Today, we checked out of the hotel at 7am to take a coach to Santa Claus Village.
The trip is so hurried I often find myself without a picture of the hotels we stayed in.
The tour manager commented that our group sleeps a lot. The moment we get on the coach, we sleep. Well, it's a five-hour journey and we woke up early.
I usually sleep at 11pm and wake up between 1.30am and 3.30am.
Firstly, I am stressed. I am the only one who's taking care of my mother. I am worried that we would be late. As it is, we have been late on a few counts already. I am worried that I would oversleep. I have set the alarm several times but I can't hear it at all. I can't depend on my mother because she's also exhausted. And she's hard of hearing. If she doesn't wear her hearing aid, she won't be able to hear a thing.
My mother also wakes up at odd hours and wakes me up to ask if we have overslept, if the group has left without us, if the guide has abandoned us. This adds to my stress and anxiety.
Secondly, I need to pack and plan what to wear. It's my first time 'holidaying' at such extreme temperatures. I have a hard time anticipating how much I should cover myself up. My mother will also ask me what she should wear, how many layers, which hat, whether she should put on her crampons, which down or jacket she should wear, how many heat packs she should use. I also have to remind her to apply moisturiser for her face, her body, her legs, and lip balm for her lips.
It is a very stressful trip for me.
I realised that I am not the only one who finds the trip stressful and hurried. A couple with teenage children commented that they found it stressful as well.
We reached the border of Sweden
Once we cross the border, we will be in Finland
It was 2pm by the time we reached Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi. The daylight hour was ending.
This means that it would be dark when we did the reindeer ride.
The tour manager informed us that our reindeer sleigh ride was 3pm. My first objective was to run to the Santa Claus house to get a queue number.
I had done my research and I knew that I should go for the 'genuine' one at Santa Claus Office.
I was overjoyed when we got the queue timing at 4pm. Actually, the female staff dressed in the elf costume offered 3.15pm but we had to get a later timing to accommodate the reindeer ride.
We went on the live webcam and shared the link with our family and waved at them.
Can you see me?
Yes. It's -11 degree celsius.
I tried getting near to the reindeer but it tried to attack me using its antlers!
I should have stood near the rear of the reindeer.
I could only imagine how beautiful it could have been if we had taken it during the daylight hours.
It was not as slow as I had imagined it to be, but enough to lull my mother to sleep
After the ride, we were led to a small tent where we were given a hot cup of glogi, a Christmas drink concocted with cinnamon and ingredients I know not. I don't really like it as it is sour to me.
After that, we rushed off to Santa Claus Office to queue up for our pictures. My oh my! What a queue it would be!
We reached there at 3.30pm but we could not enter until 3.45pm. Then the queue began.
We only reached Santa at 5pm!
Some of my group tour members thought that they charged by per shot so they took a picture with Santa together. They would have taken individually with Santa if they had known that the price was the same as two persons taking together with Santa.
So take first, and decide if you want the pictures later.
I had wanted to try the grilled salmon at Santa's Salmon Place. Unfortunately, time was too tight to eat proper food. In the tour manager's words, you either take pictures or buy souvenirs. If you take pictures, you will have a lot of time; If you buy souvenirs, you will find that you don't have enough time.
We left Santa Claus Village at 5.30pm to check into our glass igloo for the night.
Each time, the tour manager gave us the accommodation with the shortest walking distance due to my mother's age.
The igloo has a low headroom at the doorway. If you are not careful, you would bump your head like what happened to me.
It was supposed to be good for watching the Aurora from within the igloo but it was not to be.
The cloud coverage was 100% that night so no chance to see the Aurora.
The dinner place was in a tent-house some walking distance away.
Grilled salmon
Very tasty too!
My mother became tired so we excused ourselves to return to the igloo first.
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