I'm an official dogsled survivor!

Wowee, what a week it has been! I was back in Uppsala for one week after returning from England, before heading off to northern Sweden. We set off for Kiruna on the night train on Monday, with our own 'couchette' of six beds so we could have some dinner, have a sleep, then wake up 15 hours later in Kiruna. We watched a movie called 'my life without me' on the way on Tomas' laptop, and were all enjoying it, until half-way through the sound stopped and then restarted from the beginning. Very annoying. I'll have to rent it out when I get home, or perhaps look for it in KL.

After arriving in Kiruna Tuesday morning we dropped our things off at the hostel we were staying at and then set off on a walk around the town. As you can see below, there was quite a lot of snow!We kept walking out of the town and down onto a misty flat plain. We walked across this for some time, following snowmobile tracks, and then saw some people off in the distance. We kept walking over to them, only to discover that they were fishing and we had been walking on a lake! We kept walking until we noticed some water under the snow and then we got nervous and turned around.

After having dinner we walked back to the hostel, though Daniella and Laura decided to go for a walk to try and see the northern lights. The rest of us went back and relaxed, only checking a text message from the girls after half an hour or so, telling us that they could see them! So we went out walking too, trying to find a dark place where we could get a good view of the north sky. After about an hour of trying, and looking, we could see nothing and decided that we must have missed it. They took some photos though.After having a sleep and some eggs for breakfast (and having to get the plunger out to get the sink working) we walked down to the tourist centre to catch a bus to the Ice Hotel. We have so many photos from there it's difficult to choose which ones to post. It was incredible.The suites were just amazing, and are all designed and created by invited artists. Each one has a name and follows its own theme. There was even an Escher room! Each suite costs 6000:- a night to stay in, which is over $1000 so we weren't tempted to stay for the night. You can also stay in a less magnificant room, which is still in the hotel and made of ice but doesn't have any art in the room.There was also the Absolut Icebar in the hotel, but as our luck would have it, the cash register was playing up so we couldn't buy a drink. We consoled ourselves by pretending to drink from the ice glasses and taking photos of ourselves. The hotel also has a church, where many people get married.

Leaving the Ice Hotel, we realised just how much warmer it was inside as the icy air hit us. We bought a few souvenirs (which came in very nice bags) and then jumped on the bus back to Kiruna. After lunch we caught the train to Abisko, which is a town very close to the Norwegian border. The hostel we were staying at here was also very nice, and the owner very friendly. We paid 600:- which is around $100 which included accommodation for the night, a sauna, and also the dogsled we enjoyed the next day. Bargain!

The sauna was certainly an experience. Stella and Tomas decided not to partake, but Daniella, Laura, Thijs and I were keen. After being told it was ready for us we headed out there and into the room adjacent to the sauna. This was a cosy little room lit by candles, with reindeer antlers stuck on the walls for us to hang our towels/clothes. The owner came out of the sauna into the room, completely starkers, and greeted us to our uh, surprise. He showed us the towels that we were to use in the sauna, which were the size of teatowels, and told us to bring our soap in with us. So we started stripping, and Thijs, who was ready first, headed into the sauna in his jocks only to come out seconds later saying "No textiles allowed in the sauna". Hmm. After a bit of giggling we all stripped off, and armed with our tiny towels and soap headed into the sauna, which was also quite dark. There were four other guests in there along with the owner. We then had to wash ourselves using buckets of water and our soap, before relaxing in the heat. After a while we decided to go the whole hog and dashed out of the sauna into the snow, running around until our feet were burning and we headed back inside. After a while longer we ran back out in the snow, this time sitting down in it before going back inside. When we'd had enough heat we washed off just with water (I'd always used soap before but apparently it's better for you to just use water), got dressed and went back inside feeling absolutely wonderful.

The next morning was our dogsled, and we were all very excited. We didn't know that we were going to get a sled each, with our own 4 dogs, and were very happy to hear the news, though we were also told that at least 4 of us 6 would fall off. Firstly we were told how to handle the sleds and harness the dogs, and then went off to put the harnesses on the dogs before attaching them to the sleds. They had to go in particular order so that dogs which didn't like each other, or who perhaps liked each other a bit too much, were not together. We were all surprised by how small the dogs were.No matter how small they looked, they hooned!! My foot got sore having to stand on the brake when we were stopped. You had to keep your dogs behind the sled in front so that they didn't get injured if the sled in front moved suddenly. There were some other guests in the front sleds, and they kept falling off and making the rest of us wait. They were Aussies too to make it even worse. After a while they seemed to get the hang of it and we didn't have to stop so often. I didn't fall off but did manage to lose my dogs at one stage during a particularly scary turn. I let go of the sled and the dogs took off, though luckily one of the guys in charge grabbed them for me and I was off again.The dogsledding was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. It was so much fun and I would love to do it again one day. Next time you're in the Arctic circle you should definitely do it.Well I am getting weary so I think I will just gloss over the remainder of the trip. We went cross-country skiing that afternoon, which is both tiring and frustrating. By the time I got the hang of it I was too tired to continue. The next day my legs were sore from the skiing and my shoulders sore from the sledding. We caught the night train back to Uppsala, and all arrived back here quite tired but very happy. A very successful trip and I couldn't be happier that I went. I was umming and ahhing about going because of the expense but it really wasn't that expensive and it was the experience of a lifetime, methinks!

As you can see I've been pretty busy, and I also have my exam this Thursday (ahhh!). I will then be madly cleaning my room before moving out and heading off to Italy on Saturday for two weeks. Sorry if I've been late with emails but time is something I seem to have very little of at the moment. Tomorrow will be another day filled with studying for this exam so I best get myself off to beddy byes.