Day 5 was the dae when Marpig planned to spend a night in the lovely Snow Village in Ylläs, Kittila. Why the urge to spend a night in the Snow Village? Bcos sleeping and spending a night in an igloo is 1 of the 25 thingies Marpig want to accomplish for the trip!! (Plus, 1 gets a diploma for spending a night in the igloo :D Hiak hiak hiak!!)
TTz the coach station in RVN where they took the coach to Kittila. Much like National Xpress, the coach operator for Finland is Matkahuolto, which also happens to be freight and "post office" kinda company. As mentioned earlier, this is the only leg which Marpig didnt pre-purchase tickets. Frenly-lady-over-the-counter sold Marpig return tickets which costs cheaper than the rates Marpig found online; simply bcos she thought Marpig was a student!!(Bottomline - Marpig stil looks young!! :D)
As it was, Marpig did her research online and realised, other than the Hotel de Glace in Quebec, Canada, Kirkenes Snow Hotel, Ice Lodge and Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Norway and the Ice Hotel in Romania (all not for this trip), therez 2 others to choose from:
1) Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, 12km away from Kiruna airport, Sweden
2) Lainio Snow Village, Ylläs, Kittila, Finland
Marpig compared the prices and locations of both in order to assess which one was cheaper and fitted into the travel route better and Snow Village won!! Although costs play a major part (itz not really cheap at 120 euros/night but hey, dinner and bf were included), the main reason for choosing Snow Village over Ice Hotel was tt the latter was not able to confirm availability and booking
The coach ride takes bout less than 2 hrs (?) and was enjoyable, although Marpig cant rem wat she was doing on the coach. Guess itz bcos Marpig inherently just loves taking bus rides 吧. Think she might be playing Scrabble with PS... hmmm
Having reached the leetle, quiet and cold (literally) town of Kittila, Marpig and PS managed to find a small taxi company in the form of a house, with a 超 frenly and happy aunty who was also the 1 who drove us to & back the Snow Village (Marpig requested her to come and pick them up the next dae). Oh, she also lets Marpig and PS use her lovely BIG toilet (with shower!!) when Marpig told her tt her bladder was bursting, while laughing and clearly amused by the dramatic Marpig
Whilst PS was doing her thang in the toilet, the aunty used her hands to form an "X" and said "English"; meaning she doesnt speak much English. Marpig then shook her head vigorously to let her noe tt itz ok and both of them laughed. So, it IS true tt with smilie faces, we make frens from all over the world!!
Anyw, long story short, they arrived @ the Snow Village!!
When they arrived, there were already lotsa tour groups. Luckily the crowds were there for the dae only and not spending the night in the iglooit (plural for igloo). Putting their barang barang down at the reception cum restaurant counter, they wasted no time and went xploring the wonderful place!!
Therez the traditional Sami hut with a gd fire within. 1 needs to chose the correct seat inside, since the fire wil draw large amt of air in to sustain itself and thus, create a "wind tunnel"!!
The place was quite big, with a central Xmas tree, rides and lotsa BIG ice sculptures on the left while the restaurant cum reception, ice bar, ice chapel (pics later), the igloo rooms and the warm room were all linked via corridors like this:
The actual corridors looked like the 1 on the right, with many others tt were differently lit. The colours of the corridors were from the lights built into the snow, with the cables being laid in during formation of the structures. The way they created these iglooit and corridors were by balloons; inflate a balloon (watever size and shape) and then repeatedly spray water over it and the ice structure wil form due to the very low freezing temp. Talk bout sci & engineering!! :DThe 1 on the left was taken using flash. The entrances to individual igloo were on both sides of the corridors. Did you see them?
Oh yes, Marpig talked bout a warm room. Watz a warm room? Wel, itz for pple who dont want to spend a night in an igloo or cannot tahan sleeping in the igloo (e.g., PS) :P Wil reveal the warm room in a pic later!! Meanwhile, Marpig shal take u on a tour of the iglooit!!
The entrance to a double igloo (aka "double room"). The "door" was optional which Marpig didnt want for the igloo she was to sleep in. In which case, the entrance would be like the 1 in the middle. Walking in, 1 would see the double ice bed with mattress!! :D Therez carving too!! :D
This was an igloo for a grp of 4 pple with single "bunk" beds!! Cool (literally)!! :DAnd now!! The igloo which Marpig slept in!! (think PS ditched the idea the min she set foot in Snow Village!!)
Ta-da!! *beaming all over* oh boy oh boy!! Wat a nice room!! PS was supposed to spend the night in it too, but since she dropped out (xpected), it would only be Piggie whoz gonna keep Marpig company throughout the night!!
This was how the igloo looked like in reality. Nice retro lighting. See the black hole above? TTz the ventilation hole. Hmmm... feels like a very unique and quint air-con room. hahahaha Itz actually cosy inside (constant -5 degC) as compared to the xternal temp at bout -15 degC tt night :DBTW, u must be interested to noe how many (crazy) pple were spending the night in the Snow Village right? Wel, therez definitely the crazy Marpig in her igloo and PS in the warm room. Other then them, therez 4 other Dutch middle to late middle-aged men who booked the igloo tt sleeps 4. And ttz pretty much it
FYI, after midnight, all the non-staying visitors AND all staff will vacate the Snow Village!! Therez no security or resident staff (mayb the resident reindeers)!! So xxxciting!! Wat to do if smth happens u asked? Wel, there was a number to cal in times of emergency. Hahahahaha super fun and xxxciting!! Just the type of adventure/thrill Marpig likes!! (Now she can go prowling all over the places freely at night!! hiak hiak hiak!!)
B4 PS retired for the night and Marpig went prowling, they had their dinner in the log restaurant
Notice how leetle pple there were? TTz bcos all the other visitors had gone back and the only pple left were a few kitchen staff preparing their dinner of~~
Sm kinda soup with smoke salmon and olive oil which PS had. The best thing bout the soup was the bowl!! Itz sturdy wood which kept the soup warm but not scalding hot to touch!! :D Wat brilliant dining ware!! Too bad they dont sell it there; Marpig would definitely get sm and drink chicken soup for the soul!! Heh!!
Marpig had her 2nd meal of reindeer steak with swede and onions and beetroot salad!! Yummy!! But the reindeer steak had sm chewy tendons... not as "juicy" as the 1st!! But stil, itz great!! :D__
Not being a meat lover, PS had the equally scrumptious salmon!!
After dinner and when all the staff left, Marpig and PS made themselves at home in the warm room!! Wow!! They had the whole room to themselves; the 4 Dutch men were not in their igloo nor the warm room... hmmm wonder where they were!!Anyw, the warm room was a communal room, although therez only Marpig and PS. Itz so cosy and therez everyth 1 need; stove, oven, shower, bath, sauna (though not in use since they used it to store thingy) telly, kettle, etc!! Much like the hostels Marpig am so familiar with!! :D
While the 102% knuckled PS surrendered for the night, Marpig was stil 精神奕奕!! Hence, Marpig went trotting leisurely amongst the deserted and silent snow village with her Goldie (as wel as check out the 4 Dutch men!!)
No matter how crazy and adventurous Marpig is, in this xtreme situation where therez 4 Dutch men versus 2 gals in a 叫地地不灵, 叫天天不应的地方, itz better to noe the "enemies"!! So wat did she do? :P
She went snooping ard with her snout and found them sitting ard a gd~ big~ log fire which they had started near the entrance. As usual, Marpig strikes up a conversation with them bout where they came from (Amsterdam, Rotterdam) and they shared their xperience and knowledge on Aurora Borealis with Marpig!! In fact, they decided not to sleep but wait for signs of Aurora tt night!! :D
After sitting ard the fire with them and chatting (eh? in retrospect, itz actually quite dangerous for Marpig to be alone with them right?! hahahaha), Marpig got up and said gdnight to them b4 continuing her prowling!!
Itz nice and xxxciting, if not eerie, to walk the corridors of the snow village. Marpig wasnt afraid of ghosts as itz all in the mind. To her, itz more like an adventure than anyth else!! (Beenie and Ding would noe how much Marpig loves her night adventures!!) Although, she must admit, the freezing -5degC did send chills down her spine occasionally!! (>_<)
走呀走, Marpig came upon a series of openings along a corridor, looking into the ice chapel!!
Wow!! *with condensation* The ice chapel where weddings and services were held!! According to the guide, there were couples from as far as HK who came to have their wedding here!! COOL!! Wonder how the bride tahan the cold in her wedding gown... mayb with a reindeer hide? :PAs always when she went into any church, Marpig sat on the bench for a while, since (personally), it felt like sanctuary for 1z mind *smiles* Didnt feel the cold ice since Marpig was wearing her waterproof ski pants but!! Bcos of the pressure and huge temp difference btw Marpigz butt and the ice bench, the pants tend to "stick" to the bench!!
The flower bhind the simple altar. The flower pattern was carved into the blocks of ice tt made up the ice panel and filled with snow to make it stand out
And this was the ice bar!! The menus were on the table (xpensive drinks!!) with 1 or 2 bottles on the bar top. Nope, itz not Vodka but smth as potent!! The lights were left "dancing" and bcos itz so quiet, 1 could hear even the teeniest whirling sound of the thingySee the white pad on each seat? Those were to prevent the "butt-sticking" effect as xplained earlier!! Marpig did sit on 1 of those and it felt like a cushion seat!! Or mayb itz just bcos Marpig was getting tired
Actually, they could chose to have dinner in the ice bar but PS was right, itz so cold, any hot fd would turn cold in seconds!!
After xploring the ice chapel, ice bar and countless empty iglooit, Marpig went back to the warm room to pick up her 黑仔 and tripod for sm serious photography!!
Emerging from the warm room (FYI, itz in the basement although the door was on the ground level), Marpig set up her tripod and 黑仔 in the snow, with no gloves!! OMGosh!! Her trotters were so cold, think itz almost frozen in the -15degC!! Itz not bcos she doesnt have a pair of gloves but those she had wasnt really suitable to work with 黑仔z buttons!! Darn!!
Anyw, taking night shots is currently 1 of Marpigz 兴趣s since she just loves everyth bout the night!! With the essential help of the remote shutter, she took a test pic showing part of the forest, igloo and ice slide!!Can u feel the placez 寂静?! :P Therez a higher ice slide (not in the pic) to the left of the smaller 1 and Marpig needs to blog this!! Marpig and PS were supposed to slide down it but PS 又给 Marpig 骗!! Reason being she saw Marpig suffered a (slight) bump on the uneven ice slide (not really painful...) and decided not to go for it!! Kao!! :S
After sorting out her settings with the test pic, Marpig continued taking night shots such as:
1) An igloo with the stars-filled sky as a background (can u spot the Orionz Belt?!)
2) An Inuit hut with a more obvious Orionz Belt
3) The snow-covered pine forest with the stars-filled sky again!!
*super 满足 with herself* :DAnd so, after a gd 45 mins or so out in the freezing cold taking night shots, Marpig decided to call it a dae and to prepare herself for sleeping in the igloo
Guide was saying tt the sleeping bag (used in those Arctic xpedition) would be so warm tt 1 would only need to wear the baselayers. But being a kiasu Singaporean, Marpig had her Thunder jacket, just in case. And with her hat and balaclava, shez ready!!
TTz how Marpig slept during the night in the igloo (with Piggie!!) It was really warm inside the sleeping bag and there were times when Marpig thought itz too warm!! :P The only opening would be the eyes and nose bit for breathing (not really as shown on pic above cos Marpig got to 自拍!!)And now... ... Marpig shal reveal how she managed to delete her photos...
Rem 1 of the 25 thingies Marpig wanted to accomplish for this trip was to remake the MTV of GMz song, "Last Xmas"? Stil cant quite guessed wat Marpig did? Here goes
Marpig was nice and snug in the sleeping bag while holding her mobile phone in 1 hand and Goldie in another. She attempted to use Goldie to do the recording along with "Last Xmas" playing in the backgrd using the mobile phone. The feat was made more complicated bcos:
1) She needed to keep the volume down but stil audible by Goldie as shez afraid the 4 Dutch men could hear it (her igloo was very near the entrance) and think shez being crazy (which she is!!) hahahaha
2) She had to start and stop both the mobile phone and Goldie many times, in trail and error for the perfect recording
3) Piggie was giving her a hard time (shez trying to position Piggie in different positions for the recording!!)
4) Restricted movements; rem she was snug in the sleeping bag and the only opening Marpig kept was the eyes and nose section?
Everyth went wel and the finished video would be 102% hilarious until Marpig did the BIGGEST mistake she ever made for the trip which she wil NEVER DO IT AGAIN; she deleted those videos tt cmi at the same time, thinking she can save sm space on the mem card. While doing so, she accidentally selected the option, "delete photos in the folder"!! *我晕*
And thus, ttz how Marpig managed to delete so many of her pics... while trying to re-make GMz "Last Xmas"!!!!!!! *超晕*
Wah kao. 真的没话说。。。
