Exploring Rovaniemi: The Ultimate Arctic Adventure in Finland
I shall make sure to conclude my Finland trip post with this one. By now, all of you should have watched my Youtube Shorts on Finland snippets. If you haven't, do check some of them out in this post.
ICYMI again, enjoy my previous post leading up to this Finale:
I made my dream came true at the age of 43 (and also the husband too) by visiting Santa Claus Village. Although I did not go for the meet and greet with Santa, being there to immerse in the atmosphere was too good to be true (but it really is true). From young, we are so into Christmas even though we ain't Christians or Catholics. And yes I believe in Santa since young, although I know who put presents into our stockings. No apologetic at all but I love Christmas more than Chinese New Year. Hahaha... I'm still a Singaporean Chinese no matter what. Enjoy my Santa Claus Village video at the end of this post.
Watch my video on my Youtube Channel now!
By crossing the Arctic Circle Line, you get a certificate for that. It was included in our tour package. The Santa Claus Village Live TV on their Youtube Channel is just across the line. You will see visitors waving to the camera on the side. If I remember correctly is on the left side.
Crossed the mark and you enter the Arctic Circle
Hello Singapore! We are 9395km away from home.
Also included in the package is the not-so-serious Reindeer Driver's Licence that you get after the ride. So lame but darn cute to have such memento. If you don't find a need, then don't spend on that. Same goes to the Arctic Circle Certificate.
Glass Igloo stay at Santa Claus Village
Mrs Santa Claus's Cottage
Honestly, I have no expectation on Asian food in European countries because it is always a hit and miss. I remembered having Chicken Pho in Paris and the freaking chicken hair on the chicken skin wasn't plucked out at all. So disgusting and expensive! And now at least in Rovaniemi, simple dim sum dishes like soft Char Siew buns and crispy spring rolls were good here at Golden Bowl Dimsum. Surprisingly though. So if you are not picky, this is one place to satisfy your Asian palate in Europe. For me when in Europe, I eat what they eat. Asian food, have them when you return to your home country. It is better and cheaper.
Decent Chinese Food in Santa Claus Village - Golden Bowl Dimsum
Dim Sum for 2 of us.
Checked-in to our hotel in Rovaniemi. Dinner done. And we headed out for a night campfire at a enclosed place. And also a professional photographer was with us to capture the Northern Lights and us in all. All inclusive in our tour package. We received the digital copies from our tour manager after 2-3 weeks upon return. Not sharing the photos here but it was beautiful though the Northern Lights ain't that strong.
Night Camping plus Professional Photo-taking
All 35 of us in the warm tent
On our Free & Easy day, we booked a day tour to Korouoma Saukkovaara aka Frozen Waterfalls. Was choosing between many activities to do but chosen the frozen waterfall because it is something different than the usual. Have you ever seen a frozen waterfall before? At least not for me. Can you believe other than rock climbing, they do ice climbing here. Also a note to parents, if you are bringing your kids below 12 years old or elderly, I do advise not to because this walking trail can be quite dangerous, as in slippery and icy slopes too. You might slip and fall as we experienced it ourselves at some parts of the 5km walk. Oh after the long tedious walk, lunch time: Reindeer burger, soup and mulled wine. Much needed on the extreme weather. Then after the lunch, you thought you are done and ready to go back. Not yet! An upslope walk back to the carpark where we alighted. OMG it really trained my heart and stamina for good. It wasn't that bad when we entered. My dear life.
Book your activities here at Rovaniemi.
Frozen Hair. Wear your beanie please.
One of the frozen waterfalls in jade colour, with ice climbers up there
A piece of white for you
Small and not fulfilling burger in the cold. Kinda dry overall.
Where they warm up the drinks and food + ourselves.
More on Korouoma Saukkovaara aka Frozen Waterfalls in the following video. Enjoy!
After our day tour, we found a Turkish restaurant that serves Briyani. He was so into it because he hasn't had rice for days. And actually we chosen the right restaurant. My Kebab Salad with Reindeer meat was good. Eat more meat, won't get fat if you choose those non-fried type.
Their shoestring fries was so good!
More on our dinner in the following video. Enjoy!
The night at Rovaniemi
The last activity for this trip was Arctic Floating. Donned in the red survival floating suit that made us walked like a penguin. A briefing at the floating spot, which was such a beautiful sight. All so snowy. Walk down the stairs and back float. Nothing fantastic, just that you are floating in the cold but a peaceful one. Some water leaked into my clothing but very minimal. And when you are done, you have to balance yourself, hold on to the wooden railings and walk up. By the way, the railings are frozen so you might get froze bites.
How can this be so beautiful!
Follow the steps and float.
A pool of 'lobsters' in zero degree Celsius. So 'fresh lobsters'.
Looking like Among Us cartoon character
More on Arctic Floating in the following video. Enjoy!
After our morning activity, we have hours before heading to the airport for our flight to Helsinki, before a 13+ hours flight back to Singapore. Honestly speaking, there is nothing much to do in the area near our hotel except for food or probably supermarket shopping. Last minute shopping for Moomin, Marimekko, Lumene skincare products which you can try at some of their hotels, and more. Never know Moomin and Marimekko are from Finland. This trip has expanded my knowledge bank of Finland. Oh their winter boots are solid quality and less than SGD100 a pair. If you need it, buy it there.
So we chose our lunch venue and decided to rot there for at least awhile before heading back to the hotel to gather. Randomly choose a burger, pasta and drumlets to share. This is strange but the fries we had over in Rovaniemi (or maybe Finland) was so good. Good potatoes maybe. Drumlets weren't thick in batter which I favored a lot.
Lunch Venue near Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna Rovaniemi
Burger and Pasta
Drumlets with fries
Before we head to the airport, decided to take a few more photos near our hotel for memories. The JƤtkƤnkynttilƤ or The Lumberjack's Candle Bridge crosses the Kemijoki River which you can see in the photo: frozen. Wow... after a Frozen Waterfall, now a Frozen River. And the sky looks so pretty. Picture-perfect.
We have finally come to the end of this holiday post. Really love Finland so much. Experienced the extreme coldness and the thick amount of snow. You know it isn't possible in Singapore, like no way. Go catch the Northern Lights, go for a husky or reindeer ride, go for the arctic floating and enjoy the thick amount of snow. Till the next holiday post, I see you when I see you.
Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All the above were paid by the writer.
