2014 Finland and Sweden
Essential items to take with you:
Hand warmers, the chemical crystal type that you fold and crush in your palm and fit in your gloves from outdoor centres in the UK are about 3 packs £1 in Go Outdoors (2014 prices). We had about 30 packs (60 warmers) and used them all for 2 people.
Warm socks, Hats, gloves, 2 pairs, 1 thin one thick so you can wear 2 sets at once, base layers and fleecy tops, tights or warm leggings like Damart thermal underwear, not very sexy but you may regret it, insulated pants or jogging bottoms, (not the thick cotton ones), again all of these are available from outdoor shops. Just think STAY WARM.
Our stay:
In the full 7 days booked through Groupon for £370 each It seemed like a bargain and for a direct flight from Leeds Bradford to Kiruna, Sweden and coach transfer to Karesuando / Karesuvando with Enter Air and it was it was. Enter Air are a Polish airline and fly Boeing 737 400’s no frills but actually better than most UK as they are not bothered if your baggage is a little heavy, the allowance was 18Kg and ours were 20/21Kg with no penalties, carry on luggage was 5Kg but was never weighed, good job as my camera bag was around 9Kg, food and drinks available but chargeable on the flight, leg room was same as any other.
We were booked into the Davvi Hotel on a half board basis and that was adequate enough. On the 1st 4 days we had snow so had no chance of seeing the Northern Lights which was my sole reason for going. On the 5th night they came out for around 20 minutes or so however I only managed to get around 8/9 photographs. Tip: Take your camera out during the day and try it out as you intend to use it at night, temperatures are similar all day round. Around 2pm as the sun was going down I went up the hill behind the lodges to get some sunset shots, may even have still been the sunrise as the sun did not actually rise much above the horizon anyway so it is basically all day sunrise/sunset. The temperature was around -19°C with the wind chill dropping it to around -25°C. This had 2 knock on effects, firstly my camera ceased to function after about 10 minutes when pointed in portrait and pointing down, horizontal landscape seemed ok sometimes!!!! and it wasn’t an old camera in fact it was a Canon 5D MkII and 6 weeks old from new. Also before this, so did my exposed fingers to the point of not being able to bend them, operate the camera or my tripod I removed my thin gloves as operating the camera is difficult with gloves on. The lesson I did learn in time was to take a couple of shots and put it back inside my thermal snow suits, as the camera was only out for around a minute it also prevented the camera from suffering from misting up or condensation on the lens as it did not have time to reacclimatise to the change of temperatures.
DAY ONE, GO TO THE SWEDISH TOURIST INFORMATION BEFORE YOU BOOK ANYTHING AT ALL.
Karesuando, Sweden. (Might accept Euros in some shops but prefer Swedish Krona so take a bit of both)
This is literally on the other side of the bridge at the bottom of the hill (half way across the bridge to be exact) there is a sign indicating the border at the centre of the river and what’s more here there is also a 1 hour time difference so you can be stood in 2 countries and 2 time zones in one photograph. It is well worth your while going to the Tourist information at the Swedish side of the bridge; here you will see similar trips being available. You can’t book them here but they will contact the man for you. His name is Tony and he is a Swedish local Sami reindeer hearder, speaks perfect English and probably one of the most interesting men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He delivers mail and papers from 6am to noon, then he will take you out on a trip tailored to suit whatever you want, wherever you want to go and around half the price of the Transun prices and far better value for money and there is no time limit to each trip. He can only take 6 people though and it is 1st come 1st served. An amazing man, he looks after a local blind boy on alternate weeks, goes ice fishing and gives his catch to the elderly who cannot fish anymore, he is an artist, an ice sculptor, a taxidermist and he says there is no one in Norway, Sweden or Finland north of the Arctic circle either he does not know or does not know of him and I believe him. Whatever you want he knows someone who can supply it. His friend has a reindeer business where every part of the animal is used, flesh for meat, bones, antlers etc for Chinese medicine and the skins for rugs, shoes and gloves and the rugs are 1st class quality and again a lot cheaper than anywhere else as he probably supplies those merchants anyway. We went to the Moose farm (almost 2 hours drive away, ice fishing and a Northern lights tour all on the same day of around 10 hours, Most Transun trips are 2 hours or half day and that includes the time taken for transport, so they really are a bargain. He will even cook you a delicious Reindeer steak in his own house if you ask him (but I missed this the day earlier) but the other 4 people we went with booked him for 2 days and said it was beautiful.
Karesuvando, Finland. (Currency is Euros)
This is the Finnish side of the bridge, here there is very little but the Davvi Hotel, a petrol station, a café / restaurant and a gift shop. Markku in the shop again speaks good English and has a shop that sells everything from fruit, veg, thermals, flasks, sweets, food, sunglasses, gloves, alcohol (which may need to be ordered in for the next day depending what you want) and almost everything else and the food in the attached restaurant is very tasty, average price around 5 Euros for a sandwich and around 20 Euros for a meal.
We only done 2 trips with Transun, the reindeer sleigh by day and husky trail by night. Both a little pricey but good fun and not dangerous but wrap up very warm and if space allows take extra layers, scarves with you. We asked about the ice on the rivers cracking and they said lorries, cars and trucks drive over it as it is over 50cm thick. Once they see the locals stop, they stop but this is not until about April before questions are asked about it.
Read MoreHand warmers, the chemical crystal type that you fold and crush in your palm and fit in your gloves from outdoor centres in the UK are about 3 packs £1 in Go Outdoors (2014 prices). We had about 30 packs (60 warmers) and used them all for 2 people.
Warm socks, Hats, gloves, 2 pairs, 1 thin one thick so you can wear 2 sets at once, base layers and fleecy tops, tights or warm leggings like Damart thermal underwear, not very sexy but you may regret it, insulated pants or jogging bottoms, (not the thick cotton ones), again all of these are available from outdoor shops. Just think STAY WARM.
Our stay:
In the full 7 days booked through Groupon for £370 each It seemed like a bargain and for a direct flight from Leeds Bradford to Kiruna, Sweden and coach transfer to Karesuando / Karesuvando with Enter Air and it was it was. Enter Air are a Polish airline and fly Boeing 737 400’s no frills but actually better than most UK as they are not bothered if your baggage is a little heavy, the allowance was 18Kg and ours were 20/21Kg with no penalties, carry on luggage was 5Kg but was never weighed, good job as my camera bag was around 9Kg, food and drinks available but chargeable on the flight, leg room was same as any other.
We were booked into the Davvi Hotel on a half board basis and that was adequate enough. On the 1st 4 days we had snow so had no chance of seeing the Northern Lights which was my sole reason for going. On the 5th night they came out for around 20 minutes or so however I only managed to get around 8/9 photographs. Tip: Take your camera out during the day and try it out as you intend to use it at night, temperatures are similar all day round. Around 2pm as the sun was going down I went up the hill behind the lodges to get some sunset shots, may even have still been the sunrise as the sun did not actually rise much above the horizon anyway so it is basically all day sunrise/sunset. The temperature was around -19°C with the wind chill dropping it to around -25°C. This had 2 knock on effects, firstly my camera ceased to function after about 10 minutes when pointed in portrait and pointing down, horizontal landscape seemed ok sometimes!!!! and it wasn’t an old camera in fact it was a Canon 5D MkII and 6 weeks old from new. Also before this, so did my exposed fingers to the point of not being able to bend them, operate the camera or my tripod I removed my thin gloves as operating the camera is difficult with gloves on. The lesson I did learn in time was to take a couple of shots and put it back inside my thermal snow suits, as the camera was only out for around a minute it also prevented the camera from suffering from misting up or condensation on the lens as it did not have time to reacclimatise to the change of temperatures.
DAY ONE, GO TO THE SWEDISH TOURIST INFORMATION BEFORE YOU BOOK ANYTHING AT ALL.
Karesuando, Sweden. (Might accept Euros in some shops but prefer Swedish Krona so take a bit of both)
This is literally on the other side of the bridge at the bottom of the hill (half way across the bridge to be exact) there is a sign indicating the border at the centre of the river and what’s more here there is also a 1 hour time difference so you can be stood in 2 countries and 2 time zones in one photograph. It is well worth your while going to the Tourist information at the Swedish side of the bridge; here you will see similar trips being available. You can’t book them here but they will contact the man for you. His name is Tony and he is a Swedish local Sami reindeer hearder, speaks perfect English and probably one of the most interesting men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He delivers mail and papers from 6am to noon, then he will take you out on a trip tailored to suit whatever you want, wherever you want to go and around half the price of the Transun prices and far better value for money and there is no time limit to each trip. He can only take 6 people though and it is 1st come 1st served. An amazing man, he looks after a local blind boy on alternate weeks, goes ice fishing and gives his catch to the elderly who cannot fish anymore, he is an artist, an ice sculptor, a taxidermist and he says there is no one in Norway, Sweden or Finland north of the Arctic circle either he does not know or does not know of him and I believe him. Whatever you want he knows someone who can supply it. His friend has a reindeer business where every part of the animal is used, flesh for meat, bones, antlers etc for Chinese medicine and the skins for rugs, shoes and gloves and the rugs are 1st class quality and again a lot cheaper than anywhere else as he probably supplies those merchants anyway. We went to the Moose farm (almost 2 hours drive away, ice fishing and a Northern lights tour all on the same day of around 10 hours, Most Transun trips are 2 hours or half day and that includes the time taken for transport, so they really are a bargain. He will even cook you a delicious Reindeer steak in his own house if you ask him (but I missed this the day earlier) but the other 4 people we went with booked him for 2 days and said it was beautiful.
Karesuvando, Finland. (Currency is Euros)
This is the Finnish side of the bridge, here there is very little but the Davvi Hotel, a petrol station, a café / restaurant and a gift shop. Markku in the shop again speaks good English and has a shop that sells everything from fruit, veg, thermals, flasks, sweets, food, sunglasses, gloves, alcohol (which may need to be ordered in for the next day depending what you want) and almost everything else and the food in the attached restaurant is very tasty, average price around 5 Euros for a sandwich and around 20 Euros for a meal.
We only done 2 trips with Transun, the reindeer sleigh by day and husky trail by night. Both a little pricey but good fun and not dangerous but wrap up very warm and if space allows take extra layers, scarves with you. We asked about the ice on the rivers cracking and they said lorries, cars and trucks drive over it as it is over 50cm thick. Once they see the locals stop, they stop but this is not until about April before questions are asked about it.
