Week 3 -Lapland (Cultural)

This week in Finland we travelled to Levi, Lapland. The bus journey took a long, exhausting and sleepless 17 hour journey, but as soon as we arrived, I knew it was worth it. We stopped off at Santa's village where we met Santa (The real one!) and had some breakfast. The temperature was a cold - 8 when we were there, although I was prepared for worse.

When we arrived in Levi, the first thing I noticed was that everyone seemed to ski everywhere. There was even a ski bus which was free for people. There were also a lot of ski and snow boarding slopes for all levels. The next day, we went on a snowmobiling safari. We rented the snowmobiles in pairs and took it in turns to drive. We drove to a reindeer farm where we were able to feed the reindeer's, and learn a little about them. The next day we went on a husky safari where we were able to see some real Finnish culture. In Lapland, they often have husky races that can last a few days. I found that the husky’s were very difficult to control and they would keep running all day if you let them! Our sleigh had several near crashes and I even fell of once or twice! Then after the husky’s we went snowshoeing where we were able to rent the shoes from intersport.
We went along the winter hiking trail beside mount Levi which was very scenic and beautiful. We also met a few walkers along the way. Later on that night we went to a Chinese ice sculpture park where we were able to see some beautiful and very talented artists. This seemed to be a mixture between Chinese culture, in the Finnish ice and it was a wonderful experience to see the talent that was presented there. The next day, I went horse riding through a Finnish forest, where I was truly able to experience the peaceful and beautiful scenery in Lapland. The horse riding lasted several hours and truly was an experience of a lifetime. The next day, we got up early and packed to go home from Lapland. The bus left at 11.30am and along the journey home we stopped off at the famous Finnish snow castle. This snow castle was similar to the ice sculpture park as it also had figures sculpted in snow and ice, but these figures were mainly directly linked to Finland, for example, there were a lot of moomin sculptures. Throughout my trip to Lapland, I feel that my knowledge of Finnish culture had expanded greatly, and that I ad learnt many things about Finnish people and their cultures that I was unaware of previously. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I only wish that I could go back again! I encourage anyone who has this opportunity to grab it with both hands, as this experience will change your opinion of Finnish people and cultures in a positive manner. I feel that this experience has changed me in a personal manner, and made me a lot more open minded.