Day 24 King Crab fishing & the Snow Hotel

This morning we had to be up early & out of cabins by 8am. We were due to dock at 9am and we needed to disembark & get on the buses quickly. A group of Aussies (myself, my new friends & 2 Indian families traveling together) all boarded the bus for crab fishing. We were taken to a place where we were dressed in coveralls & given helmets. Then we piled into sleds and were driven by snowmobile onto one of the fjords. They had a numbers of holes in the ice with frames above them. They explained the ice is currently 35cm deep and that it is a mix of sea & fresh water. They pulled up the crab pot & it was full of crab! Interestingly though, it appears the crabs were pre-planted into the pot to guarantee some crab. They pulled some crab out & they were huge! They then killed them before we were allowed to hold them & take photos with them. They cut the legs off for us to take back for lunch. The body is thrown back into the water. We went back to the cabin where they cooked the crab for us. They gave us all scissors and demonstrated how to get into the legs. They were sooo good. I tried crab in Australia once and it was awful. This stuff was so sweet & warm & melted in your mouth. I had 3 legs and was so full!

After lunch we were collected & taken to the snow hotel in Kirkenes. We checked in & were told to wait for the guide for a tour of the place. It has both snow rooms and normal cabins but it also has dogs & reindeer. She showed us all these areas & explained parts of the complex. There is a barn connected to the snow hotel which has the restaurants for breakfast & dinner. There is also a lounge area for snow room guests as rooms are not accessible until 6pm. We walked around on our own for a while & patted some of the dogs.  these are not pure bred huskies. These are mixed breed everything! Apparently they cross breed the huskies with lots of other very strong dogs to get good sled dogs, including border collies, danes, labs etc. They also have some puppies which were super cute. We talked to the reindeer (one of them is named Rudolf, he is bullied by the other 3 reindeer!). We then went and looked at all the snow rooms. Each room has a different carving on the wall. Its really cool. Inside is a constant -4c. We then spent the afternoon in the lounge chilling.

At 5pm we had to attend a meeting where they have us a room number & locker key. I was given room 5 which has a mouse on the wall. Then we cooked hot dogs on the fire before going out to feed the reindeer. We fed them handfuls of moss. Then we went to the ice bar for a drink of crowberry juice. We went upstairs to the dinner restaurant to claim seats. It was conjugal dining in big long tables. We ended up sitting with some Aussies and Yanks. Wayne bought us a drink which turned out to be basically a shot but a little bigger. Boy were they strong, nice but strong. Dinner was served and we had mushroom & reindeer soup for entree, chicken (arctic char for everyone else) and chocolate brownie for dessert. It was excellent! After dinner they showed us how to get into the sleeping bags. They have us a -40c bag, cotton liner, thick wool socks & balaclava. We were told to only wear 1 layer of thermals.

After this we went to the ice bar for a drink.  They only serve shots so I had Bailey's, the least harsh! Once you finish they encourage you to smash your ice glass on the steps. So we did and it was awesome. Then of course we had to repeat.

When we eventually went to bed, it was a mussion getting into the bags! They are quite fitted so you can't move much. I ended up removing the balaclava but plugging the opening of the sleeping bag with the excess sheet. I was completely buried inside the bag! Now fingers crossed I don't need the toilet in the middle of the night!

Anyways that's bedtime. I'll continue tomorrow.