emirates man


apr/may 2015


PHOTO: PAULINA HOLMGREN, RAGNAR TH SIGURDSSON, CATHY HARLOW


| STYLE | TRAVEL 34


appreciate just how


You’ll staying in


remote a location you’re


is an accommodation at night, by day the Icehotel is a gallery for guests and visiting tourists, and it doesn’t take long to see why. Each room is beautifully carved with ornate and original designs – genius feats of architecture all – and you might find yourself sleeping inside the icy rendering of a bell pepper, amidst a chess set or with frozen members of the animal kingdom watching over you. But you won’t miss a TV when you slide into your gigantic sleeping bag (tested to minus 50, meaning you’re more likely to sweat than shiver) and switch off the light – as you will see and hear nothing, there’s just silence and blackness. Unsurprisingly, this makes for a peaceful night’s slumber, unless of course you wake up needing the loo – as that requires a 100-yard jog dressed in your thermal underpants, and admittedly not quite as tranquil an experience.


B


ut dismiss Jukkasjärvi’s sparseness at your peril, as Lapland is so much more than an off-the- beaten-track


retreat. You can spend entire mornings being schooled in the art of ice sculpting. Armed with a chisel and a block of ice, you are encouraged to take inspiration from the artwork all around, and let your imagination run wild – with the finest renderings showcased around the complex. Meanwhile, book a


wilderness tour and you’ll be


taken out by an identikit Swedish tour guide (blond hair, blue eyes, frightfully attractive) on a long and winding route to your own exclusive, snow-capped cabin. Even better, you’ll be travelling there by snowmobile. As a mode of transport,


snowmobiles take some serious beating. Crammed with power and boasting top speeds of 130kph, the giddy head rush you feel on one of these machines is matched only by the fierce breeze that blasts your cheeks as you zoom around and endeavour to stay aboard. On your snowmobile tour you’ll follow your guide through a variety of terrain, from climbing hairpin slopes amid the winding forest, to putting your machines to the test on sprawling, wide open flats. Be careful, this writer found out personally that falling off at just 5kph stings, so rest assured that while whizzing across ice at full throttle is quite the ride, the frozen ground is an unforgiving crash mat. After a log cabin pit stop


for a cup of warm lingonberry


(Sweden’s national fruit) and sandwich, you’re in prime position to view one of mother nature’s biggest wonders: aurora borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights. Fleets of holidaymakers head to Scandinavia, Alaska, Siberia and beyond for entire vacations where the cosmic rays refuse to show, but keep an eye on the forecast before you go (the Northern Lights’ vibrancy is judged on a scale of zero to five) as you might just be lucky enough to encounter a gorgeous day-glo fug of green, purple and blue. From there you’ll embark on


another rapid jaunt to your own secluded cabin in the woods, illuminated by candlelight and replete with fresh drinking water – direct from the frozen lake outside. Thaw your frosty limbs in your en suite sauna, then cool down with a traditional Swedish shower – basically the Ice Bucket Challenge without the charity – as your guide prepares a hearty Scandinavian feast of pot-roasted meat, potatoes


and veg, along with olives, cured meats and mushrooms on toast. The following morning you’ll be treated to a breakfast of porridge and salted coffee (another Swedish delicacy), before skidooing your way back to the sprawling Icehotel complex, looking for all intents and purposes like a Christmas card.


S


tep out into the ‘real’ Jukkasjärvi, or at least what little there is, and you’ll find a small grocery store, church and


a Sami (Lapland’s indigenous tribe) museum, which has its own herd of reindeer. Just like everything else in this isolated utopia, the church is visually magnificent – its deep red paintwork amongst the ocean of white visible a mile away. Inside the Sami museum you’ll learn the historic rituals of the native Laplanders, and admire the varied trinkets proudly on display. It’s absolutely worth a


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