Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. Day 38. 5th August 2013.

This was the day I was to depart with 48 others on an AuroraExpeditions cruise up the coast of Spitsbergen, across to Greenland, down the coast of Greenland and then across to Iceland.  I went out to the airport to meet the other expeditioners as they arrived on the plane.  We then went for a tour around Longyearbyen on the bus, including a visit to this “husky hotel”.  Some dogs we could say hello to; others we were warned to stay away from.  Borneo was one of the friendly ones.

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Later on in Greenland we encountered another pack of huskies that was much better cared for and much happier.  Maybe this was more like a canine concentration camp than a hotel.

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I remember that Pingo was one we were warned not to approach too closely.

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Nearby there were three reindeer in an open meadow.

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An old coal mining plant with Longyearbyen in the background.  The population is over 2,000.

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Having boarded the ship (Russian icebreaker Polar Pioneer), we had a lifeboat drill.  Climbing into the claustrophobic capsule in calm conditions was one thing; being tossed like a cork on a stormy sea with 3D vomit flying round might be another.

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And so we were off into the wilderness of Spitsbergen.  We had been sailing for two and a half or three hours.  I would think we were still in Isfjorden, the fjord leading to Longyearbyen.

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