The big freeze at Harriniva!

Lapland is already enjoying temperatures at night as low as -25 and is looking amazing.

River Muonio that flows past Harriniva is just starting to freeze and the hotel is planning to build its igloo in the coming days.

You learn something new everyday.......

In Finland, especially as you head north towards Lapland hunting is a way of life. Not the pointless shooting at anything for fun hunting but the lets stock up the freezer for the winter variaty. At this time of year it is mainly elk and bird hunting. 

Each hunting club is allocated a set number of elk each year that they are allowed to hunt. This varies dramatically year to year with the powers that be using a formula and doing counts in sample areas to estimate the elk population. The hunters then get together usually at weekend during the season keeping strictly to their allocation. For many it is the socialising rather than the hunting that appeals.

So now for the new part. It was only yesterday that I discovered that to gain a hunting licence each hunter must take a test every 3 years to ensure that they are skilled enough to carry a gun. The test involves shooting 3 moving targets. Many hunters take the test annually, I can only assume this is to reassure themselves and their hunting companions. 

At this point I am usually asked if they hunt reindeer and just to clear that up the answer no. The reindeer are semi domesticated animals that roam through northern Finland and Lapland grazing freely.  

Iso-Syote, amazing weather and stunning views!

After a flight via Helsinki we arrived in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland. It was then a gentle two hour drive south to the amazing fell area of Syote.

Unfortunataly pictures will have to follow so you will have to take my word as to how amazing Syote looks. At breakfast in the hotels panoramic restaurant we just watched in awe as the sun rose over the opposite fell and sat on top of the blanket of mist in the valley, truely breathtaking.

The trees, hotel and cottages are already covered in a pretty layer of frost and snow. The temperature waivered between -8 and -10 all day with bright sunshine and crystal clear skies. The safari guides were already out preparing the snowmobile roots for the coming season and the snow cannons were on the slopes.

If Juha and Katarina at the hotel Iso Syote have their way you will soon be able to admire the views for yourself from their webcam. It will be worth getting up early to see those sunrises.

The locals mentioned that they had already seen Santa out doing some pre-season training with his reindeer. It appears that the amazing summer has left them a little lazy and above their prefered flying weight. Nice to know that it isn't just humans that have to get in shape for the festive season! I will let you know if we see him or the northern lights.

The Times of India reports.

Finland is wooing Bollywood producers. Finnish Tourism Board is arranging for familiarisation trips for our film-makers to igloos, Santa country, Lapland, Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun. More importantly, the board plans to facilitate Bollywood units there so that the experience is hassle-free.

Similar initiatives by Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Poland have transported these countries to our cinemas and into our homes. Expectedly, the number of Indian visitors to these countries has been steadily going up.

So have shop sales. Great Britain has gone a step further. UK's Bollywood trail invites visitors to retrace their favourite movie sequences. Pan to India. Forget marketing Incredible India as a moviemaker's destination.

Even the few foreign film-makers who come to this country at their own initiative mostly because the film theme or storyline demands an Indian backdrop have had to retreat hastily after hitting roadblocks in the form of red tape, erratic schedules, lack of technical support, and overcharging.

Faced with poor service and non-availability of efficient facilitators, foreign crew tend to turn their sights to less problematic Asian or south-east destinations like Thailand and Korea.

It is quite possible that things have improved since Richard Attenborough made Gandhi here nearly 25 years ago, but clearly not enough to attract more Hollywood film-makers to shoot in India.

Tap into the network of cameras across Finland and Lapland to experience the quiet life!

A Finnish website set up primarily by the authorities to monitor weather conditions on their roads allows you to get a glimps of Finnish weather and life. Until not many years ago staff in a network of cabins along the main routes would call in weather updates but now the cameras along with other roadside technology allow authroties to decide when the snowplows should be dispatched on any given stretch.

The first thing that hits you is the lack of traffic, especially when you look at the cameras in Lapland. You will also be able to see that Lapland already has a decent covering of snow, 30cm has fallen in recent days.

To link to the website click here.

A position it has held since the index started 4 years ago!

Finland ranked first in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006, published Tuesday by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands share first place with Finland, with North Korea coming last at place 168.

Finland has been at the top of the ranking list every year since the publication of the first index in 2002.
At the opposite end of the spectrum on the Press Freedom Index, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Eritrea bask in the questionable acclaim of being ranked as the most blatant violators of freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

Denmark, which belonged among the leaders in 2005, is now ranked 19th, owing to journalists having received death-threats because of the Muhammad caricatures. The United States was ranked only 53rd (in 2002 it was still in the top 20 countries) and France could place no higher than 35th, although it, too, was in or around the top 10 just four years ago.

The press freedom index is based on evaluations made by journalists, researchers, lawyers and human rights activists.

As temperatures plummet, lakes start to freeze and the snow appears.

Hotel Iso-Syote, a wonderful hotel set on of one of Finland southern most fells, just below the Arctic Circle, is enjoying the best of both worlds - bright sunshine and the arrival of winter. Temperatures are now regularly dropping below -10 which is vital at this time of year to ensure that lakes and swamps freeze before the arrival of the heavy winter snow.

The ski slopes tend to open mid November and the first husky and snowmobile safaris set off in early December or ealier if snow conditions allow.

Syote enjoys some of the heaviest snowfall in Lapland with the trees you see in the pictures being transformed into snow pyramids. The image below was taken last December from the hotel overlooking the ski lifts. The views from the hotel and cabins are breathtaking what ever the season.

For further details of spending Christmas in this Winter wonderland click here.

Life in the nursery in Lapland.

A few photos to show how Harriniva's latest puppies are progressing. They are growing so fast.

There is already snow on the ground in places in Lapland and at night time they are experiencing temperatures as low as -10.
That of course will be nothing to the puppies, as the winter progresses they must be prepared to function in tempratures as low as -40.
As a rule it is the warmer weather the dogs dislike, even temperatures of -5 are not pleasant when the dogs are working, whisking their sleds through the forzen forests. They are happiest and -10 and below! 

If you want experience husky sleding in Lapland click here.