The starting point of the Arctic expedition Longerbin

At 8:30 pm, the Scandinavian Airlines plane took off from Oslo, the capital of Norway. Three and a half hours later, I was woken up in my sleep and looked out groggy. The sky was still bright at 12 midnight, and the milky fog below gradually emerged. Light blue rivers and black mountains, the snow melted, leaving only a white mark in the shade of the mountains. After a bump, I finally arrived at the northernmost civil airport on earth. The temperature was around 5 degrees. As soon as I entered the arrival hall, I immediately felt the atmosphere of the North Pole. Even the luggage conveyor belt had a model of a polar bear. From here, I really embarked on a journey to the North Pole.

The next day, it took three or five minutes to get out of the hotel to the center of the town. Along the way, dog walkers, runners, grocery shopping... Polar life seems to be no different from the rest of the world. In order to conduct all-round scientific research on the Arctic, Svalbard has gathered scientists from all over the world. In addition to scientific expeditions, Longerbin is also the base camp for polar travel in summer. The Norwegian "Heydaluther" we are going to take will set sail from here. Although this town of more than 2,000 people is small, it has complete facilities, such as post offices, schools, nurseries, banks, hospitals, newspapers, hotels, shopping malls, museums, and even a bus line. The houses are mainly simple houses, but the colors are very bright.

I met many young parents pushing strollers on the street. Although there are kindergartens and primary schools in the town, if you want your children to receive a better education, you still have to go back to Norway. As a result, every year, a group of people leave with school-age children, and at the same time, there are visiting young people who stay because they like it here. Guide Hanna followed her boyfriend, "It's dark for more than 3 months of the year, and it's a bit boring at that time, but most of the time Longerbin's life is still very interesting. This is an alternative travel and place to live. You can meet people from different countries, and most of them are young people, and everyone quickly mingles." The most people here are Norwegians, but the second place is unexpectedly Thai. The contrast between hot Thailand and cold Longyearbyen is too great. Hannah told me that the first Thai girl who came here stayed because of love. Later, she found that the life of Longyearbyen was not as bad as she imagined, and she did not need a visa and work. Permit, easy to find a job, good treatment, he greeted his sisters from his hometown. Over time, the service and catering industries in this town were basically handled by the Thais.

Back then, groups of brave Europeans crossed the sea to Svalbard to "break through the East". The Norwegians and Russians pioneered expeditions, first whaling and hunting bears, and then turning to mining. Today, towns that have moved away from the mining industry are favored by outdoorsmen and tourists. Every year from April to October, a flood of tourists from all over the world flock to either board a cruise ship to start a sea trip, or pack up their tents and bags to join the army of wild adventures, which is said to number as many as 20,000.

From late October to February of the following year, the biting cold winds and 4 months of dark nights made tourists disappear. When asked about Hannah's polar nightlife, she said that the residents of Longerbin have more time to study in winter. You can also go to Svalbard University to study polar knowledge. The subjects of this "northernmost university in the world" revolve around polar sciences, including geology, geophysics, marine physics, etc. The polar night also brings people closer. At this time, the town really belongs to the residents. The pace of life has slowed down completely, and everyone has a lot of time to gather. At the end of February and the beginning of March, the town will also hold a ceremony to welcome the sun back. In April, the polar day has begun and the ice surface has not been completely thawed, and there are more activities, such as driving snowmobiles, hiking the ice field, etc. People enjoy happiness in the ice and snow, and the long polar night and the biting cold wind are not reasons for them to leave.

TiPS

Langerbin is the capital of the Svalbard Islands under the jurisdiction of Norway. There are regular flights from Oslo with a flight time of 3.5 hours. Since China is a party to the Svalbard Treaty, no visa is required, but a Norwegian Schengen visa is required for transit from Norway. It belongs to high latitudes, the best time to travel is from June to September, and the temperature is above freezing.

Langerbin is a "small United Nations" with residents from more than forty countries around the world.