Cruise around the northern lands - part 1

Rest in Svalbard, John Bottom, Australia Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean, about halfway between Norway and the North Pole. It includes all the islands that are between 74 and 81gradusami north latitude and between 10 and 35 degrees east longitude. The main islands are Spitsbergen, North-East Land, Barents Land, The Edge, Land of Prince Charles and Bear Island. The settlement Longyirbyuen resides almost 2000 people. This is the largest settlement on Svalbard. It is located in the southern part of the Advent Fjord, on the banks of the river Longyirelva. It is named in honor of the American entrepreneur John Munro Longyearbyen (1860-1922), who as head of the Arctic Coal "founded the city and laid a nearby coal mine, which was the first major mine in Svalbard. The coal mining industry is still thriving. All roads and hillsides are literally littered with mines and mining equipment, but times change, and tourists quickly learn Longyirbyuen, which because of its relative accessibility has become the gateway to the other islands of the archipelago. Longyirbyuen flying until Longyirbyuena turned out to be unusual. We flew after midnight, but the island is still bathed in sunlight. Getting off the ladder, we realized that we hide from the cold will not succeed. The next two days at sea leaving two boats, and landing on a bus that was supposed to take us to the hotel, we wondered what we see on the coast. Day One After a short sleep we were very glad and very excited. In the morning I had the opportunity to wander the streets (yes, alone) Longyirbyuena. I'm not counting on a long walk, but eventually wandered into a very interesting museum, and four hours passed quickly. It's time to go by bus to the port where the boat was already waiting for us. On board we had to spend the next 11 days, it was called the "Akademik Shokalsky. It was a Russian research vessel built in 1982. At length it was only 71.6 meters shorter ddazhe field for the game in tachbol (a kind of American Football, ca. Perevi.). His team consists of 23 members, and can climb aboard 43 passengers. The boat was much smaller than the vessel in which we went to Antarctica (the ship "Explorer", is well suited for such cruises, however, it sank at the end of 2007). Akademik Shokalsky "Reaching the boats inflatable boats with motors, we have listened to the usual lecture on safety behavior on board and some advice about what to do if you meet a polar bear (and why only the mandatory briefing takes place wherever I go? ). Then it's time to weigh anchor and go in search of icebergs and wildlife. Day Two The next morning we arrived in the town of Ny-Alesund, which is located in the Bay Konigs fjord. Again, the settlement was founded by miners. Mine continued to work until 1964, and now every summer here comes about 130 people to conduct various scientific research, including studies of climate change caused by global warming. Ny-Alesund This site also has historical significance. It was here in 1926 on the airship "Norway" design Umberto Nobile expedition started Rualda Amundsen, which committed the world's first flight over the North Pole. Day three in the morning we landed in the town Smerenburg to look at the remains of copper furnace, which since 1620 to 1660 years. Dutch whalers used for the extraction of whale blubber. Here, once left for the winter seven people not to give competitors destroy houses on the island, but they managed to survive the winter with great difficulty. Even I can not imagine that one could live in the early XVII century, when the sun does not appear in the sky for several months, and the modern warm clothing was not. Particularly surprising presence on the coast sleeping walrus, who became the first representative of wildlife that we saw, except for birds. Walruses After leaving Smerenburga we went north to the Raud-fjord and glacier Hamilton, where we had to take a walk on inflatable boats among the coves and cliffs. Initially, the rock was hard to see through the fog, moreover we see their outlines appeared much larger than their actual size. But after the fog lifted, we have brought a remarkable landscape. Here we were lucky to see the foxes playing with their cubs on the slope of a hill. We also saw traces of a polar bear, but most bear we have not had a chance to meet. Read more: See also: Journey to the North Pole aboard the Russian icebreaker modern version of the Norwegian Vikings travel Antarctica: a route for tourists of all ages