Day 1. Two ‘ölen’ in Jormvattnet.
The alarm wakes me up at 6 am for my trip. I’m flying from Munich to Copenhagen, then to Stockholm and finally to Östersund. Is that my final destination? No, not at all. A VW Camper will pick up the six of us and our guide and saunter along glacial roads into the Swedish outback for another 4.5 hours.
It’s pitch-black at 7 pm when we reach Jormvattnet, a village with a population of 80. Now all we need is two ‘ölen’ (Swedish for beers) and some Kötbullar, the traditional meatballs – and we’re living the Swedish dream!
Day 2. The Iceland horses’ lifesaver.
After breakfast, we get our gear on. “Hop on, start the sled and go!” shouts the guide. A sled? It’s a 300 kg monster of a snowmobile! I push the starter button and play with the throttle… Woah, there’s some power behind that! I barely manage to stop the vehicle from ploughing into the nearby paddock. Those Icelandic horses owe me one.
As complete newbies, we judder around a bend at 8 km/h (5 mph) – a bend that even an ice road truck could manage with ease. This is harder than it looks. How embarrassing! Nevertheless, after an hour our guide tells us we’re ready for the first tour. Let's go! The ride with the snowmobile monster is exciting and a lot of fun - even though we haven't yet mastered the device properly and have to take a little detour on the way. The first exit is fun. But admittedly: I thought it’d be easier than this. From my baby toe right up to my ear lobes, my whole body aches.
This Icelandic horses owe us one. 
