An adventureweek in Hetta, Finnish Lapland.

Lapland 2008
part 2, icefishing and the raindeer ride.

Tuesday 4 march 2008

What a terrible night, i vomited, i am sick. But i would like to experience the snowmobile ride. And i just have to sit behind Toms warm back. It is sunny, but that is also why it is very cold. It is not taking long before my feet feel like ice cubes. But the beautiful landscape we travel through makes it bearable. On a large lake we stop. A drill is used to make holes in the ice.

Everybody is given a small rod and the fishing has started. Sitting in the sun on a raindeer skin, enjoying a warm drink, i try to feel better. The fishing is hopeless. All ladies catch nothing, but Jan manage to get 2 fishes while Tom wins with 3 small ones. After the fishing we ride to a hunters hut, hidden deep in the forests. The fire warms the hut fast and again we roast a sausage for lunch. Some hot coffee and tea and we feel warm again. The forest is so beautiful, it looks like in a fairytale. All trees are covered in snow. We take some time to get pictures before we have to ride back to Hetta. The guide packed our catch of the day and the cook prepared them for dinner. They don't taste special, but it is nice to know we caught them. Tiina made a fire to warm the hut behind the hotel that evening. She is serving some drinks and the well known sausages. But the night is bitter cold and most of the guests decide to have the last drink in the lobby.

Wednesday 5 march 2008

Around 10 a van arrives, it is pulling a trailer filled with raindeer. Mariana and her father take us and the spanish ladies for a two day raindeer trip. After a 40 minute drive we arrive at the place where the sledges are stored. It takes a while to get all raindeer out of the trailer and all the lugguage on the sledges. We have to take food for us and a lot of moss for the raindeer to eat. The sun is shining but it is still -16° Celsius. Mariana thinks we are in need of some warmer clothing. Tom and Aurelia try the real Sami

boots of raindeer skin. Celia takes the modern rubber boots. She doesn't have anything in my size and i get some overshoes. In the sledge we sit on a raindeer skin covered with a blanket, it is really warm enough. The reindeer follow the path one behind the other. The track is taking us over lakes and through wooded areas. After a while we stop near a large pinetree. The campfire is made, ofcourse we have the sausage on a stick and some hot tea and coffee. The raindeer are enjoying some mos. After this lunch we go on to Saltijarvi. The cabin we stay in tonight is at the edge of this lake. It is still sunny and we go for a short walk. Mariana and her father make a fire in the stove and prepare dinner for us. Potatoes and raindeermeat. Eaten with a berry jelly. It is a simple but great meal. Celia and Aurelia decide not to drink. They are afraid they have to go to the outhouse tonight at -25°C. Maybe they are right, but i sure like to drink something too. The fire is making it very hot in the cabin. The spanish ladies are hoping to see the Aurora Borealis tonight, but decide to go to bed very early. Just before nine i look out of the window and there it is. One clear night and we see the northern lights! Aurelia gets very excited, she jumps out of bed and gets outside on her socks. There is large bow and a second one appears. Later even a third bow lights the dark skies. After we have all seen it we go to bed. Every half hour someone puts wood on the fire and the cabin is getting way too hot. No place for a good night sleep.

Thursday 6 march 2008

It is foggy and everything is frozen over. Every branch on every tree is covered with ice crystals. At 8:30 every room is getting alive. On the stove Marianas' father is cooking eggs with bacon and sausages. A sturdy breakfast to get through the cold day ahead. After everything is packed on the sledges wwe take the same route back. But everything looks very different. With all the white around and the light snow that is falling it is looking cold. While yesterday in the sun it looked better, but was much colder. Back at the car we have a warm campfire lunch while the animals are put in the trailer. Back in Hetta the snow stopped and because we have some daylight left we decide to try some cross country skiing. It is much harder than we tought. And the cold wind helps us to stop after just an hour. We have a drink in our room and a hot shower before dinner. Today there is raindeer tongue on the buffet, again something we would like to try. It tastes very good.

Friday 7 march 2008

It looks like a sunny day. When we get into the minivan to Kautekeino we have a clear view. The guide tells us last week it was foggy and they couldn't see anything along the way. So we are lucky enough to see the pinetrees disappear from the scenery. The tundra has only some low birch shrubs. It is beautiful to see, and it feels like hitting the tree line in the mountains. The Norwegian border patrol decides not get out of their office. That is a good thing because Celia forget her passport. Kautokeno may be the capital of the Sami, but it is not very special.

We visit the house/studio of the art couple Juhl. They sell some very nice silver broches and necklages, but simply too expensive. The house is nice to see. It starts with a small Sami museum. Next you walk through two rooms dedicated to the Afghan people. And last but not least we pass the art in progress. In the restaurant we have some coffee with cake. And then we go back to Hetta. We ask the guide stop at the church in Kautekeno, but it is closed. That makes we are have some spare time left in Hetta. It is still nice and sunny so we decide to go for a walk. Behind the church we enter the forest and along some tracks we end up at the lake. Enjoying the sun we walk back to the hotel. Today it is the Maria festival and dinner is festive. Not only salmon and raindeer but also cake with the coffee. THis night we see much nicer northern lights. The lines have different colors and they dance in several directions. We can't stop looking.

Saturday 8 march 2008

Today is the day we travel back home. Our guide asked us yesterdday if we want to vist a souvenirshop on our way back to the airport. If so we have to leave 30 minutes earlier. We are not very interested in the souvenirs but as we are waiting to go home we could as well visit this shop. The owner, a lady in traditional dress, greets us with a hug. It works we buy a t-shirt and a sweeter. At the resort of Levi our driver Erki is making a detour to show us what this resort is like. It is far to busy to our liking and we are glad we stayed the week in Hetta. We fly to Helsinki, but there we have to wait a long time for our flight to Amsterdam. After a long we arrive 30 minutes later than expected at Schiphol airport.

All our lapland pictures can be found at: http://tomengonnie.multiply.com

Or see a short movie at the right.

Adventure week in Lapland.