kiruna - hall ii overseas christmas

What was supposed to happen:

I was supposed to fly from Hamburg-Lubeck at 1:20pm and reach Stockholm Skavsta at 2:45pm, reaching Stockholm by 4:15pm. My train from Stockholm to Kiruna is supposed to be at 5:55pm. Technically, I have time.

What happened instead:

The Ryanair flight arrived at 3:20pm, and I reached Stockholm at 4:30pm. By the time the bus to Stockholm arrived, it was 6:30pm. Half an hour late, thanks to the "lowest fares and best on-time record" airline. I was wondering how to go up to Kiruna. I went to the train station, looked at the board, and curiously saw the 5:55pm train still displayed on the screen. I ran to the gate hurriedly, entered the train, and asked a random stranger, "Is this going to Kiruna?"

"Yes."

Woohoo! With some immortal luck I made it on the train. Minutes later, the door closed and the train departed. I made my way to find the rest of them, who were already waiting on the train, embraces and high-fives in between.

At night, I slept on Shearn's bed, being a complete cheapskate.

The next day, at approximately 12pm, the train stopped, and refused to move. The train conductor announced that the train's engine froze, and they had to try to restart it. The temperature outside was -40 degrees. How insane.

Subsequently it was declared unsafe to proceed, and they ferried all of us to Lulea, providing free rooms and dinner.

Arrival at Lulea

Shukri "Bolt", half naked in -35 deg

After eating a pathetic dinner at Lulea, we went to celebrate Christmas at the stroke of midnight. There was a gift exchange (sadly not for me since I did not know and hence did not bring).

Christmas tree for Gift Exchange

Gift Exchange

Happy Couple

Declaration of Love

The next day, the train came and we went up to Kiruna.

The view of the lake from the cabin

Sehr Gross!

The cabin was huge, and comfortable. The heaters were always working, something which I half-expected not to function at full strength all the time.

Don't you love these guys

Christmas dinner

We saw the Northern Lights, which I did not take a picture of, but you can search on Google. We went to the sauna, occasionally dipping in the cold waters of the icy lake for instant muscle relief.

The next day we went to drive a snowmobile!

Getting ready

Gearing up

Met Brendan and De Pin! Apparently today was their last day in Kiruna.

Brendan

De Pin

Some say..

Learning how to drive

Polar night

Arriving at the destination

Frolicking in deep snow

Heading to the Ice Hotel

Ice Hotel

Blah blah blah

Ice Bar

Hwa Chong (Me, Wen Sheu, Wei Chung)

Some of the designs in the rooms

Wen Sheu

Souvenir shop

On the way back

Later at night, we went to do dog sledding. It was not value for money, don't bother.

the Tepee

Obedient dogs

Drinking coffee, talking rubbish

 Later at night, they went to build a campfire to sit around and play games.

On the 3rd morning, we left Kiruna.

Hall II Overseas Christmas 2012

 Waiting at Kiruna for the train back to Stockholm.

Town of Kiruna

Lunch buffet

Final look at the town

Guitar shop out of nowhere

I must say, reuniting people that you know and love is a heartwarming thing. Having lived in Europe for 4 months now, these people are the closest semblance of family in this foreign continent. Celebrating Christmas together, doing all the nonsense we do together (Vennu Mallesh), gives that feeling of friendship, of familiarity, of home.