Here we are again in Levi, Lapland! Ready for the second part? Although, I still don’t have any words that can describe our first three days, the next four days will make it even harder. Before I start off, if you missed part 1, you can click here.
Dutch people on a fatbike
Tuesday was our “free” day. First we had the idea to go cross-country skiing, but since not everyone was jumping up in the air with that news, we decided that doing a fatbike trial would be quite exciting as well (and oh it was!!). I looked for a trail. Eventually, the one I chose would take us to South-Point and was 9,9 km. We thought to go to South Point, have lunch and then go back. Everyone agreed, so after we rent the electric fatbikes we were ready to go.
Less than 10 minutes later, the fun started. Following the path/trail was quite easy, because there weren’t many other choices as you can see on the pictures below, however, no one had really told us (or we hadn’t asked anyone) about the difficulty of the trail. Of course the trail was slippery (it’s still snow). Because although, the tires had a better profile than a normal cycle, we were still skidding – especially when we were doing down. After some more minutes when the trail became more difficult because of the hills (they were quite steep), we were using our rear brake less in order to ensure not to fall. Well, that didn’t always workout (especially for my sister). The first times we laughed our asses off. Gladly, the snow gives you a soft landing!
It was getting more difficult and more difficult. Fortunately, the scenery was so breathtaking that it was all good. However, around a kilometer of five, Dianne her chain fell off and some pieces were even broken. Because of that, her gears didn’t work anymore. We had some stress since we were in the middle of nowhere on a hill. Fingers crossed we could go further and we could! My dad and brother put her chain back on. It would only get harder for Dianne to cycle since the hills weren’t getting any lower.
Although we thought we could make the 9,9 kilometers easily, well, we were very wrong. It took us around an hour to arrive at the five kilometer point (of cours, with a delay of 15 minutes). We were exhausting, had to focus and concentrate. My mom and sis fell the most, they were so done. It was quite funny to see them struggling and, although we kept motivating each other to continue, it was like the kilometers weren’t getting any less.
After two hours we finally arrived at South Point. Since there was only one way which meant that we had to go back the same way, we had already decided that we would ask at South Point if we could leave the bikes there. Unfortunately, we couldn’t but the woman from the shop told us that we could ride back to Levi along the road so that we wouldn’t have to go through the hills to arrive back in Levi. At that point, we were getting so extremely cold (it was -24) + it was getting dark as well (13:30). We decided not to take lunch and ride back to Levi. This was a 20 minute ride.
Falling, cold and fun; the fatbike adventure in three words.
We had never been in such trans before. Just looking forward, just going on and don’t stop until we were back in Levi. You cannot imagine how happy we were to arrive back at the apartment. A warm shower was everything we wanted!
Sledging with the Northern lights in Levi
You will not believe it, but after we warmed up and had dinner, us (the kids) went outside to finish the day with some sledging. Again, we were lucky – oh so lucky. This time it was intense and much. Still, this is all within 10 minutes. The Northern lights changes every second. Sledging was never so fun. Another fun fact: We really had to use our snow goggles with sledging, it was so cold that if we didn’t wear them, we couldn’t see anything while going down.
We thought we had experienced cold in Levi…
Another snowmobile tour. It was, again, an amazing activity, especially because our speed wasn’t locked this time and we could go as fat as we wanted. I loved it! The fastest I went and could see was 70 kilometer an hour when we crossed the lake. Although, today was the coldest day of all week (-30 degrees) and everything felt and was frozen, it was amazing. The view, as well. We saw the sunrise and sunset just within two hours, couldn’t be better.
When handwarmers are lifesavers
Thursday, we did something I had mixed feelings for. We had the husky tour and although, I know that the animals are treated right and the caregivers give so much love and have so much passion for their work, the last time we did this, I got so cold that I let some tears. So this time, I couldn’t be more prepared; three layers for my legs, seven layers for my upper body and feet and handwarmers to keep them warm.
You share the mobile with one other person and when you are with 2 people you have six dogs in front of you (I was alone so had five dogs). One person stands for 50 minutes and the other one is sitting. After 50 minutes you change. The one that is standing has the job to use the breaks when needed. The dogs are so enthusiastic, they just want to go, so using the breaks was a MUST. 🙂
After we came back, we got some berry juice and a cookie again. Of course, there were puppies. We same some whom were just six weeks old. Sooooo cute, were the only two words we heard the first 5 minutes ha-ha.
It was lovely! And also good to hear that they were very transparent about how the dogs are treated and how much they work and trained. Although, doing this is in their blood, it still feels good and of course, it is important to know that it is all well.
Dinner with -6
My dad came with a new fun activity that we hadn’t done the last time; dinner at the restaurant of the ice hotel. We had visited the ice hotel the last time though. It was interesting to see and hear how they set it up and all, but we never really wished to sleep there. I still don’t. However, dinner at the restaurant was an option, a new experience, so we agreed. There was a set menu from which we could choice from and of courseee reindeer meat was on it.
We can tell! Eating with your gloves on makes it quite difficult to eat with knive and fork. We laughed a lot. I guess we had to, because eating for 1,5 hour in -6 is not really something for human beings I think. I was so cold! The food was delicious, although, the reindeer meat wasn’t very popular. I had a white fish, risotto and as dessert an almond cake. Delicioussss.
Visiting Comet before we head home
So, this was the last activity on our list. There was no luck of Northern lights anymore, so we enjoyed this one to the fullest, before we would head home for Christmas. I’m flyinggg home for Christmas, was what I said. But we couldn’t go home before I had seen Comet, my favourite reindeer. Since my childhood, I am (we are all actually) such a fan of the films Santa Claus with Tim Allen. Comet has a special role in the second film. You don’t know it? Watch the film!
We went by bus to a reindeer farm and saw two wild ones on the way. Did you know that there are living more reindeers in Finland than people? Insane right! And did you know that reindeers are like gold for the Sámi’s (the original inhabitants of Lapland)? A Sámi would probably never tell you how many reindeers he has. It is like asking how much money he owns. Another thing, most of the reindeers life in the wild. However, since they still belong to Sámi do they all have a barcode on their antlers so that the Sámi knows if it is his reindeer. Fun right! 🙂
Our Levi, Lapland adventure is hereby finished. We closed our book. It is good. We ticked all our boxes from the list. This was it and it couldn’t have been any better. I must say: “Yes, it isn’t cheap, but if you can save the money, I tell you, it is all worth it! Go to Lapland people. This is another world, those places feel like you are living another life.
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