On to Svalbard

The next morning we caught a charter flight to Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It took us a while to figure it all out: Longyearbyen is the town (the only real town there). Spitzbergen is the largest island in the archipelago. Svalbard is the archipelago itself. And the whole thing is part of Norway--except that anyone can live there (Norwegian or not), they don't pay VAT, and you have to show your passport when you return to the mainland.

 

We knew Svalbard was remote when the pilot announced "We are now crossing the Arctic Circle" and we still had an hour and a half left in the flight. It is about 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle.	When we got to the hotel for lunch, things began to look a little more unusual. . .
The sign asking us to remove our shoes is a holdover from the coal-mining days, when coal dust got tracked in on shoes. On the other hand, the assumption that everyone carries a gun against polar bears is generally accurate--the sign on the right includes the information that you are required to carry a gun outside the settlements, as well as useful suggestions like surrounding your camp with trip wires connected to flares.
Svalbard was and is a coal-mining area and for a long time anyone could simply come in and make a claim. The area retains a wild frontier atmosphere.	This is a polar bear-killing trap--you put a cocked rifle in the box, hang bait from a trip wire between the slats, and when the bear sticks his head in to take the bait, he shoots himself in the head.
This marker indicates that site of the first library in Longyearbyen--the northernmost--and the symbolic center of the first town. Our group included George Longyear, a descendant of the town founder, who received a special gift from the city here.	Coal mining remains the basis of the economy here, and this monument memorializes miners--and the canaries they carried with them into the mine.
As you would expect in this inhospitable place, the streets and sidewalks are rudimentary, but we saw stores, a hospital, a social services office, and a pre-school.	There is newer housing being built in the hills surrounding the town. You cannot decide what color to paint your house--that is determined by the architects and planners.
A famous sign--the sign itself means "Beware of polar bears" and the text means "Valid throughout Svalbard."	Our approximate route.