We had to get up quite early today in order to finish packing and get ready as we were shortly to arrive in Kirkenes, our last stop of the cruise. We even managed to squeeze in a quick breakfast.
Once docked we joined the throng waiting to get off the ship and eventually got off to find our bus. There were quite a few more people than we expected going on to the dog sledging and with a full bus we were driven over the snowy roads to the Ice Hotel from which the activity started.
When we got there we were split into 3 groups as there were too many people and so we first went to see the reindeer. Live ones this time, not on our plate! Interestingly enough the reindeer were rented from Sami people. The Sami are the only ones who are allowed to own reindeer in Norway.
We got into the second group of people and managed to get the second sled. The musher was a girl from Denmark and our dog team were racing dogs, so we got a reasonably spirited ride. Dana still thought it was a bit slow! It was great fun though despite the fact that the dogs were a bit on the whiffy side.
After the ride we went on the bus and then had to wait over half an hour after it was supposed to leave. So we would have had time to go and see the snow hotel after all.. oh well, next time! Despite being late we still managed to drop people off at the ship with 10 minutes to spare before being driven to our hotel.
We quickly checked in and then went to look around the town. The lady at reception talked us into borrowing a couple of push sleds, funny-looking things with very long rails on which you stand. The idea is to push off with your feet similar to a scooter and then glide along. It seemed quite a popular way of doing the shopping as various people scooted around town on them. There wasn’t an awful lot to see in town though and after the cafe closed at 2pm or so and it started getting dark we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the sauna.
In the evening we ate at a restaurant called “surf and turf” based on internet reviews, but we didn’t find it so good. Service was good but Dana didn’t really enjoy her reindeer stew. Micha had cod tongues as a starter (the lady in the fishing village yesterday had said it was a delicacy) and whale steak for mains. The whale (våge hval) was quite good, similar to very tender beef but a slightly different taste.
We pretty much called it a night soon after dinner as it was still too overcast to see any northern lights and we were both pretty tired.
