It
is pretty dark when FRAM goes to pier in Longyearbyen long after midnight. This
is quite a statement, telling us that the Polar Night is drawing near and our
time up North is slowly coming to an end.
Our
last circumnavigation, even our last trip to Svalbard is about to start today.
This should leave nobody with the impression of jumping on the last train or
taking what’s left - just the opposite: This is the time when the light is
perfect for photography, when the feeling gets truly Arctic and everything
seems to be more private, belonging more to us with each single day. So the
incoming crowd is fairly excited as they board and go through the necessary
formalities with a patient smile. And to our great pleasure there is a whole
bunch of familiar faces arriving; sometimes it feels rather like a family
reunion than the official reception…so let me slip into our guest’s shoes for
the rest of the narration! …
On time we cast the lines, and with the last
announcements of the safety drill we head into Isfjorden, for the first short
leg to Barentsburg. The morbid charm of this place feels oddly out of place,
here where we expect a wildlife paradise, but the inviting hospitality of the
Russians feels good, especially if spiced with one of their self-made vodkas.
So, here we are, almost at the northern end of the world, we walk under a bust
of Vladimir Ilyitsh Lenin - and they are singing “Kalinka”…hm. But they sing it
with enthusiasm, so somehow it is touching and tells the positive part of the
story about the strange life in the otherwise grim surroundings of this
village. Well, time to ponder this over a drink in the luxurious Bar Lounge,
but the eyes are getting heavy. A long, long journey comes to an end, and ahead
of us lie seven days of - how Captain Hårvik put it - “real experiences in
unique waters”. Good night then, tomorrow we start exploring!
