Hui and I had one goal when we booked our flight to Sweden: go husky sledding. In fact, before we even expressed an interest in traveling to Switzerland together, Hui mentioned that one of the top things in her bucket list was to go husky sledding. It took us a few stressful nights to find an open husky sledding tour that was actually available in between our times of arrival and departure, and besides our usual planning, we also had to map out the routes to our appropriate train lines as well.
Eventually, we honed in on a morning tour run by "Husky Tours Lulea," which of course happened to be in the small town of Lulea on the northern part of Sweden. Before our 3:00AM train to the town itself, we were lucky enough to have time to visit Stockholm, and more specifically, its old town of Gamla Stan. I couldn't help but make comparisons between Copenhagen's architecture and way of living compared to Sweden's while we were walking around the cobblestone-paved streets there, and honestly, there wasn't much differences we could find. We simply enjoyed our time people-watching around the square. The two of us also visited a few landmarks like the Stockholm Royal Palace, and the "Alley of Marten Trotzig," a small alley only 36 centimeters wide (making a pretty cute and unique photo op!) The time eventually did come to take our train to Lulea, however, and I think the two of us could feel the excitement we had for this once in a lifetime experience. We paid a pretty penny for this, and we were hoping that everything would turn out fine seeing as this was our last excursion outside of Copenhagen. Even though I thought I had prepared for this, I was NOT prepared for the cold. The two of us packed a heavy coat, tights, and gloves, but when we arrived in Lulea, even a simple grocery trip to buy breakfast would leave us aching to go back inside as quick as possible. It was made worse by the fact that my friend had acquired a pretty nasty blister because her boots did not break in yet. Waking up at four in the morning the next day was also a pretty arduous task as we had to wait nearly half an hour in the freezing cold for our first bus transfer (then a subsequent three-hour train trip!) to the actual sledding location. In the beginning, the both of us were somewhat shy to ask for guidance about things like tickets and direction--especially with the internet on our sides--but by the end of this trip, we did not hesitate. We were driven in a van by the tour guide to the Husky farm, and as soon as we saw those dogs, the two of us knew we were in for one memorable ride. I could feel all of my worry fade away when I played with the huskies, but the hour-long sledding tour itself was one of the most unique moments of my life. The two of us took turns driving the huskies as we followed a small procession of other sleds manned by tour guides and tourists alike. As we travelled through the lush and sometimes bumpy terrain of the snowy steppes of Sweden, I was amazed at how blue everything was. The exhilaration and adrenaline of driving the sled seemed small compared to the wonder the both of us felt at frozen lake we passed by. The both of us expressed surprised at how quiet everything was as well. For me, it was the most rural location I've ever been in my life. The sight of the sun rising to meet our faces marked the end of the tour, and as we sipped on our hot coffee to warm ourselves up, I knew that we participated in something truly special.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Matthew Calulot
Aloha! I am a fourth-year Marketing and International Business student currently studying at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. I have never been to Europe before, which is exactly why I wanted to study abroad as a student from Hawai'i. Archives
January 2023
Categories |