Svalbard mars 2021
Longyearbyen har en egen energi som jeg synes er vanskelig å forklare. Selv om det kun er ca. 2500 fastboende mennesker der, så oppleves Longyearbyen som en storby. Alt er lite, men det er veldig god kvalitet på det meste der oppe. Matbutikken bugner, restaurantene er "top notch", barene er fine og hyggelige og folket er generelt veldig imøtekommende. Selv om været er kaldt, rått og heftig, så merker man ikke så mye til det. Stemningen er generelt veldig avslappende. Det er ikke noe stress og man merker at befolkningen der oppe tar livet med ro. Man drar ikke til Svalbard eller Longyearbyen for å sole seg å ligge på en strand; man drar dit for å oppleve noe nytt, annerledes og en fantastisk vill og rå natur. Og ja, folk går med rifler utenfor byen. Det er tross alt villmark og det er alltid en overhengende fare for at det kommer en isbjørn luskende. Er du turist må du enten kjøre bil eller ha med en guide/fastboende som har gevær eller søke om lov til å være våpen. Isbjørnen er jo så klart fredet så en skal ikke skyte med mindre det virkelig står om liv. Er den nærgående skal det skytes skremselsskudd enten med rifle eller bluss. Til tross for denne "faren" føles det likevel veldig trygt og godt der oppe. :)
Naturen der oppe er en drøm. Det er så utrolig vakkert og det er fint uansett hvor du fester blikket. Fjellene er værbitte gjennom mange år med snø, is, vind og kulde. Derfor har de så særegen form som skiller seg veldig ut fra andre fjellformasjoner.
March this year was the first time I went to Svalbard. I have already been spamming
my Instagram with some pictures, but here I can share my experience as
well.
I was
lucky enough to accompany my husband Fredrik on his business trip there. He has
been there several times because of work, but this time I had the opportunity
to join. I really looked forward to the trip, but since I’m afraid of flying,
and it’s been a while since I last sat on a plane, I was a little nervous. It
did not help that the planes were crowded and my expectations in advance were
that there would not be so many people there because of the corona.
In Fredrik’s previous trips there were almost no people to see either at
airports or planes, but in mid-March the situation was quite different. Lots of
people and full planes. In a way it was a bit nice, at the same time I noticed that I do not miss crowed places, haha! 😂
The trip
started with a corona test 24 hours before departure. Everyone who travels to
Svalbard must take a negative corona test 24 hours before departure. Because of
this I did feel quite safe both on the plane and at the airport around the
Svalbard tourists. I was prepared for the corona test to be quite bad and
regarding all the stories about the test being really so bad, made my heart race
when we arrived the test station. This heart rate increase was quite futile;
the test was actually not that bad. Of course it was a bit disgusting getting a
dry stick put up your nose and tears welled up and my eye on the same side
turned completely red, but I could easily do it again. So no; it was not that bad.
The test was, as expected, negative for both me and Fredrik. Early the next day
we went to the airport. Flight time to Svalbard, including stopovers, takes as
long as traveling to Dubai. It takes approxometly seven hours to travel, but
instead of a big and comfortable plane, there are small domestic planes that
even I, being 162 cm tall (short?), struggled to find a comfortable sitting position.
When we
arrived, we picked up the rental car and got to the construction
site. Since I accompanied Fredrik on his
business trip, I was supposed to take pictures of the construction site.
Fredrik was responsible for all the steel work up there and since they wanted some pictures from the construction site, we were able to
combine work and holiday.
After visiting the construction site, we went to the hotel: Svalbard Hotell
Polfareren. A nice and cozy hotel right in the city center (like everything
else). Cozy atmosphere, nice staff and great food. The food on Svalbard is
absolutely fantastic. I am generally very critical when people talk about a
restaurant (or a movie / experience) and how good the food is as I very often
end up being disappointed, but in this case I must say that Svalbard can
really offer first class food. I have not eaten that good food in restaurants on the
mainland. Even not in more expensive and fancy restaurants. If you
are a food freak; go to Svalbard!
Svalbard
has its own energy which I find difficult to explain. Although it is only
approx. 2,500 permanent residents there, Longyearbyen still feels a bit like a
big city. Everything is small, but there is very good quality in most things up
there. The grocery store is great, the restaurants are "top notch",
the bars are nice and the people are very welcoming. Even though the
weather is cold, raw and tough, it does not affect you that much. The
atmosphere is in general very relaxing. You do not go to
Svalbard or Longyearbyen to sunbathe lying on a beach; you go there to
experience something new, something different and fantastic nature. And yes,
people go with rifles outside the city. After all, it is the wilderness and
there is always an imminent danger of a polar bear lurking. If you are a
tourist, you must either drive a car or bring a guide / resident who has a
rifle or apply for permission to carry. The polar bear is of course protected
by nowergian law so shooting them is not allowed, unless it's a matter of life
and death. If it is approaching, scare shots must be fired either with a rifle
or flare.
The rest
of our trip consisted of a brewery visit on Saturday and a snowcat ride on
Sunday.
If you are going to Longyearbyen, both are recommended. We did not have time to
book more excursions since we spent some time at the construction site parts of
Friday and Saturday.
On Saturday we visited the brewery. The beer they brew up
there is so incredibly good! One of their employees told us some stories about
the brewery and how it all stared, how they needed to change the law to brew
beer there and so on. I won't tell more, go experience it yourself! Really worth it. :) And if you come across some Svalbard beer; buy it!
On Sunday
it was ready for the snowcat ride. We were so lucky that it was just the two of
us and the guide. We went up to what is called Linken, on the opposite side of
Longyearbyen. On the way up we saw several Svalbard reindeer. It is a
completely separate type of reindeer that is only found on Svalbard, hence the
name Svalbard reindeer. They are slightly shorter in the legs, have more fur
and are much thicker in the abdomen than other reindeer. In addition, they
have developed a way to circulate the cold air inside the nasal
cavity before the air hits the lungs. All of these features they have developed
makes them look so cute! They are also very tame as they have no natural enemy.
The polar bear does not hunt them as the reindeer are too fast for polar bears.
The polar bear is made for short sprints and can in the worst case die if they
run too long. Therefore, the Svalbard reindeer can mostly live in peace without
worrying about being hunted. It is admittedly legal to hunt, because
there are so many reindeer that die due to food shortages, but only permanent
residents are allowed to hunt them. Which I think is good. It would have been
sad if "everyone" could go to Svalbard and hunt reindeer.
Unfortunately
we did not see the northern lights when we were up there. It was mostly nice
weather and not much clouds, but the weather changes so fast so you really
can't plan things based on the weather in the same way as you can on the mainland.
But it was magical anyway! And I will definitely go back there again when I get the opportunity. The plan is to go there at the
same time next year, only a week earlier so we can attend to the "Sun party" they
have every year. Already looking forward to experience Svalbard once again!
Thank you
for reading!
xo
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