I was super excited to visit this island. Always wanted to see this beautiful place and after the trip to the Faroe islands I was even more excited. I packed light as usual but it was a little hard trying to fit warm clothes which are thick and bulky.
The first thing I learned about Svalbard is that anyone who leaves the town and or their settlement must always carry a rifle. I think it's the law just in case people get attacked by polar bears.
The only down side to my trip is the fact that I will be staying in a hostel sharing with 3 other random people. It is so expensive here that to get my own room would have been nearly $1000 for an economy room. I decided to spend the money on excursions instead. Luckily the hostel was actually lovely and clean and had wonderful breakfasts. The view from my room was quite amazing especially when on the first morning I saw 2 reindeers walk down the hill towards our window.
Longyearbyen is an Arctic mining town and it's not the prettiest town but the outskirts are so scenic and beautiful. I saw that from the very expensive bus ride from the airport. I was greeted by a giant stuffed polar bear at arrivals plus some tourists were picking up their rifles.
It did take a while to fall asleep as it was daytime all day. Sleep got worse when a French couple who snored moved in but things looked up again when a Hungarian lady moved in too. She was fun and made my stay in the hostel better and memorable. She hated the snorers too. We spent most of our evenings together in the lounge. In fact we took over the lounge and I even slept in there a few times just to get away from the snorers.
My friend I met on the polar cruise to the Arctic 11 years ago lives in Longyearbyen and so we met up and had lunch at her favourite restaurant. She also took me to the most northern cinema to watch Mamma Mia 2. We also went for a seafood buffet at the Radisson and met with her friends. She's a local tour guide for Chinese visitors and she let me tag along on one of her city tours.
My first excursion was a trip to Pyramiden by open speed boat. What was I thinking? They also do this trip in a big warm boat that serves waffles to the passengers but nobody tells you these things until after you book the crazy boat trip. At least they gave me the gear needed to keep warm and endure the bumpy ride. It was a giant padded onesie where you couldn't bend your knees. It took ages to get it on and off and 2 guys had to help me both times. Then you had to get on the boat and sit down. You had to straddle your seat like a horse. That was fun but again I needed help getting on. The thrills of travelling alone. The ride was super bumpy. My butt hasn't been pounded like this...ever! I filmed 30 seconds of the journey but the ride was over 2 hours long each way! Veronica was my guide and an amazing speed boat driver to Pyramiden. She carries her rifle to fend off polar bears if we ever come across one. She has no time for stupid tourists. She will let the bear eat you if you are stupid. I like Veronica. I was also super excited to see a polar fox, reindeers and the very rare blue fox in Svalbard's famous Russian mining ghost town. The Russians were brought here and they made a little community where everything was free. They had a hospital, cinema, swimming pool, bars, restaurant and a school. The housing was a block for single men, one for single ladies and one for families. It was thriving in the 60s. After the revolution the town was abandoned. Everyone left and never returned. Unfortunately the impending storm was getting closer so we had to skip the glacier to beat the storm back to the harbour. Over 2 hours later we finally made it. At one point I'm sure we were vertical. Like I said before Veronica my guide and boat captain is a bad ass. I had absolute faith in her bad assness to get me back safely. It was definitely an experience. Still glad I did it and endured the journey.
Itook a stroll through town and spotted some interesting things. I went polar bear spotting and saw over 100 different versions of the polar bear except for the real thing. I saw some weird fluffy white flowers. From afar I thought they were daisies. It felt like soft cotton. It is the Arctic cotton flower. I also loved the local library. the northernmost library in the world. It was so warm, inviting and comfortable. You have to take your shoes off before entering.
People here are serious about Polar bear attacks. Everyone has a gun even the cyclist was carrying a rifle. At least there are signs to remind people to leave their guns before entering the any shop, bank and post office etc. The zone where you have to have a rifle and/or other bear protection is when you pass the beware of polar bear signs just outside of town.
On one of my trips I ventured from the harbour and went all the way up to Coal Mine 3. It was sunny but very cold and windy.
It was sad to hear but the next morning we heard a polar bear was killed just in the harbour area where visitors don't need to carry a rifle. Not sure about all the details but the person injured is in hospital and there will be an investigation to see if the polar bear was killed in self defense.
On my next excursion, this time by covered boat in the lovely warm. After a very long arduous trip that was nearly cancelled because of the swell, I finally saw walruses. They were huge and pretty farty too. It took over 5 hours in a speedboat which was so bumpy and the weather was raining and foggy all day. It was definitely worth it to see these amazing creatures. I love animals no matter how smelly they are.
This was such a memorable trip even though there were no polar bear sightings. I met a friend from years ago who was a great host and looked after me really well. She was too generous. I also met a new friend who kept me sane in the hostel and we were silly together. Something I haven't been in ages.
