lots of the photos had bizarre color filters and photoshop effects that he undoubtedly thought were fascinating. Every couple of pictures he would stop the video and enthusiastically point out "This is the church!" or "This is the Midnight Sun in Summer!" He was proud of his video and proud of his town.
The town's main industry is actually Norwegian King Crab fishing. In the 1950's, some crazy Russians transplanted the King Crab from the Bering Sea (In between Russia and Alaska; the same crabs as on Deadliest Catch) to the icy waters outside Scandinavia. The crabs thrived, so now this town is basically the Norwegian version of St. Paul Port on Deadliest Catch. Cool stuff.
The Northern Lights
While in Saariselka we tried to see the Northern Lights a few times. They typically come out between 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., and the best view is on the hill overlooking town. The hill is, of course, also the windiest place in town, and when the cold drops to -30 C, it doesn't matter how many layers you have on, you can't stay out for much more than an hour. The cold made it difficult, but we still managed to see the lights twice.
Unfortunately, the lights were pretty underwhelming. All the pictures you see of them are like the one above, with very bright, vivid colors (to clarify, the above picture is from google). The first lights we saw we actually thought were clouds because they were a dull grey and looked like somebody just took a huge paint roller to the sky; nothing like what we expected. The second time they were much better: they formed the actual ribbon shapes they are known for and were a light bluish teal color, but still very grey. On photo, though, it came out like this:
The lights are no doubt fascinating, but it's still disappointing to realize that most of the beautiful photos you see of them aren't what you'd see with your actual eyes. The green in the photo was barely visible to our eyes, and the lights are only that bright because it's a long exposure picture. Most pictures of the Northern Lights are long exposure, allowing the light and color to stack, making them much more prominent. Still, freezing my feet and fingers off was totally worth that picture.
Reindeer Farm
Our final destination was a Reindeer Farm outside of town. Most Saami people are reindeer herders / farmers, so they are everywhere. Reindeer are like regular deer but with antlers: they are dumb and poop everywhere. We visited the farm at the time when the reindeer were shedding their antlers (which they do naturally) which is why some of them don't have any in the photos.
We got in these little sleds and the reindeer pulled us around a tiny track at a snails pace. It was weird and and made me feel like I was a fat tourist. Then we went into a traditional Saami hut, ate processed wieners and listened to a Saami woman sing. It wasn't all that remarkable.
So that's about it all of my experiences in Lappland. After the reindeer farm we started our return trip to Sweden.
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