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Published: December 11th 2007
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Hej Hej min familj och kompis,
I got home from Kiruna yesterday and I am still exhausted. We were only there technically 2 nights. The other two nights were spent on 16 hour overnight trains getting there and then back. Try sleeping in a train seat, not the best. It even affected my dreams. I had one that I was so bored on the train that I left and went to the beach where I was riding an ostrich and then a weird hippo/wombat appeared and the ostrich jumped on it and started riding it so we ran along the beach together. Odd I am aware. We arrived in Kiruna fresh faced and ready to brave the cold in this little town in the tippy top of Sweden resting above the Arctic Circle. We put our stuff away in our hostel and then right away got a bus to the Ice Hotel. It started getting dark on our way there which was about 1 30 pm. Apparently the Ice Hotel wasn't finished but we could go in anyways for 230 kr!! That is about 35 dollars. I am a cheap bastard and I was appalled and said I wasn't going in
Ice Bar
typical swedish girls as well and so I sat in the lounge sadly. But then the rest of my group of 30 came out and someone gave me thier ticket and I got to go in rebelliously. It was cold as expected and right away there was intricate ice sculptures all around. There was a mini bar because the real one wasn't ready yet where alcohol was sold in ice glasses. Down the halls there were guest rooms closed off by curtains instead of doors. Each had a different beautiful design and different lights bouncing around. The ice beds had furs of them to keep occupants warm. It was a bit magical but I don't see myself ever staying there. We then went back to the hostel and made dinner and I felt a bit sick so I stayed in while everyone had spirits and got drunk in the snow and attacked each other. But man oh man sleep was needed so I was fine with it. That morning we got ready for the taxis to pick us up and take us to our guide who would lead us on our tour to the wilderness. I put on my two jackets, many layers of pants,
and heeled boots...it was all i had at the time...and off we went into the cold. We got to a little shack and some snow covered sleds and the taxis let us out and then drove away and we realized there was no one around. In about 15 min our guide showed up just as we were about to make a sacrifice. He was a typical Swede man with the Lappish edge barking orders and being quite short. I instantly got new boots even though he didn't think I needed them, oh how wrong he was. He then put us to work getting the dogs onto the dogsleds as they ran all over the place and securing luggage on the sleights and snowmobiles. By this time I was freezing and we hadn't even left. Finally it was time and I got on a dogsled and off we went. It seemed like we went for hours and in fact it took us 4 hours from when we were dropped off by the taxis to when we got to the huts. All that time in the dry horrid cold. Needless to say I wanted to get to the huts. The way there
was quite beautiful though. Untouched wilderness and no civilization in sight. Then we stopped and I saw no cabins and wondered what was happening now. Our guide pointed to a dilapilated raft covered in snow and said now we must cross the river. A rushing river with ice chunks floating in it. So cold it looked black and death seemed seconds away. I got in the sagging river and tried to use every muscle in my ass to hold on and not fall off. We made it to the other side and up the hill where 5 cozy little huts smoking into the quickly darkening sky. I was so happy to get to warmth but oh no. It was time to collect and chop firewood. This took about an hour and I had to go down to the river and collect water in buckets for the kitchen and drinking water. It was fun being rustic and doing things for ourselves, not the modern way, but damn i was cold. We finally went in our hut and started a fire in the fireplace and sat down. We had two bunkbeds inside and one of us slept on the floor. The others
stayed in huts bigger than ours. It was small so the fire warmed it up right away. We then went to lunch which was reindeer stew. Delicious although I must say I am not a big reindeer meat fan. According to our guide "you don't have to go the gym if you eat reindeer and it is good for the ladies. and the men in bed". So the boys seemed to eat a lot...Then we took a nap and awoke for dinner which was cooking raw chicken over a spit in a tiny hut with our guide. I went in my neon pink tights I wore to Berlin and the guide liked this very much. "California Hannah, are you a cross country skiier? Look at those tights! Stand up I am cold and I must look at you. Oh my Hannah I love your tights". Needless to say I got some harrassment in those tights but he gave me some homemade bread and extra reindeer meat so those tights got the job done although it was a bit embarrasing and over the line to have some man my fathers age hitting on me in a joking way. That night after
dinner we all went into the sauna and got it as hot as possible and then would run out into the snow and run around. Fantastic. We also may or may not have done a half naked snow run, but this is speculation.
The next day we awoke to a brilliant blue sky contrasting the blinding white all around. We had cheese, bread, and salami for breakfast then grabbed us some skis and headed out along the river. It was utterly and beautiful and serene. I went off by myself for a bit because my hands hurt and I was going to go back but then they stopped hurting so I started going around by myself and singing and scuffling about through the gorgeous scenery. It was then time to go and was getting dark at 2 pm so we started the journey back. Now the dark adds so much more pain to the -16 degree cold in the Lapplands. I was miserable on the way back and I actually started crying. Wussy I know but it was unbearable for me. Others were cold as well but I have never been good as handling the cold. We finally arrived back
after what seemed like ages and when I tried to move my legs I couldn't and it was hard to walk. I couldn't feel my feet and I felt like throwing up but soon feeling started to come back a bit and I tried to feel better. We had to wait 30 min for the damn taxis and I wanted to die. Soon they came and after about an hour life came back to my feet.
And now I am exhausted and must make my room ready for my mom who is coming tomorrow so off I go. Love you all,
Hannah
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