Camp Ripan Kiruna

Z ambitnych planów wejścia na szczyt Kebnekaise - nici!!! Na miejscu dowiedzieliśmy się, że potrzebowalibyśmy do tego 4 dni. Skończyło się wiec spacerkiem wzdłuż szlaku i reniburgerami w Lappdonaldsie (hamburgerami z renifera w Lapońskim McDonaldsie;)).
Następnego dnia punktem programu była wizyta w Esrange Space Center - niemilitarnym centrum kosmicznym, które ...

... fire and water monitor so my job is to keep the fire stoked and splash water over the stove. After about 15 minutes I suggest we go for a run in the snow and 3 others come out with me. I'm not sure what the temperature outside was but I would guess around a refreshing -15 degrees. We repeat this several times then after about an hour we rinse ourselves off and go inside. Unfortuantely the sky is overcast so there's no chance of seeing the northern lights. I am so hot from the sauna ...

Right, so I was in Stockholm and there were a lot of Serbians who were all rather pent up about Kosovo breaking away but it was a peaceful demonstration I just felt a bit uncomfortable being there with the little knowledge I had of Kosovo's recent past. Despite this it was interesting to find out what they were hoping to achieve with it. The next day I caught up with a proper Swede (and her lovely family)who I first met in New Zealand, and was treated to the ...

Kiruna is famous for it's iron mine which is the largest in the world. We were hoping to take a tour in the mine, but since it was Sunday by the time we reached Kiruna, everything was closed. Kiruna is situated about 300 kms North West of Haparanda. It is an OK city with not much nice things to look at, well except the mine and the skiing ground. We slept in the car the first night we were in Kiruna. The next morning we went to the Ice hotel which of ...

... in unpowered cabins, but they were very cosy and there were occasional creature comforts like a wood-fired sauna (JP did the mad nude leap from the sauna into the snow, an invogorating experience to say the least!). After five days out in the wild we became very attached to our dogs and were very sad to say goodbye to them; we left with such an appreciation and respect for the huskies. We returned to Kiruna on Friday afternoon desperate for a warm shower and a ...

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The following day we tried out some traditional style cross county skiing (and walking). Hard work but amazing scenery - well worth the effort!

Day 3 and 4 were spent dog sledding. Fabulous. Just don't ever let go!! The best part was that we each had our own team of dogs to drive - no point in just being a passenger. A traditional sauna is the only way to get clean but the quick dash across from one hut to the next at 28 degrees below freezing is ...

... sun never really rises, so it stays about -15 to -20 degrees all the time. And when you are standing around looking at reindeer, you feel it. I bought fancy gloves before we left, and they don't work at -20!! The tour is a skidoo sled ride to the reindeer enclosure (they pull you in a sled behind the skidoo), then you get to get in the enclosure with the reindeer, freeze a little while the guide tells you about Sami ...

... briefing they give us control of a bloody great snowmobile. James is manly and takes the first run, all goes well until he hits a snow bank. I suspect he wanted the attention of uber hottie instructor Patrick, who gallantly rescues us. We continue on, trying not to kill the Chinese guys in front who are doing their best to provoke me by stopping unexpectedly to take photos while everyone in front rides off and strands us behind. James responds by trying to drive us off ...

... it looed like 2 eggs in an ashtray.  C's dinner was more than enough though (total cost incl. wine & tip 148euro, not so good).  Then we went down stairs to the 'dry' bar for a couple & finished off of Absolut Ice Bar for last orders - closed at 00:15. Think its open til 1am in Jan & they are still building a dance floor.   Then we collected our sleeping gear (double sleeping bag & sheet) & put on our thermal long johns & tops & ski socks & sleep hats & slept in Ice Hotel, I ...

... 10 C, clear blue skies - not a polar bear in sight. But, the lake that we could see was quite frozen and there was still a fair amount of snow on the surrounding mountains! How exciting. We walked for a couple of hours, nice easy trails with boards where the going was wet. We stopped for our first meal by a group of huts where there was fire wood available, toilets & a rubbish bin. That first lot of cooking was good, but looking back it's amazing how much ...