TRAVELLIVE 11-2017

I
believe that life is a long journey
where one should explore the
world, discover nature and our
vast universe. To me exploring
the world is a life-long mission
and the harsher the journey, the more
thrilling the experience. I have now
conquered the Arctic on dog sled and
the most rewarding thing was seeing
the aurora borealis, an occurrence that
I was very lucky to witness in
my lifetime.
Follow “the call
of the wild”
When first preparing for the trip,
I began to wonder what was so
attractive to me about the far-off icy
Bay (Norway), north-east of the
Treriksroset, then headed south
through Sweden, and arrived on
the Vakkarajarvi River. The Arctic
is a land covered by ice and snow
all year round. The thick layers of
snow sometimes melt but never
completely. Even though I was used
to -30 0 C temperature, my body still
took several days to adjust itself to
the new temperature. The longer you
stay, the better you will be at getting
used to the cold, but it does not mean
your resistance level will improve.
For a tropical guy like me, the longer
I stay in the cold, the more my body
seems to resist it. My skin became
cracked, irritated and reddish like
getting both sun burn and frost bite
at the same time. It was very painful
a fast and efficient manner.
Traveling with sled dogs is a very
unique experience. I had to hold the
sled tight and steer the dogs at the
same time. Standing straight for
seven to eight hours a day under the
freezing cold was something I had
never experienced before.
To compensate our patience and
endurance, we were blessed with
breath-taking scenery from mother
nature. We passed through barren
tundra, across glaciers and snowcovered
forests, sledding on the thick
snow. The scenery around me was
constantly changing like footage from
a beautiful film. There were times
when the sun was shining so bright
that it lit up the whole area. The sky
lands. Perhaps I have some kind of
strange connection to these freezing
countries as most of my journeys
have centered around the Himalayas,
Moscow, and this time, the Arctic.
It was a strong call urging me to
embark on this trip.
On the first day of my journey,
I did not travel immediately to
the Arctic. I was taken to Sweden,
where I met a specialist who trained
for many years in the military. We
were taught the knowledge of how
to survive our journey. I had two
days to meet and get to know people
from many different countries like
Belgium, Holland, Germany, USA
and South Korea...
We departed from the Signaldalen
and irritating. Each blow of wind
froze me to death, but it was nothing
compared to the breath-taking
scenery before me.
The 300 km and
4-day journey
My first task every morning was
to prepare food for my six husky
friends. Their attitude towards you
throughout the day is reflected
in the way you take care of them,
thoughtfully or not. Therefore, it
is very important to make them a
good breakfast. After their breakfast
comes our breakfast. Our remaining
tasks in the morning include luggage
arrangements, tent removal, and
cleaning. Everything must be done in
was blue and clear, I felt like I was
somewhere between heaven and earth.
The whole scenery was beautifully
encapsulated by the blueness of the
sky and the whiteness of snow. Our
groups of people continued on like
army ants, following one another into
the icy land.
On some other roads, the sky was
cloudy, with strong gusts of winds
dragging up the snow, which brought
along with it the freezing cold and
burning touch. There was crisp white
snow all around us. Without the dogs
as our guide, we seriously would not
have known where we were heading
as all roads disappeared before us. All
I could think about at the time was to
trust the dogs and their guidance as
they would show us the way...