It seems we are in agreement, myself and my new Chinese friends! I honestly don't think you can say you sleep extremely well in a Snow Hotel but wow, what an experience!
I left you at lunch yesterday, I went for a slow stroll through the streets. I walked through the old part of Kemi and around their yacht club. I watched snow mobiles whizz across the frozen sea. I even watched two ladies go for a dip in the frozen Baltic Sea. Around 6pm I took shelter in the Snow Village Cafe and decided to chill until the show and tell that evening.
I sat escaping to Sweden reading my Wallander detective novel, Sweden being just 25km away I thought it was....well - novel. As I read, I occasionally glanced up at the passing trade, day trekkers who had rumbled through the village. After 7pm a calmness came over the village, the visitors had left, it was just the hard core subzerians remaining.
After 8pm a group of Chinese ladies appeared and nestled in for a bit. The hotel worker, Carolina came and apologised to them and offered them free drinks. I listened as the story came out-dramas at the Snow Hotel. A bunch of kids had climbed up onto the roof of the hotel and were causing havoc so the staff had to call the police. When I was sitting reading, an officer strolled in got briefed and then went to find the perps.
Who said small town living wasn't exciting! When I went to go and post my postcards, strolling past one of the Chinese ladies asked if I was alone, where I was from and if I was just here for the one day? I answered all the questions and then asked where they were from, all of them live in Beijing. They were lovely, last year the same group had travelled to Kenya to visit the wild animals and the next trip they would start organising when they get back home was a trip to the South Pole. One of the Americans said she had lived in Indianapolis and had an American passport, she said the next pole trip was the last winter escape. She was going to do summer trips for a few holidays.
The point of this trip was to witness the Northern Lights but in a week all they had experienced were snow storms and cloudy weather.
Just after 9pm, Carolina called myself and the Chinese party of four together. On the table was a folded up sleeping bag and a pillow! The English show and tell was commencing.
She unfolded the sleeping bag, revealing a fleece inner, then unzipped it all, showed us how to get in and out and where to velcro together, tighten pull etc. Her description, the end result a Mummy! Which if you aged the sleeping bag, put some Egyptian inscriptions on and perhaps have a bandage sticking out, you most certainly would have a Mummy.
She concluded asking about our morning sauna details, if we would like to shower or sauna and if we needed transport? Transport to the shower? Were we going to be that frozen? They would bring in a trolley and shove us onto it and defrost us under warm running water? I opted for the 7am wake up call, breakfast and then asked if I could organise a shower. The Chinese ladies insisted I catch a ride with them, they had their own vehicle and were going to Sweden in the morning!
Our show and tell lasted 15minutes and then the Finnish version commenced. A father and his two daughters were the Finnish contingent, the Visitors were us five and an awol lady. Nine people in total! The Finnish show and tell lasted half an hour.
At ten, I decided that it was time to venture to my room. Walking from the comfortable cafe to the hotel, I looked up at a cloudy sky. Cloudy meaning that the famous Aurora Lights were not to be seen. Room #7. I found it easily and took a deep breath. The moment of truth!
Inside the light slowly changed from red to a warm white to a funky sky blue, I didn't pay attention after that as my focus lay on the right hand side of the 'double' bed. It had two ice cubes and two reindeer skins lying next to each other. In the centre on the one bed was exactly the same sleeping bag folded into three. I opened it up and then plotted the big wardrobe change. I started taking my layers off the top and then quickly threw on my pj top and then attacked the bottom. Once my shoes were off, I stepped onto the bed to keep my socks dry, expecting the surface to be solid, I was surprised and thrown off balance when I stood on a spring mattress. I cautiously then de-robed and clambered into the sleeping bag elf style. Instead of zipping and pulling I rolled down and then pulled up and the same with the outer arctic bag. It felt like the sack of potatoe race we used to compete in at school, this was just a bit more confined, on a wobbly surface and a bit of hop scotch to get the first cocoon into the second. If the frozen fly could talk, he would mention that maybe I should not join the circus or on second thoughts, perhaps I should...
As the layers were peeled off, I placed them on top of the reindeer skin. Shoes placed neatly in front of the bed with laces tucked inside to remain dry and cell phone remained in my shoes which I thought was a safer option for incase I kangaroo kicked it down onto the frozen floor.
The comedy act that was an in theory easy ritual of jumping into a sleeping bag was made challenging by the -5 degrees, icy floor and icy igloo cave that I found myself inhabiting.
I found myself amused by wondering if I would freeze to death before being able to snuggle into the thick sleeping bag. I wondered what they would put on the death certificate, frozen whilst going to bed. But of course this did not happen.
Sprawled out on top of my clothes, I lay mummified with my nose the only thing making contact with the icy conditions. During the night, I felt I spent the entire sleeping hours tossing and turning but thinking back, this was not the case. I went through periods of being a mole, burrowing deep into the sleeping bag, almost at the over heating point and then like a submarine breaking through the surface of the warmth barrier with thoughts of, I need air, I need air. Half way through the night I had a debate whether or not to bring the pillow into my circle of hearty warmth. I eventually did and it took a while for it to lose the cold shoulder until we were perfectly in harmony. Snuggled like long lost friends, we slept deeply.
I woke at 5:30 pondering if time was frozen and crawling along or if it was nearing the wake up call. I was amazed that it was nearly time to wake up!
In a blink of an eye, my cell phone sprang into life announcing that a new day had dawned. I struggled out of my burrow and killed the alarm and then lay with my arms outside thinking I had survived. And it was truly an out of this world experience.
I did the comedy act in reverse, peeling off the bag, and clambering into my gear. I had slept at an angle across the 'double' bed most of the night so parts of my clothes hadn't had the joy of me sharing my body warmth. I dressed quickly and made my way to the cafe where breakfast was waiting. It was a simple spread but looked delicious!
But first, coffee. The morning rejuvenating liquid was steaming hot and went down like, I guess a homesick mole. The food was tasty, including fruit and plain yoghurt, corn flakes, fresh croissants, meat balls and bite sized viennas. I sampled it all-except the boiled egg...
After breakfast the Chinese ladies and I went in search of our shower. It was at a neighbouring hotel. I was invited to sit in the front of the big SUV as I was so tall. I didn't refuse.
We followed the directions and landed up at a hotel I had walked past yesterday. On arrival, they said they only had 3 people scheduled and not 5 ladies. So they phoned the hotel and then gave us directions to another hotel. Take two of getting clean and fresh trah la la!
At the hotel, we followed the receptionist down a flight of stairs to the hotels bathrooms. On the wall they have times when it is ladies or men's allocated time. It had three showers in a row and a sauna. I waited for the ladies to shower first and once they had disappeared into the sauna I ran through the shower and then changed, ready to start the day.
A short time later, they all appeared looking refreshed and ready for the day. They were heading to Sweden shortly but needed to go to a bank first. Back at the Snow Village, in the cafe we got a glass of orange juice and started talking to a lady there. She asked how we had slept and told us a bit about the construction of the hotel. Each year they have a different architect, he does the design of the castle so it has a different structure every year. Then they give it a theme, this year of course was fantasy, last year was sport, the year before that cartoons etc.
She explained that they first build a metal structure and when it is cold enough pump 200 cubic meters of water from the Baltic Sea, this when cold enough gets made into snow. When it is the right temperature, they then pack the snow over the metal structure until it becomes solid and then they remove the metal structure. Now the fun begins. They get a variety of snow sculptures who then design the snow murals and give the village the fantastic vibe.
The season ends in April with the temperature sitting most days on -10 or -15 degrees. This morning it was -9 degrees. When the season is over, they get a demolition team out and they break up the hotel recycling the ice by placing it on the frozen sea so it will melt and return to where it came from.
The lady told us that Kemi is a sleepy town in winter, with not much to do besides the ice breaker trip, the snow mobile adventures, or trips to see husky or reindeer havens. But in summer, the place is transformed, the sailors come out and enjoy the ocean, the midnight sun spurs them to really enjoy the outside world.
She proudly shared that they have a cinema and theatre that has a lively schedule but as is most things in this town, from Tuesday to Saturday.
I now am at the train station, reunited with all my belongings. My final adventure is about to hatch. I sit patiently with Pooh as we wait for the P710 that takes us to Kajaani and Kati and Ari.
Sending warm thoughts from a sunny, glistening snowy Lapland. The memories of this adventure truly are embedded snugly into the bank. The only word I can think of is remarkable! I am eternally lucky to have had this once in a lifetime opportunity!
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