Reviewed 07 Feb 2012 by Mei Yoke Chan
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Witnessing one of the best displays of the aurora ever!! Also, being converted from hardcore carnivore to actually liking vegetables!! Maya is a very good cook...I also like the fact that Junosuando is a real-life charming village and not the usual touristy place. I had a bit of a culture shock when I went to Abisko after Junosuando!
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
If you are not very tall, ask for the ensuite room with the dry compost toilet. It's a charming attic room but would be a bit cramped for a tall person.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Definitely! I like the fact that Mikael works to spread the tourist dollars to the community. Check out the fantastic yoga massage given by a local therapist and the charming local artisan shop.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
I would rate it 4.5 stars! It is excellent but a bit excessive to say that I am reborn! It is one of my best vacation experiences but I can't say it is the best vacation I have ever been on (all vacations are kinda different so difficult to compare!). I would certainly like to go back, whether in the summer (another type of experience!) or again in winter!
Reviewed 09 Mar 2011 by Jim Kieran
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Three days guided cross-country skiing with a fantastic guide, Rolf, tracking animals and skiing up frozen rivers and across frozen lakes. Also an extraordinary Northern Lights display one night.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Enjoy everything that's on offer on this vacation, and don't get too hung up on seeing the Northern Lights. We were very lucky and got a brilliant display but it's not guaranteed. The couple who run it are really lovely people and we won't forget them. They have a wonderful traditional Swedish sauna that shouldn't be missed.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Definitely. From the local produce and vegetarian food to the dry composting toilets!, and from the use of local services, massage, airport transfer by a local driver etc.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Excellent. My final words to the owners, Mikael and Maya, were "Don't change anything"! They couldn't have been better hosts and the converted vicarage in which we were staying, was so comfortable and cosy. We travel a lot and have all shapes and sizes of vacations, good and not so good. This one was faultless and good value for money.
Reviewed 07 Mar 2011 by Elena Isayev
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Having been skiing through a snow covered forest past animal tracks, and then have a freshly cooked lunch on a campfire in the middle of the woods, with piping hot juice. The snow, the trees, the northern lights - the snow.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
If you are going on the skiing vacation with the guide no need to bring any serious winter gear all is provided. Also if you do want to eat meat, let the hosts Mikael and Maya know beforehand (and you may just get a locally sourced moose).
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Absolutely it was environmentally friendly and really linked in to the local community but without it being obvious it was just part of it.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
We had a fabulous four day break at the retreat in February. It's difficult to imagine how it could have been better. The accommodation and food (even for non-vegetarians!) is excellent and the Refuge has that quality you can't buy - warmth, hospitality and atmosphere. We spent our time skiiing, watching for the Northern Lights and on a fine husky dog sledding expedition. There was much more we could have done and hope to do next time. Our guide - Rolf - was knowledgeable, patient and wonderfully well-informed. We learned a lot as well as did a lot. As you'll have realised we'd recommend this to anyone looking for an adventurous break.
Reviewed 31 Jan 2010 by Piera Hall
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
The cross country ski in the Lapland forests, with nothing but ancient trees and animal tracks around us.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
The accommodation is a very welcoming place, with good vegetarian food.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Outstanding, a great experience.
Reviewed 07 Feb 2010 by Gilliane Sills
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Skiing through the old forest, with the trees covered deeply in snow, making dramatic shapes, and identifying animal tracks - moose, reindeer, fox, hare and so on. The day had timelessness - people must have used the same equipment and the same techniques for centuries. Another day, the guide showed us how to get water from a frozen lake. He excavated a bowl in the ice with an axe, and he and we then used a hand augur to drill through to the water beneath, filling the excavated bowl
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
We took our own silk underwear (t-shirts and long johns) and this was excellent underneath the traditional clothing for skiing supplied by the guide. It's not necessary to take lots of outer clothing, or additional warm layers. We were beautifully warm, including our feet, but not our hands. It would be worth taking silk gloves as a lining, and any other tried and tested methods for keeping hands warm. Thick towelling dressing gowns and house shoes were provided at the Retreat, so another time, we wouldn't take our own..
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Our vacation benefited our hosts, who were local people and brought business to them and their suppliers, including the taxi driver who took us from Kiruna Airport to Junosuando. Our guide was also reasonably local. The impact on the environment seemed to be as low as such a vacation could be, given that some use of a car was essential to get around. The food was largely vegetarian, with local fish, moose and reindeer on occasion, so was local and excellent.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Very good! We'd hoped to see the Northern Lights and in fact, did so - but they were dim and white, and looked rather like a band of cloud stretching in an arc from one side of the horizon to the other, so this was disappointing. But we went recognising that it wasn't the best time of year for sunspot activity, so it would have been a bonus if we'd had a dramatic display. There were, nevertheless, many memorable experiences.
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