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INCREDIBLE ACCOUNT: ABRIDGED
VERSION: While the trip encompassed
a couple of blinding nights in Stockholm at the start and end of the trip, the
majority of our holiday was spent in the Arctic circle, in the middle of nowhere
with just ourselves, a guide, some dogs, an awful lot of reindeers and a bottle
of whisky for company.
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We flew into Kiruna just as the sun was setting. The sky was
a blaze of reds, oranges and pinks and the temperature was just beginning to move
into minus double figures. It was half past two in the afternoon and we were about
to meet the man who was going to be our guide for the trip. Peter,
a local, had been signed up to show us just how much fun you can with the four
legged variety of dogs (having all had our fair share of "fun" with
two legged dogs!). For the next six days we were
to travel around this vast frozen land both by husky drawn sled and skidoo. |
Our accommodation was a lodge that had no electricity,
gas, or running water. Even the toilet was outside, and it was a mightily cold
seat that awaited you for your daily visit to the long drop dunny! All
heat and fuel came from logs, while the water all had to be fetched from a hole
made in the frozen river at the bottom of the valley in which the lodge was situated. Each
of the first three days involved sledding trips. Some exploring the various lakes
nearby and some that ventured around the hills that surrounded the lodge. Each
night we spent our time reciting the day's stories and laughing at me for repeatedly
breaking the golden rule of not letting go of the sled when you fall off!
After four
days we returned to Kiruna to find out that we had been invited to attend the
local Sami (Laplander) village's reindeer sort. An event rich with history and
tradition, the occasion involves the various villages claiming and collecting
their reindeer from the collective herd when it returns from Norway for the winter.
The herd numbered 6,000 animals
and the locals catch and wrestle each reindeer into the villages' small enclosure
once the ears have been checked for ownership markings. Being the only foreign
guests invited, the locals were inquisitive to meet us and keen to get us as involved
as possible. As a result before the day was over we had all caught and wrestled
our own reindeer. The trip's high
point was the return from the Sami village to meet our transport back to civilisation.
To get to the rendez-vous we would have to drive for an hour down snow covered
roads to a where we had left our skidoos. From there we would have to retrace
the journey we had made the previous day in pitch darkness and 60% of the time.
Two hours later we arrived at the designated clearing. We had all participated
in one of the most extreme journeys we will ever experience. We had driven, at
speeds of up to 50 mph, across frozen lakes and rivers and through woods and fields.
All the way we had watched the most extraordinary example of the Northern Lights
above us. | | | | |
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The journey was one of exhilaration combined with a
certain trepidation. The pressure was on to meet the pick up truck in the middle
of the forest at the agreed time. It's the small hours of the morning and biting
cold - add in the speeds on the skidoo and the wind chill temperature must have
been well below the -20 degrees static. The machines were exhausting to drive,
not least because we were following Peter, our guide, who was driving hammer and
tongs to make the deadline. There were several moments where the only evidence
of your trail was the glimmer of a distant red taillight on the back of his skidoo.
The bumps we had navigated the day before were now just taken as jumps. It was
simply exhausting driving the narrow path between the trees and holding landing
the skidoo on the track to the point that to come out of a forest onto a lake
was a real sense of relief. VIDEO
CLIPS:
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