Kittila, Finland

Wed 6 Feb 2019
Northern lights

Today we drove to Kittila from Rovaniemi after dropping by at Santa Claus village in the morning. The journey took about 2 hours covering a distance of 150km. It was a smooth drive today as the weather was clear. We reached our cottage, Kittilan Lomamokit at around 3pm. We booked through Booking.com (EUR 70 per night) with attached bathroom and kitchen.

our cottage at Kittila

beds

kitchen

big window, good to view the northern lights in the comfort of the cottage

 

We stopped by at K Mart on the way to our cottage to buy supplies for cooking our meals. For dinner tonight, we had salmon with rice and salad, peppered with soy sauce brought from home.

our cooked dinner

We had no further plans today so we tucked in early but put on our alarms at 8pm based on our aurora forecast to catch the Northern lights. Indeed, when we woke up at 8pm, we saw some faint green lights, but initially we weren't sure whether it was the aurora or just the clouds. So i captured a picture on my camera, when we viewed it, it was obvious it was indeed the Northern lights! Off we go outside the cottage to capture the beautiful lights. It lasted for about 30 minutes before disappearing.

the northern lights round 1

the northern lights round 2

We waited some more, and at about 11.30pm, the Northern lights made another appearance, this time stronger and more beautiful than the first one! It lasted for about 45 minutes,  we were lucky to capture it twice tonight! It was also freezing cold outside at -20C. It was an amazing experience and we slept happy tonight!

northern lights round 2

northern lights round 2

northern lights round 2

northern lights round 2

northern lights round 2

northern lights round 2

Thu 7 Feb 2019

Husky safari

Today we would be doing the 16km National Park husky safari through the Pallas-Yllas national park by Rami's huskies. It cost EUR 140 per person. We booked for the safari about 2 weeks before. We started at 1pm and was provided with overalls, boots and mittens. It was a small group, just 4 couples (8 of us). We were assigned 6 huskies to a sled, with one driver and another passenger sitting in the sled. At half way, we stopped to grill sausages by the fire, then exchanged drivers. One of our huskies stopped mid way and didn't want to run so our guide Anita had to walk back and she changed the position of affected husky. We understand that there is a hierarchy between the huskies so it is important to position them correctly. It was a fun experience driving the huskies, and they ran quite fast too.

our huskies

driver stands on sled

husky mushing

into the national park

grilling sausage by the fire

No more further plans for today, so after arriving back at our cottage, we cooked for our late lunch / early dinner and retired for the night, but putting on the alarms in case the Northern lights made another appearance tonight. Alas, the aurora borealis was shy tonight.

Tomorrow we would be making our way to a small village - Lompolo, about 60km away.