5:16 AM
Visited Tromso, Norway, last wkend with a few of the stevenage gals. The week before, it was -20degC there.. but when we arrived, it was 4degC and raining! argh. reli strange how quickly the weather changes!
on the first nite we went straight for the Northern lights tour - paid loads for a reli good guide. it was extremely cloudy (and rainy), so he had to drive us past the Finland border in search of clear skies (and the Northern lights). so we found a patch of clear skies and waited.. and we
believe we saw the Northern lights! haha. the activity was low that night.. so u can only see a greyish band of light. it'll appear green when photographed though - the camera catches loads more than the eyes can see! but only the guide's got the professional camera.. so... u can look at his photos here http://www.kskogli.no/aurora/?page_id=25
Tromso itself is a reli small city.. (with extremely nice and helpful, not to mention very gd looking people!)
Tromso city and its surrounding fjords..
view from atop
one of the largest remaining wooden cathedrals..
Jing and I visited the Polaria to see this =>
super duper fat whiskered seal! - it's sooooo round.
the seals kissing!
we then attempted x-country skiing.. it's less fun than down-hill skiing..plus the rain's washed away most of the snow as well.. so it was very slippery and much more difficult to control where u're gg.. (more like slipping on ice instead of skiing reli)
we went on a track ard the pretty lake..
x-country skiing was a nice experience.. but the highlight of the trip was the dog-sledding at night! it was quite scary at first, coz the dogs get all excited when they see you arriving and they all begin howling like mad.. it was a major challenge guiding the sled yourself - the dogs are extremely strong and they dun run.. they CHARGE! it's very dark at night as well, so u can't exactly see where u're going.. u just cling on real tight for dear life and stomp on the brakes everytime u're flying downhill. ooh! and u gotta watch out for overhead tree branches as well! - the huskies run reli close to the trees.. they dun care if u get whacked in the face by a branch or not!
there were 5 huskies pulling each sled with 2 passengers - one in the sled and one standing behind guiding it..apparently, the huskies are grouped according to their running ability (and intelligence!)
the 2 rear white huskies - supposedly the weaker and sillier ones in the group. they'll run and pee and shit at the same time!! hehe. reli cute and adorable though. =)
and the front 2 skinny black huskies that are the strongest and fastest!
after the heart-racing husky-sledding in the snow blizzard, we're "snow-mobiled" to the traditional sami camps - the lavvu tent for a hot sami meal!
in the tent..
we were served hot creamy fish stew + norwegian bread - it was extremely delicious =)
yup.. that's about it! made it back safely to more snow in the uk..
~gone in a moment.. 
