Tina and Andreja’s adventure in the land of the happiest people in the world
Join our colleagues Andreja and Tina on their adventure across Lapland. Enjoying husky rides, reindeer sleighs and motor-sledges, sleeping in igloos and snow hotels, swimming in a frozen sea, discovering Santa Claus’ secrets and much more. 2 girls in a car driving along vast plains of snow across north Finland and Norway.
“In the beginning was a white reindeer.
From this white reindeer
arose the world.
his bones were the foundation
and his flesh became the land.”
It all began with a reindeer and so did our trip to Lapland. We started with a visit of a reindeer farm, owned by a Sami family. After a short sledge ride, where we obtained a reindeer driving license, we met the herder and learned about the history and tradition of herding reindeers in Lapland, the region of north Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia, best known also for huskies, vast subarctic wilderness, the Northern lights and the midnight sun.
After some hot juice and sweet bun, we were ready to take upon another adventure – husky sledge ride across the frozen lake. Upon return the keeper told us all about Alaskan huskies and we took some pictures of their cute puppies that will be ready for sledging next winter.Finland_Husky_Ride
Back in the capital town of Lapland, Rovaniemi is best known as Santa’s hometown where you can meet this old man in his village all year round. Although the most popular time to visit is December, we advise you to stay at home for Christmas to avoid the crowds because Santa will visit you anyway. And for all of you that still wonders how he manages to visit all the children in one night – we know but it’s a secret you will find out when visiting yourself :).
To this point we didn’t see the famous Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis yet so we decided to go on a hunt – snowmobiles sounded like a good option to get us out of the light polluted place. After an hour drive we stopped in the Kota, a traditional hut and gathered around the fire to enjoy hot drinks and snack. On the way back, the green phenomena finally appeared in all its beauty. This night could not be more amazing!
Our next adventure was a trip to Kemi, where we boarded an icebreaker and took off to the frozen open sea. It took all our courage to jump into the ice water and float around huge ice blocks (wearing a neoprene suit looking like famous children cartoon characters – guess which?). The day which started with cold ended in a warm and cosy Seaside Villa in Kemi. Waking up into the sunny morning by the sea is nice but waking up into the sunny morning in the seaside glass villa is something you will never forget.
