To be truthful I didn't realise this was a challenge until I did it. But it was, with bells on!
A laavu is basically a Wigwam - ie a canvas tent propped up with sticks with a six foot diameter hole in the ceiling. And yes, it was a little nippy, to the tune of -12C with a wind-chill of -20C - mild according to the local Saami people, but jaw-numbingly cold to an Irish softie like myself (we do rain, not cold!). And yes, the snow did fall through the hole. To be fair we did have a fire in the middle of the wigwam, which blazed merrily for 20 mins and then died. Our guide popped in several times during the night to relight the fire using half of Norway's wood supplies and a can of paraffin - not a relaxing scenario for a good night's sleep. We were all cocooned in our Arctic sleeping bags in thermal suits, unable to surface for air in case something dropped off and fearful of suffocating through lack of oxygen or from smoke inhalation. We laughed and cried in equal measure, but sleep was not on the agenda.
And one final yes - we did have to pee, and more, in the pitch dark in a frozen hole in the ground - in fact our 'produce' froze before it hit the ground. Suffice to say that I stopped drinking at lunchtime before our overnight stay - somehow I just didn't feel thirsty!
And one post-final yes - the huskies did howl all night long. Which would have been a problem if we had been asleep, but luckily we weren't!
However, a quick family rendition of Kum-ba-ya soon cheered us up!
No comments:
Post a Comment