The glass igloo accommodation is not cheap. We had to check out of it the next morning. The tour manager helped all of us to take pictures at the venue as a momento.
We were whisked to a husky dog farm where we would do dog sledding. I was highly strung about this activity as I had read that the dogs run very fast, so fast that the wind would 'cut' your face or dry out your face. I bought a hat with a face mask function that covered everything except the eyes for my mother and myself. I had enquired a few times if it was possible for a staff to 'drive' us instead of having me being the driver. The tour manager had assured me that it was safe and the fun was in the driving. I had no choice but to give it a try.
We had to put on their suit, their socks and boots. We were told to ask for two shoe-size bigger than our normal shoe size. For example, I wear size 37 most of the time, so I requested for size 39. The suit was a challenge to wear. You need to sit down and put in your feet first before pulling it up like an overall. Wear your boots last.
The dogs were energetic and strong. We were instructed to step on the brake to slow down the dogs and to have both feet on the brake to stop them from running. Even when I put my whole body weight on the brake, the dogs could still move forward and almost run. I jumped on the brake repeatedly to signal them to stop.
It was fun. However, there were times when the dogs swung the sled to the sides of the running path and the sled tilted and my mother almost fell out. I also almost fell off. I lowered my centre of gravity when there was a turn to reduce the possibility of me falling off.
A lady fell twice but it was all good. The guide at the back picked her up. I don't know how her daughter's sled was stopped though as the dogs would have kept on running without anyone stepping on the brake.
We were given the opportunity and time to interact with some dogs that were not running after the sledding activity. The dogs were docile but active.
As usual, after the activity, we were served a hot drink
After the husky sledding, we returned to Santa Claus Village for a few hours. I had spent hours writing postcards to post from Santa's Post Office.
The postcards were cheap. Each card mostly cost 1 euro. The expensive ones were the stamps. The cheapest stamp cost 3.15 euro. There was a 'special' which cost 5+ euro. The stamps were very attractive. I could not help but bought some to keep.
It seemed everybody was taking pictures or recording themselves posting the postcards. So I did likewise.
The Post Office was a crazy scene. It was incredibly busy.
Do not write your postcards at the Post Office. You write your postcards early, before you go to Santa Claus Village. You only go there to buy stamps and post the postcards. Otherwise, it would be quite stressful to write there. Our tour manager told us to start accumulating and writing postcards way back in Tromso. She cautioned us against writing them at the Post Office. When I saw how busy the Post Office was and how people were struggling to write in that cramped space, I understood what she meant.
This Roosevelt Cottage was just next to the Post Office. My elder sister had asked me to go there to buy reindeer horn whistles as souvenirs.
Just 10 euro each. Engraving of names is free and took only a few seconds. I had a hard time picking out shorter whistles though. If it's too long, it doesn't look nice.
I also bought a few necklace with pendants made of reindeer antler for the younger girls in the family.
A young Japanese lady helped us take the picture. Singapore is 9395km away from Rovaniemi!
We left Santa Claus Village at 4pm and reached the Rovaniemi hotel at 4.40pm.
I had reserved the table at Nili a few days before. The tour manager said it is a must to make reservation for Nili Restaurant. Otherwise, you are unlikely to get a table.
Nili is famous for exotic meats like bear meat and reindeer meat
Appetiser: Bear meat soup
Meat texture was similar to dry chicken breast meat. The soup was salty. We did not particularly enjoy it but we finished it anyway since it was bear meat.
Reindeer sausage and meat
The meat is obviously more tender than the sausage. It tasted like beef. The sausage was like what we had in Tromso, hard.
Service in Nili was attentive. The guy who served us was respectful and made good recommendations based on what tourists come for. He also recommended the Christmas drink glogi to us. We finished up our blueberry juice (and craved for more). He even wished us a great stay at Rovaniemi before we left. However, the food was nothing to die for.
At 9pm, we were driven to the 'wilderness' to wait for the appearance of Aurora
As usual, we didn't have to worry about being out in the cold.
Ultimately, it was a barbeque-in-Finland experience again. Cloud coverage was too heavy for any possibility of Aurora. We left for our hotel at 11.20pm.
We were quite disappointed - for coming so far and so late just to see nothing. We were looking forward to have some nice pictures with the Aurora taken by the professional photographer. The tour manager could sense the disappointment and tried to uplift our spirit by saying things like "you had a once in a lifetime experience barbequing in Finland!" but it didn't work.
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