The next couple of weeks spelled a revision period for me, as, like as was for many, Lapland was approaching amid several exams I had no intention of studying for, but in the end I succumbed to the necessity and got about learning the Finnish (which was by no means easy). A couple of hardcore hours with local Chinese genius Yanyan and I was ready. Already feeling the knowledge draining away as I packed for Lapland (my most highly anticipated trip of the year) and made my way to the train station with some friends. I knew there were few people on the trip I knew although this did not bother me as in fact some of the best friends I'd made I met in Russia alone. The trip started in the evening where we took a night train to Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. Once I had found two guys (a Frenchman and a Lithuanian) to share a room with we played some cards and then hit the sack as we wanted some level of sleep.
We awoke the next morning to find the outside a beautiful white with trees as far as the eye could see, although this did make a lot of sense as we were sitting on the railway some 45 minutes outside of Rovaniemi. The locomotive had broken down and they had to send another one to pick us up. After this minor delay we arrived in Rovaniemi where the bus was waiting for us, and we loaded our luggage on board and subjected ourselves to the same treatment for the 5 hour (so far as I can remember) drive north to the small town of Inari, Finnish Lapland. The drive was somewhat uneventful, interrupted solely by a stop for beer and food, and the presence of a moose on the road, however to credit it with such a description would be a disrespect, as the nature we travelled though was phenomenal. Either side of the road small tress stood, covered in snow as the real winter began to come into it's own, giving a strong sense of isolation and oneness with the world. I cannot speak for others, but it definitely had a profound affect on me. On arrival it was, of course, dark. We dragged our bags to the main building, which was not much more than a large cabin, and collected our keys.
Not knowing anyone before I can on this trip, I found myself in the most legendary cabin I've ever seen along with a couple of Dutchmen and a German. Another cabin of four next door held their friends in the shape of two Austrians, a Swiss, and another German. These had been the loud ones on the bus, and would proceed to contribute to a hilarious week. Thanks to all of you! That evening beers and pizza formed our stable meal and naturally, bedtime occurred at around 3:00 am. Now my exact memory does not serve me so well on the exact proceedings of the events that week, however I will endeavour in no particular order to tell a day by day story of the antics we got up to.
Saarisleka is a resort deep in the Finnish Lapland where it is possible to ski, amongst other things. We arrived at the resort with the twilight of Nordic winter in full force, and disembarked from the bus. The remaining contingency of the trip (all except us) stayed on the bus and went to ski for the day. We had other plans. We conveniently found some small plastic snow sledges which were free to borrow, and we proceeded to explore the area, using the sledges at full effect, covering large amounts of ground in just a short time. Kevin (one of the Dutchmen) decided to use his as a snowboard, which proved highly successful for him but rather less so for me when I decided to give it a try as well. We came upon a snowmobile rental shop and decided to check it out. It transpired that it was both possible, and affordable to rent one each and go on a trek right into the heart of the wildlife, away from all forms of human life. We signed up. The next hour proved to be amazing. Following in a line, we rode through the heart of the wilderness stopping occasionally for pictures. In one particularly flat section we all gave the gas a squirt and I am both proud and slightly embarrassed to say that I reached 95 kph, holding on for dear life on what was clearly an adrenaline rush.
After returning we went to eat, finding a very authentic restaurant and yumming down some heavenly burgers. We then proceeded to find a sledging hill, upon which the light of the lamps and the rapidly dying sun provided visibility to a point about 100 metres from the bottom. We climbed all the way to the top, perhaps 500 metres from the bottom and in almost complete darkness bombed down the track hanging on for dear life, guiding ourselves only by the darkness that symbolised the trees at the edge of the track, and as we reached the bottom some quick, dangerous manœuvres were necessary in order to avoid the small children at the bottom. Tiring, cold, and extremely fun. However, the day was not over and we returned to our cabins for a sauna session (we had one in our cabin), an awesome spaghetti bolognaise provided by Kevin and I and some beer, whiskey and card games afterwards. Another late bed time.
Thoroughly tired, day 2 came in the form of a bus tour around the northern territory of Norway. It goes, unknown to many that Norway actually loops right over the top of Sweden and Finland and actually has a border with Russia. Although a large amount of time was spent on the bus, we saw some truly amazing sights, as we drove further north and towards the border. The snow covered forests made way for snow covered hills, and the vast expanse of nigh on complete rurality and almost desolation of the place began to sink in. As we straddled a hill travelling parallel with a fjord, an eagle came into sight and this provided a few minutes interest. As we continued further north we came upon a small settlement by the name of Bugøynes, surviving nearly solely on the presence of the king crab factory. Here we had the opportunity to swim in the Arctic Ocean, and naturally we accepted this offer, as it is an achievement I'm sure not many can hold to their name. It proved to be extremely cold, to my belief with temperatures in the region of -6°. However, due to the higher salt content in the water, it does not freeze during the winter. The Baltic Sea, on the other hand, does. We opened some Champagne like drink when we were in there and took the warmth gladly, however no more than a minute or 2 could we stay in there, and made for the bus to warm up again asap. The usual evening ritual prevailed, and another late night tested our abilities to rise in the morning for the reindeer farm.
Barely managing to arise for the final time in Lapland, we forced down some breakfast and just about managed to pack and leave things in a passable state before jumping aboard the coach one more time for the reindeer farm, followed by the journey home. A short time later and we had arrived, and one thing there was not a lack of was reindeer. We were told a few things about them, for example how there were over 5000 different ear markings to define ownership of each reindeer, as it transpired that no reindeer are wild, although they are allowed to run free they roam inside a massive enclosure, owned by different farmers. We were then allowed to feed them, which they took very nicely to, although not pet them, as apparently they have intimacy issues... We then went inside a T-p shaped hut and were seated at a wooden bench around a central fire, where we were given excellent coffee and a performance of some songs that, whilst sounding very odd, were most enjoyable!
Although our trip had been short, we had experienced the majesty of these creatures in a way few can. The journey home was a somewhat sad one, as the previous days had been a fantastic experience, and it was a pity that it had to end so soon. However, there was one more stop. Santa Claus Village, just outside of Rovaniemi. The place proved to be, for me anyway, a quite magical place, especially as the light dwindled and died and was replaced by twinkling lights all around. Aside from the souvenir shops, they was the opportunity to meet Santa himself, and we all had a photo with the man in red before we left. Kevin, Tim and I then went to the ice bar, a quite impressive dome made completely of ice, where we drank some Jagermeister and then went down their free ice slide in a rubber ring. Needless to say, we went down that a few times. The rest of the journey home proved uneventful and a significant increase of sleep was definitely on the cards. As we arrived into Helsingfors centralstation I knew that it was unlikely I would ever experience something like that again, and this lead me to take another reflection on the walk home as to the privilege I had had to go to this fantastic country. Unfortunately this was short lived as the imposition of my Finnish exam dawned and I hit the book once more to refresh my memory. After this exam, the end of my first semester would be immediate... A quite positive view considering how much I had already experienced, and the second semester promised no less... But that is for another day.....
