Lapland Adventure: Ylläs

So, far the tour has gone very well, and no one has been eaten by the poplar bear yet. But I guess our luck had to run out eventually. Yesterday Emmalee slipped on the steps and hurt her writs. It was still painful today and so we took her to the doctors. After waiting for five (!) hours her wrist was put in a light cast and diagnosed as having a small fracture. Poor Emmalee!

While Emmalee was having her writs checked out the rest of the group went to get pissed. Well, tipsy at the most. We visited an Arctic winery and had some tastings their various berry and fruit wines.

And after the winery it was time to head for the most unusual lodgings we would be staying during this tour: the Snow Hotel. This awesome hotel is made up entirely of snow and ice and lit up some imaginative ways. At the bar we had out Valentine’s party were everyone got a present of some kind and drinks were flowing freely!

Let’s see how we all manage to sleep in our little snow rooms …

Lapland Adventure: Sodankylä

After a night of drinking and singing it was an early wake-up call on Wednesday. Thankfully, all but Rudolf seemed to be weathering well (his nose had a clear green tint to it). We started the day by driving up to Luosto, a national park in the fell country. There we had a nice 60 minute hike up a hill on day that could not have been more perfect.

What a beautiful view from the top!

After the hike a warm cup of juice felt nice and warming

At the top of the hill (technically a fell) we learned about the amethyst and it magic powers, which obviously have a distinct effect on people before going on a search of a lucky gemstone of our own.

Is this what long term exposure to amethysts does?!

After the hike back we were all starving, and it was time to go and eat Rudolf! And yummy did he taste too in a reindeer soup. After eating Rudolf we went to meet some of his cousins and took a ride with them on a sleight.

The rest of the day was spent at a lovely farmstay, where more sauna and ice swimming was in order. The girls even went a step further and rolled around in the snow before diving in to the freezing water. Very brave!!

Lapland Adventure: Rovaniemi

Originally we were going to walk to accommodation from the train station since it was just next door. But our bus drive Veli-Matti was so enthusiastic to meet us that he came and picked us up from the station. After settling in and a shower we were ready to start our day in Rovaniemi. Veli-Matti took us around Rovaniemi, his home city before a break for some much needed lunch.

Yours truly on the microphone

And since we were in Rovaniemi, well, we just couldn’t not to go and meet the Santa Claus! So, off to the Santa Village at the Arctic Circle we were. We met the big man himself (and what a magnificent beard he has, too!). We happened to meet Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer as well, and decided to show him a bit of the world.

Gary, Leanne and Carmel at the Arctic Circle

After some fun with skidoos it was time for the everyone’s favourite bonding experience: the karaoke.

Liisa, Susan and Falan singing their hearts out

Also, Rudolf got to come and he had his first taste of freedom …

Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer enjoys his freedom

Lapland Adveture: Helsinki

Today was the first full day of the Lapland Adventure 2008, which we have organized with Busabout. We started off by doing a sightseeing tour in Helsinki and visiting all the ‘must’ sights: ice breakers, Sibelius Monument, Rock Church ect. At the Rock Church I made a blunder and said it was designed by brothers Timo and Tuomo Suominen. Well, it turns out that our driver Makke’s mother is a cousin of these famous architects and they happen to be call Suomalainen, not Suominen. Oops. Well, I’m sure it won’t be the only time that I’m going to say something slightly off on this tour!

In the afternoon we headed to Tuusula for a traditional Finnish sauna party. First a few rounds of hot steam followed by a dip to a frozen lake! The guys took super well to sauna and ‘avanto’ as we call ice swimming in Finland. The record of going into the freezing water was held by Gary. He went in 12 times and probably spent more time in the water than in the sauna. I bet he’s got some Viking blood in him!

Of course, after a swim and sauna you start feeling a bit peckish. So, we had a taste dinner followed by a quiz and some dessert. And after that it was time to catch the train to Lapland. Only it was delayed half an hour, and the station was already closed. Luckily, we were all still warm and cosy from the sauna. Now in the train it’s time to get some snoozes, since tomorrow we will be enjoying the pleasures that Rovaniemi, the capital of Finland has to offer…

Lapland tour starts today

Today is the day I’ve been looking forward (and dreading a little as well). Today is the start of the Lapland Adventure we’re doing in partnership with Busabout.

Months of work, tons of emails and several sweat drops were required to get here. In the last week or so, I’ve become so excited about the tour finally starting. I’ve been emailing and talking on the phone with lots of people joining us on this tour and it will be great to finally meet them all!

We’re meeting up at a bar near Eurohostel for a few drinks, to get to know each other a bit and some start of the tour info this evening. And then the tour is officially on!

Stay tuned for updates from the journey to Lapland and back.

Global warming

In some ways I’m very concerned about the future of our winter Lapland tour. One of the biggest being that in the future due to global warming there might not be enough snow up in Lapland for all the winter activities that people love so.

The Metrological Institute had said that the past January has been the warmest in a hundred years. There were several days last month when it was raining (not snowing, raining!) in Lapland. If the winters keep on getting warmer, like it seems at the moment, permanent snow will keep on coming to Lapland later and later making the tourist season shorter and consequently more crowded.

And the situation is pretty bad in Southern Finland as well. This past December we only had out three days with snow in Helsinki and Turku (not to mention that ever dreaded Black Xmas), which was most unusual. We had a couple from Belgium on one of our Christmas tour, who had come to Helsinki for a weekend just so that they could show their two year-old son snow. And then there was none! I dearly hope that the future winters aren’t as bad as this one has been!

Getting things ready for the Lapland tour

So, since last August has the upcoming Lapland Adventure taken a good measure of my time. There’s been a whole to plan, as we have not run tours in Lapland before. I guess the most difficult thing after we decided what kind of activities and which places we would like to show to our tour guests has been to find reliable and flexible partner to work with.

I’ve found that a lot of bigger companies in the tourist industry (and in general) in Finland are quite arrogant, and have this “take it or leave it” attitude. No negotiations and/or elasticity in sight. So, for the Lapland tour, as well as on our day tours in Southern Finland, we’ve ended up working with smaller companies, which truly put an emphasis on being customer focused, and not just pay lip service to the term.

Last week we went to visit Lapland to meet with all the service providers we’ll be using during the tour and to make sure that everything is organized and ready for us. It’s been a while since I had been to Rovaniemi and it almost like being an all together foreign place. Well, soon we managed to acclimate ourselves (not the least to the fact that they had snow in Lapland!) and got on our way.

After visiting in Lapland last week, I feel a lot more confident and relaxed about the whole tour. All the people we met were very professional and service oriented and I can now rest assured that our passengers are going to have an awesome time in Lapland. Now, we must only hope that the weather gods co-operate with us. Perhaps, I should say some Saame spells just in case?

It’s official – Lapland tour for February!

I mentioned earlier we were super busy planning next year’s tour as well as working on a top secret project. Well, that hush-hush project has now official seen the light of day!

We’re working with Busabout to create a cool (no pun intended) eight day tour to Lapland in February.

I’ve been working long days for the last month trying to organize everything (and there is much more to organize than I would have ever thought of). I’ve also become an expert in Lapland safaris after spending countless hours trying to find the best and the most apt for our guests. So, now we can offer them reindeer experience, a husky safari, excitement on skidoos, sleeping in a hotel built in snow etc. etc.

I’m both super excited about this, since I think we can create a really fun and unique experience, and really nervous since this will be our first tour to Lapland and our first multi-day tour. Not to mention that my check list is still about three miles long!

Read more about this tour!

You what?!?

I’m finding that we’re getting more and more peculiar emails. Mostly, I get questions about possibility of flight and hotel bookings, even though our website is clearly only about day tours. I’m considering adding a section to the FAQ to make extra sure what kind of services we do provide. I’m also getting spam, where the spammer apologizes to me for spamming me (this concept is just too odd to understand). 

But this latest one is the most bizarre so far. Someone tried to book several people on one of our tours through the website with a stolen credit, and then contacted me in order to get an invitation letter for their visas. The kicker is they tried to book a tour for the week before they even would have arrived to Finland. If this wasn’t suspect, I’m not sure what would be!

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel inclined to sponsor their visit to this far away country. Instead, I reported them to the police. No wonder Nigerians have a bad reputation these days.

Autumn leaves over Fiskars

Today, we had our last tour of the summer season. And consequently the last time we get to visit the beautiful village of Fiskars until next May. I took a couple of autumny picures of Fiskars. The leaves have now changed colour, and I can honestly say that this is one of the prettiest seasons in Finland.

After today the summer season is officially over. For the winter we’ll just be running the Turku & Archipelago Experience on Sunday until Christmas, and then we’re having a holiday until February!