Cold Edge of the Earth

Group Captain (retd) Hemant Khatu writes about his journey into the Arctic circle to the land of the midnight sun…

In 1990 when I hung up my uniform for the last time as a Group Captain and said adios to the Indian Air Force, one of the biggest concerns in my mind was whether I would be able to lead an adventurous life from now on. The IAF had given a sense of direction to my life and taught me to lead a fearless and adventurous life in the service of this great nation.

Post retirement, I was therefore always in search of an avenue to satisfy the adventure bug. And I have succeeded in doing it to a certain extent. In 1995, my wife and self backpacked across southern Europe by Eurail, followed by another jaunt in 2002,when we travelled by the Greyhound bus across the east/west coast and back of USA (about 8,000 miles). After such exciting travels, the next needed to be something out of the ordinary.

The date then was around March 2004 and we were contemplating on visiting Austria, Germany and the Scandinavian countries when we saw a documentary on the Polar Bear on the television channel Animal World. It completely fixated us with that majestic looking mammal. Further research on the internet told us about the various places on the earth where we could get a glimpse of the grizzly in its natural surroundings. These were Russia, Canada and Greenland but we could also expect to see it in a remote corner of Norway and that interested us. It was the first time we learnt of the Svalbard group of islands (78°N,15°E), a Norwegian territory, located exactly half way between the North Pole and the northernmost coastline of Norway, at 600 nautical miles.

When we found that a regular air service plies between the mainland of Norway and Svalbard, the realisation hit us that we could venture into something more exciting than taking the beaten old track of Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. While studying the map of northern Norway we got a fix on our launch pad for Svalbard - Tromso.

The decision was made - this time too we would backpack it right through to the Arctic zone. By mid June, we had procured the Schengen visa and a 10 days/five countries Eurail Saver Pass which permits two persons to travel together at a concessional rate, with a proviso that the 10 days travel is completed within two consecutive months.

Journey To The End Of The World

Having travelled into Frankfurt via Moscow, after a few days of sojourn we commenced our journey from Berlin Ostbahnof to Oslo Central by train. We rolled into the beautiful railway station of Oslo at 1630 hours on July 19, 2004. The next night we bid goodbye to the city and took a train to Bodoe via Trondheim. At Trondheim, we changed to another train which at times wound along a beautiful coastline. The water was crystal clear even with the fishing trawlers around. At times it crossed through high mountain passes with deep ravines on one side. The mountains were covered with birch and coniferous forest. At a distance we got the first glimpse of snow capped mountains, sparsely housed villages, smoke gradually reaching for the skies through the chimneys, cattle and horses in their corrals lazily grazing - all so very peaceful, old world charm in beautiful surroundings. We soon realised that we were gradually making a headway towards the Arctic Circle.

By 5 pm we had reached Bodoe, our transit point for crossing over to the Lofoten islands. The next day early morning we boarded a ferry for Moskenes, located in the southern portion of the Lofoten islands. Near the port we saw a long line of cars, which apparently had been parked since the previous evenings in order to make it for the ferry crossing. The ferry was packed with natives, Poles and Russians who had travelled by coach from their homeland.

From here we took a bus and before long were passing through Hamnoy, Sakrisoy and Reine -- tiny fishing villages lying one after the other like pearls in a string. Along the way we passed by the Laknes airfield which is the main airport serving the Lofoten islands; the flight time from Bodoe to Laknes is only 25 minutes - but then one is unable to absorb this topographical marvel! As we crossed close to the fishing village of Henningsvaer we zoomed past a bird's nesting cliff and by 1700 hours we had arrived into Svolvaer - the capital of Lofoten.

After a brief one day stay, we took a passenger ferry towards Narvik port; a transit point on the way to Tromso. Excellent weather, enchanting landscape and there we were docking at Narvik all too soon. Narvik to Tromso distance of 450 kms was covered by coach travel in five hours.

We arrived in Tromso on July 26, just three days after the sun had begun to set. Here the sun does not go below the horizon between May 21 and July 23. After a short stint relishing the sights of Tromso, we arrived at Tromso Langnes airport to fly out to the Svalbard islands; this was going to be the last lap of our journey.

The Cold Edge

Translated, Svalbard means Cold Edge. It is a group of islands located in the Arctic Ocean. The only thing it can boast of are ice covered rugged mountains and wildlife. Ice floes are natural hazards for shipping here. The unique Svalbard Treaty of 1920 brought this entire area under Norwegian sovereignty. Way back in 1906, an American by the name of John M Longyear commenced coal mining in this area and gradually the township came to be known as Longyearbyen, which now is the capital of Svalbard. Longyearbyen with a population of 2000, has a harbour in the waters of Adventfjorden and an airfield about three kilometres from the township. The island's entire requirement of food, oil supplies, vehicles, etc is ferried in by ships from the mainland or at times by air. During the dark winter months when the sea freezes, the day to day requirements come to a trickle. The residents have a liquor quota per month, whereas foreigners need to show their return ticket to buy alcohol.

So why were we keen to visit this land so far from what we know as modern civilisation? Simply because we wanted to experience this stark menacing wilderness, its silence disturbed by the howling polar winds, its rugged ice covered landscape peppered with mighty glaciers, huge floating icebergs, without any hint of greenery in sight. Seeing the island's wildlife and birds in their natural habitat and also approaching the glaciers from the sea promised to be a mind-boggling experience!

We took-off in a STOL aircraft at 2130 hours from Tromso in daylight conditions. Cruising over the Barents Sea, one did not expect to see anything worthwhile. But I changed my mind the moment I got a glimpse of the ice floes, some of them shining brightly in the water. Though it was now 10.30 in the night, the sunlight was bright as ever. As we commenced our descent, the Captain, who was giving a running commentary about the Archipelago; mentioned that at Longyearbyen the midnight sun lasts from April 20 to August 23. It was July 27, so we knew what to expect!

When we disembarked, it was cold at 10° celsius, slightly windy and sunlight blazing. The landscape was exactly the way we had seen in brochures and on the internet - not a blade of grass, nothing except for ice-covered hills and plenty of ice floes. And it struck us then that we were only 600 miles from the North Pole. We were staying in Guesthouse 102, a wooden building of 34 rooms, at the foot of the Longyearbyen glacier in a broad valley. It was almost midnight when we checked in. Alongwith the room keys they handed out a set of rules and urged us to study them at the earliest. These were not the guesthouse rules, but rules meant to be observed in Svalbard . Of the 10 rules, one of them was interesting and obviously very important. This stated the danger posed by the Polar Bear to residents of this area and urged guests that if venturing beyond a kilometre radius of the city centre it was preferable to do so in groups and that too armed with a shotgun (available on hire). It further said that in the event of an attack by the bear, initially all efforts should be made to scare it away and only when it was taking a life threatening stance were you allowed to silence it permanently. It was a comforting to know that our room was on the second floor .

We had booked for a nine hours cruise with the Svalbard Wildlife Services. The places we were slated to visit were the Barentsburg Russian settlement and the Esmark glacier in the Yamerbukta bay. A total of eight persons from around the world had signed up for the cruise. After the initial introduction on board the ice-cutter, Polar Girl, our guide gave us a comprehensive briefing on various emergency procedures to be followed at sea. She kept reminding us that we were going to pass through waters overrun with floating icebergs and also how the sea suddenly freezes, especially in the evenings. She went on to tell us that on one occasion, the Polar Girl's passengers had to be rescued by a helicopter. By the time we set course, the weather, slightly cloudy,windy and biting cold, was not particularly encouraging. On the way we crossed numerous floating icebergs. The captain being well experienced however kept them at bay. Our first destination was Barentsburg, a Russian settlement where coal mining is done. Located 55 kilometres west of Longyearbyen, with no road connection, Barentsburg is home to a community of 850 Russians and Ukranians. Believe it or not Barentsburg also boasts of a Russian Consulate! As the Polar Girl was approaching the settlement, all of us had assembled on the deck to get a view. It looked like a mining town, with a mining tower, rail track etc but there was not a soul in sight. The Polar Girl finally docked and as we got on the pier, a pretty looking girl in fluent English introduced herself as Taniya. For the next hour she was to give us all the lowdown on Barentsburg . In a nutshell, we realised that we were on Russian territory, which was serviced by the administration from Longyearbyen. I do not know, whether it was the weather or otherwise, but there was no one to be seen -- no kids, no ladies; it gave an impression that on seeing the cruiser, they had all vanished into thin air. The township has a community hall, a souvenir shop (Polar Star), a church and a school and a peace message written on the slope of a hill. On the way back to the Polar Girl, we met a few miners, the expression on their faces perhaps saying 'why are you guys disturbing our peace? ' Nevertheless, I greeted them ‘Dasvadaniya’.

The Polar Girl crew had some hot coffee ready to raise our spirits and before long we had set course towards the Yamerbukta for the Esmark glacier. Piping hot lunch was served with lamb chops and fish. Soon we settled down for a briefing by the guide on the Polar Bear, the seals and the glacier.

Trude, our guide, told us that the Esmark glacier was frequented by seals and the chances of sighting a Polar Bear at such places is higher, since seals are their staple diet.The Polar Bear is a massive mammal. It weighs 700 kgs, is 10 feet tall, has powerful jaws and a strong sense of smell. These creatures can run up to 40 kmph and are also powerful swimmers; surprisingly, they do not drink water. Generally, they hang out on floating icebergs to hunt seals and thereafter retreat to their caves on the mainland with the catch. The Polar Girl was making a steady progress, avoiding the ice floes, sometimes getting caught in the rain and very chilly winds. It was around 1600 hours, when we entered the bay of Yamerbukta; everyone on the deck with their binoculars and cameras were scanning the horizon for the slightest hint of a movement. The Polar Girl was now anchored about 200 metres from the Esmark glacier; progress ahead was impossible because of massive floating icebergs. There was not a thing in sight, only ice -- some of it blue in colour. The guide advised us to warm ourselves with coffee as it was to be a long and patient wait. A lookout from the captain's deck suddenly yelled that a polar bear had been sighted on the port side. The first impact was that of adrenaline running high with excitement. Frantically grappling with the binoculars/camera we started searching. It was difficult to see anything because of the ice all around. But the moment he made a move, we picked him in the binoculars at 400 metres or so. We could not say what he was up to due to the white background, but we could discern that it was a massive animal. We were hoping that he would show up once again but that was it. There was jubilation all around celebrated with a round of hot coffee. Having partially achieved the objective, the captain was keen to return to base, citing freezing sea conditions with the evening's progress.

We returned to the guest house around 2100 hours. Over dinner thereafter, we discussed with our local guide various procedures to be followed for a trek to the base of the Longyearbyen glacier where the melting snow had created a grazing ground (moss) adequate for the reindeer to graze on. An afternoon trek to the nesting grounds of the Arctic Tern was also planned .The next day, Pete, our guide, showed up with a shotgun. The weather was very cold and windy. All of us of course were well covered. We trekked for about 60 minutes and came to the desired position after negotiating a small rapid. A huge boulder gave us protection from the chilly winds coming down the Longyearbyen glacier. It was turning out to be a long wait, so we pulled out our lunch and coke and settled down . With one eye on the grazing ground, Pete related a true life accident. About a fortnight before our arrival, a group of eight tourists had ventured out on a trek in this very area, but further up the glacier. One of them was a ship's captain quite familiar with this area. As they were trekking, the captain strayed behind by 50 odd metres. The group suddenly heard cries for help. When they turned around they were confronted with the most ghastly sight -- a Polar Bear had mauled the Captain to death and was now standing above him. It turned out that the group did not have a firearm with them, as required by the rulebook of Svalbard. We were indeed happy that Pete had learnt a lesson from that episode. As he completed telling us this sordid story in whispered tones, two pairs of reindeer appeared. After another 30 minutes wait we managed a good picture of a pair.

From here we walked through the township, via the airport into an area called the Bjorndalen; we had to cross a small river to continue towards a rugged hill feature called Pilarberget .The going was tough and more so with a steady drizzle it took us about an hour to reach the top. Once on top one had forgotten the hard times; the view was phenomenal and there was a sheer drop of about 300 metres into the Isfjordensea .The area was totally barren, hard rock, a slight drizzle accompanied chilly winds and not a soul was in sight, except for some birds at a distance. With the help of binoculars we started looking around for the nesting Arctic Tern. This is a beautiful bird, 15 inches long, weighs approximately 300 gms, has a long forked tail, legs are short and red, the head is rounded white with a black cap. Their nesting habits are in a grooves on bare rocks; two to three eggs are laid at a time and are hatched within three weeks of incubation. By the time they are four weeks old the chicks take to the skies and fish for themselves. It is said that the Arctic Tern migrates in groups and flies as much as 20,000 miles in a year. After searching the area for a while, we saw a distinct movement on the cliff some distance away. With little concentration we could just about make out a black head jutting out above the surface. Approach had to be with stealth and when we were about 10 metres from the nesting bird, frantic screeching sounds made me look up and there he was - a beautiful Arctic Tern flapping its wings about 10 metres above the nest. It looked menacingly beautiful! In the next few steps by us we understood the reason. The male indeed felt threatened for its partner’s safety and had taken a perch to attack me; as I advanced, he came diving towards me and managed to draw blood from my bald scalp! Was it worth the effort? But of course.

By 2130 hours we were back in the guest house. It was going to be a long wait before the coach picked us up at 0230 hours on July 30 for the flight back to Tromso. We were indeed feeling exhausted, but utterly satisfied with the entire Svalbard experience. Around 0315 hours we had checked in and were waiting in the security hold at the airport; when one of the security personnel enquired which country we belonged to. I told him. To this, he said, he had never come across anyone from India or Asia as far as he could remember. I promptly informed him that come 2005, Indians will not only tour 80°N but a cruise to the North Pole by uswill become a regular feature. And then, we boarded the waiting aircraft.