Above the Arctic Circle I (12/24-12/28)

During winter break, instead of going to somewhere warmer, I made a rather crazy decision to visit the Swedish Lappland which has a sub-arctic climate. I left AA on 12/22 and met with my high school friend, Shien in Mannheim, Germany on 12/23 morning. Luckily, I was not late for the Christmas market near Wasserturm.

warm Glühwein and macadamia from the Christmas market :)

leaving at 5.13am for Stockholm on 12/24

Our trip (Mannheim-Stockholm-Östersund-Gällivare-Kiruna-Stockholm-Mannheim)

We spent two nights at Shien's uncle's place. Uncle Lai and Tina were great host. We had a great Swedish mix Chinese dinner. While Tina was preparing dinner, we decided to take some pictures.

Emma, Shien and I (Shien was holding Julmust-a kind of traditional Christmas soft drink)

my favorite dish (I can't remember the name)

On Christmas day, almost all the shops were closed. We walked around the town, had a pleasant chat with Tina and had a lot of sleep before we started our journey to Northern Sweden.

My excitement disappeared at the beginning of our journey. I was trapped on a small bed in a 6 person dark compartment. I could not sleep and I dare not move because I did not want to wake the others. Staring blankly into the dark for the entire 8 hour trip was not fun at all. I tried every way to fall asleep but I could not. Was this worth it?

When the train finally arrived at Östersund, we waited for the bus to go Gällivare. The journey took another 11 hours. Comparing to the train ride, the bus ride was better since I could finally get some sleep.

finally, we arrived at Gällivare

Comparing to Stockholm, this is a land of nothingness except for snow and skiing resorts. The sun never rise at this time of the year. We could only see the sun behind the mountain from 10am to 3pm. The people here seldom go out of the house. I really could not imagine what can I do if I stay here permanently.

the sky at 2.30 pm

We rented a car and visited the Sámi (the native people in Scandinavia) the next day.

Sami camp

learning more about the culture and history from a Sámi

Lingondrinka tasted pretty good

Reindeer meat for dinner

On the same night, we met the owner of the youth hostel who is a very kind person. She brought us to her house so that her husband could change the language for our GPS from Swedish to English. We had coffee at her place too.

It was much easier for us after we successful changed the language to English. We did not have any difficulties finding for the place for dog sledding the next day.

I looked kind of weird in those ski pants

preparing for our 13.3 km dog sledding

Go! Go! Go!

coffee break

more snow

Although the dog sledding ride was not as fast as I expected (the speed was about 5.5km/hr), but it was a great experience. My legs was freezing half way through the journey, but it was worth it. The view was spectacular. I shall post the video later (if I am not lazy). However, I don't think I will try dog sledding again, because I think the dogs were very tired when they pull the sled. I felt pity for them.

What's after dog sledding? To be continued.