Pipi Travels

Day 7 - 9: Glass Igloo, Kakslauttanen

AND the supposed highlight of the trip...



Glass Igloo at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort!



Staying in the Glass Igloo is probably one of the top must do items in Finnish Lapland. There are several resorts that offer the heated Glass Igloo experience. Notably, the Kakslauttanen's Glass Igloos are the legendary ones that we see on Youtube.

The Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort is divided into East and West Village. We chose the latter as it was newer and more spacious.

Check-in time was at 3pm which was pretty late considering that it starts to get dark at 4 and night falls at about 5pm (during winter months).



We reached early and went around taking photos in the resort! Here's our failed attempt at building a snowman. xD



Olaf is that you? Anyway, we found out that you need wet snow in order to build a snowman, or it's just us who are lousy for living near the Equator. Our snow was really fine and fluffy :S



Snow angels!



Spotted a tall snowman while walking around the Kelo-Glass igloos.



Kelo Glass Igloo Cabin



The resort is really beautiful <3



I'm missing this place already.





Spotted another mini snowman!





Caught this cute cat roaming around the resort! It is soooo soft and furry to touch. :3



Dinner at the main reception of the West Village.



Christmas feels.



Dining area. Super looove their rustic design.



Dinner that night was Thai Green Curry with Chicken! One of the better dishes the resort offers. The chicken was a tad too salty but it was still pretty good.



Tomato soup? I can't recall.



Alcohol + coffee + whip cream. SO GOOD. I never knew this existed.



Strolled back to our Glass Igloo with our warm bellies.



Lying on their comfy bed waiting for light show which unfortunately, did not happen. :( Dangggg. But we still had a good time relaxing and watching our shows until we fell asleep.



Next morning. Look at that frosting.



Woke up to seeing our windows covered by a layer of snow. =( Meh it snowed pretty heavily last night and the heated windows are unable to melt the snow. Sucks to be next occupant of the glass igloo.



Say goodbye to our Glass Igloo, Pipi!

For those who are thinking of booking a Glass Igloo at Kakslauttanen, I've listed down the pros and cons of booking the Glass Igloo for your consideration! :)

Pros:

- The Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort is probably the most famous of all the glass igloo resorts in Finland
- There are plenty of facilities and tours available for booking (i.e. Husky, Reindeer safaris, automobile rides, Northern lights chasing etc.)
- Beautiful resort
- Sauna facility available for free
- Free shuttle service to and fro West Igloo Reception at certain timings

Cons:

- Late check in time. Please do go earlier and take some photos in the resort if you are staying for one night
- Messy service at the reception
- No free luggage delivery service to your Glass Igloo considering the amount of money you are paying for. (Good luck to you if you are staying in the Kelo-Glass Igloo because it's really far from the reception. You have to use their luggage sleds to move your luggage to your accommodation.)
- It wasn't really warm inside the Glass Igloo, I still have to wear my thermals when I sleep at night AND you are not able to adjust the temperature of the room
- Limited amenities in the Glass Igloo. (Only a toilet without shower facilities and a sink if you chose the small Glass Igloo! I have to sit on the toilet bowl in order to brush teeth. =.= )
- Shared shower facilities (Females and males are separated. And yes you will be exposing your body to strangers. I know some of the tourists were not keen on that idea and did not shower throughout their stay)
- The quality of the dinner varies
- Tours and safaris have to be booked through Kakslauttanen's vendors at higher prices
- No wifi available in the room (Only in the shared facilities and reception)
- Little privacy in the Glass Igloo because people can peek in despite the mini curtains (But hey, no one is that free right?)
- Your heated glass windows will be covered with snow if it snowed heavily the night before
- No Northern Lights alarm (Some other places like the Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos have such awesome services)
- You paid so much and you didn't see any Northern Lights

Was the Glass Igloo worth the hype? Probably, if you have spare cash. But I would recommend choosing other Glass Igloo resorts that have bigger glass igloos with better facilities (not shared). :)

Day 5 - 7: Husky Safari, Husky Guesthouse, IVALO

Headed up north to Ivalo next for...



Huskies!

I researched quite a fair bit on which Husky Safaris to go for when I chanced upon Guesthouse Husky that had numerous good reviews online. Thank goodness that was still an available room for the dates we wanted! x)



Our cosy, beautiful guesthouse! The guesthouse is tucked in a cosy location at about 5km away from the Ivalo village and it was not a problem getting a taxi from the village to the guesthouse. The guesthouse hosts are also able to book a taxi for you on your preferred pickup time. :) There's a common kitchen that's available for all guests to use and cook their meals if they wish. However, a dinner cooked by Outi, the guesthouse host is a MUST TRY for good and authentic Finnish food. I've read many reviews raving about their dinner and we were certainly not disappointed!

We stayed 2 nights there and booked 2 nights of dinner (Breakfast is complimentary). Each dinner comes with a main and a dessert at about 21 euros per pax per day.



Outi even came out to describe each dish's preparation. This meat loaf was so yummy, I was really amazed by how tender and moist it was. So much so I wanted to try making one when I'm back in Singapore.



Life's good.



Sautéed Reindeer Meat Soup for the second night. The soup was really excellent, fiancé went for seconds.



I wanted seconds for this because I have a sweet tooth.

Okay, enough raving about the food.

We went for their in-house Husky sleigh ride and it was FRIGGIN' AWESOME. Their overalls, gloves, socks and boots were available for rent for free and we were all ready to go once we were suited up!



The dogs were all raring to go! We can hear their barks from quite a distance away and it really got me excited. xD

Our guide taught us the basics of handling a sleigh and we were paired up for the ride!



And off we go! We took turns being the passenger and the driver and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun! We drove quite a distance away from the guesthouse, admiring the beautiful landscape and feeling the cold wind and snow on our faces.



Took a break in between for the huskies to rest up while we took refuge in a teepee. Our guide was roasting hot coffee for us and even made a quick, simple sandwich. It was intriguing to hear him talk about his experience as a hunter and how he came to be a senior guide.





Grabbed the chance to take photos while we can! They seemed to love company and whined when we moved away from them.



With Chip!



I was really upset when our safari (or what they call mushing) ended. I told my fiancé that we will go back again during our anniversary trips someday because this experience was so precious. Not forgetting to mention that both of us loves dogs alot. :')



Oh and before I end off, did I mention that a Finnish sauna is a MUST TRY when in Finland? The guesthouse's sauna is available for guests to use so as long as we follow their house rules and timings. :) Finnish people are big on sauna but I don't have to guts to go jump in an icy pool or roll in the snow after a sauna. Maybe next time. Or maybe not.

I will definitely be back the next time I come back to Finland and highly recommend this Guesthouse Husky to anyone looking for a great time!

Day 2 - 4: Reindeer Sleigh!

One of our MUST DO this trip is to sit on the Reindeer Sleigh Ride! :) We went for the 400m Reindeer Sleigh Ride in Santa Claus Village!



Frankly, the Reindeer Sleigh Ride was pretty meh. We were told that there wasn't enough snow for the 3km ride in the forest and was left with the 400m option. ;( Mehhh. The ride was pretty slow and the reindeer was led by a guide, excitement level 1/5? Family with kids might enjoy the ride more. And perhaps the reindeer safaris in other areas are more worth the hype?



Our sleigh!



Hello there handsome. :) This is perhaps a once in a life time to get up close and personal with these gentle creatures.



Watch out for the antlers!



You can even sit by the bonfire after the ride to warm up ;)



Looked up on tripadvisor the night before on what to eat in Santa Claus Village and was struggling between Santa's Salmon place and Kotahovi Restaurant. We settled for the latter because the restaurant offers Reindeer meat. :P



With my date. The Kotahovi restaurant is shaped in a teepee like structure and it was really warm and cosy inside with dim, warm lighting. There's also a fireplace lit in the center of the restaurant. 10 thumbs up to the ambience!



Complimentary appetiser before our mains!



Our "starters" which was actually a main course in the menu. Creamy salmon soup! Oh my gosh, the soup was so refreshing yet the creaminess was just "light" enough. Definitely recommend this to anyone going to the restaurant!



My Juniper berry flavoured arctic salmon, probably the best salmon I've ever tasted! The salmon was so tender that it melts in your mouth and yet you can feel the texture of the salmon with your tongue. The fishes swim in pollution fee water at the Arctic Current and Gulf stream. So good, I "Finnish" it in seconds.



Fiancé had the traditional sautéed reindeer. Unfortunately, we are not a fan of reindeer meat. The reindeer smell was so bad that it lingered on our clothes for a longggg time. *shudders* We don't eat beef and mutton, but I guess this is how beef and mutton would taste like?



Had the Glögi drink which is a mix of grape juice and spices. It tasted quite like Ribena, but only better because it doesn't taste artificial.



Overall, we enjoyed ourselves in Santa Claus Village and we were a little sad to leave this mystical place. Hope to come back next time (with not just the two of us ;)).