After rib-breaking day we went on a Reindeer Safari. This was supposed to be easy and involved nothing more than sitting in the back of a sled while a Reindeer dragged us around in the snow.
It was ethereally beautiful and white. The trees groaned under snow. Some collapsed under the weight of snow. I was wearing two pairs of socks and Ugg boots. I was wearing three (3) pairs of gloves. We were under big woolly rugs. My feet were blocks of ice. My hands hurt so much I thought I would cry. My ribs hurt so much I screamed every now and then with pain. It was like screaming in space. The snow swallowed the sound.
No one cared much – we were all in our own little worlds of pain and coldness. The Reindeer were totally indifferent and plodded along dragging us to our doom. I imagined the Reindeer dragging blocks of ice through the frozen wilderness. We would die and no one would notice.
This went for two hours. Eventually we stopped. The Reindeer man helped us into a hut and lit a fire and we tried to warm up. A van arrived and took us back to the Safari place. I lost my vision and went deaf. Apparently I blacked out. An ambulance was called.
The thought of spending more time in Ivalo hospital perked me up and I feigned wellness. The ambulance people were suspicious but let me go. We crept home in blinding snow and an oncoming car hit a reindeer and pushed it into our path. Cate tried to avoid it - and had almost stopped but the reindeer whacked the driver’s front side. We stopped but the driver of the other car said it was his responsibility. He called the appropriate people who would deal with the Reindeer – which was still alive – and sent us on our way.
When I had picked up the car the man said that that the insurance excess payment was €950 - or I could remove this by paying €9.53 per day. Duh! In Lapland – in Mid-Winter? I paid the €9.53 per day. Not all my decisions are bad.
I have posted some Lapland photos on the Picasa album attached to this Blog. Click on a photo.
