Nordic Christmas - white snow dream

Overnight in an Igloo

Saying goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City, I started my journey to explore Finland, the first destination being Saariselka. This is a small village surrounded by the Urho Kekkonen National Park. Imagine from 300C in the warm sunny region, you suddenly have to face the cold of -100C at noon, the wind speed according to the clock is 5km/h and the extremely high humidity of 93% that numbs every muscle, what would it be like?

In this country, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”, I had heard about this when I first set foot in Finland. Although I had prepared myself mentally and dressed, I was still surprised by the bone-chilling cold of Saariselka. I had packed as much warm clothes as I could, so I prepared for the exciting thing I had been looking forward to since I was a child: the experience of sleeping in an igloo like a local.

Discovering Nordic Christmas - the dream of white snow took me to the luxurious Kakslauttanen Hotel & Igloo Village with 40 igloos and glass rooms, located in the middle of a vast pine forest covered in white snow. The glass Igloo igloos are designed in the style of the Eskimos to control the temperature reasonably. Each igloo has 2 beds, a private bathroom and sauna. No matter how cold the outside temperature is, the inside of the hotel is still extremely warm and comfortable.

We were quite excited about the world's largest snow restaurant with ice dining tables and the sauna which is also one of the largest in the world. The tour guide said that the igloo is always "sold out" so you have to pay very early to reserve a room, especially during the Northern Lights season (August - April next year). Room rates range from 1.8 - 8.5 million/night, which is too "expensive" but for me this experience is worth the money.

Meet Santa Claus and experience crossing the 66th parallel of the Arctic Circle

Leaving my beloved Saariselka behind, I continued my journey to Rovaniemi, the hometown of the “mythical man” Santa Claus. His main post office is located on the Arctic Circle, in Santa Claus Village, Finland. I never thought I would come all the way to this house to send a letter to Santa Claus, but now I have actually set foot in the land of fairy tales of children all over the world.

Stopping at Santa Claus’s office, the familiar Christmas scenes appeared vividly and warmly, the elves helping, the reindeer pulling the sleigh, the old pine trees were magically close. Santa Claus is also like a hard-working office worker, always present at the office every day of the year from 9am to 6pm. I took the opportunity to ask Santa Claus to send letters to my family members for the upcoming Christmas. The price is only 7 euros/letter sent directly from the North Pole with the words “Arctic Circle” which is quite impressive to my hometown!

Another special thing is that the "sacred" check-in point that any tourist coming here wants to do is to step over the white painted line on the road, confirming that they have officially entered the North Pole, with a cool certificate of crossing the 66th parallel of the Arctic Circle.

"Hunting" king crabs on ice and snow

Hunting and enjoying snow crabs, also known as king crabs, is one of the most interesting things when coming to Northern Europe. Kirkenes is the "capital" of king crabs in Norway. A king crab can be up to 2 meters long if counting the distance between the two claws and weigh up to 15 kg. Luckily, I was in Norway during the winter months, the "crab hunting" activity here was quite bustling. On the thick ice surface, you can move to the crab hunting spot by snowmobile. After crossing the wide frozen river, we started drilling holes, setting traps and after 30 minutes of waiting, the traps were pulled up full of huge king crabs. Because king crabs have a lot of spines, the process of removing the crabs from the traps was done by professional crab hunters, and we had the opportunity to admire and take souvenir photos before enjoying the masterpiece in this country.

The Nordic snow crab is one of the “superfoods” in the world with its large size, firm and delicious meat, and exceptional freshness that can be used to prepare immediately after being caught. This gift from nature bestowed on this Nordic land has truly made my journey more than wonderful.

At the end of the trip, I also visited the Husky dog farm, went sledding, sat around the fire on reindeer skins to admire the Northern Lights... The "once in a lifetime" trip with so many experiences for a year, I had a successful journey beyond my imagination in the beloved cold land of Scandinavia. Closing the Nordic Christmas season - the dream of white snow, I promise to return with new experiences.

Source: https://www.vietravel.com/vn/vong-quanh-the-gioi/giang-sinh-bac-au-giac-mo-tuyet-trang-v12599.aspx