10 Interesting Things About Longyearbyen
One of the best things to do in Longyearbyen is the Maxi Taxi tour with Vigo. He is a knowledgeable Norwegian whose family have lived in the settlement for a century.
*Vigo a.k.a Svalbard Santa*
We were lucky to have him all to ourselves and we learned these interesting bits from him:
1. Longyearbyen is the administrative centre of Svalbard, the world's northernmost settlement with permanent civilian population. The settlement, originally called Longyear City, was founded by an American named John Longyear.
2. The top 5 nationalities represented here are from: Norway, Thailand, The Philippines, Sweden and Russia. There are 2,168 residents with at least 600 of them children under 15 years of age.
3. There are more snow scooters and polar bears than humans. It is normal to see reindeers wandering about.
4. There are neither old nor disabled people here, they get transferred to mainland Norway when they become unable to work.
5. The sun sets every year on October 25th and remains below the horizon for 4 months. Likewise in the summer, April 22nd to August 22nd, the sun never sets.
6. So 4 months of darkness + tax-free alcohol + young people of childbearing age = lots and lots of children. There are 3 schools and the kids are taught in as many languages as possible.
7. It is said that Svalbard has the fastest internet in the world with 4G speed launched as far back as 1983.
8. It is illegal for you to leave the town centre without a gun or a tour guide with a high-powered rifle. So basically it is normal walking around seeing people with rifles slung over their shoulders.
9. You are forbidden from dying in Longyearbyen. The only cemetery in the city stopped accepting burials over 70 years ago as the bodies never decompose due to the permafrost.
10. After a trip to Longyearbyen, you leave with major bragging rights such as:
landed in the northernmost commercial airport in the world
*the photo above was taken at 11:45am just as we got off the plane. Amazing!*
had coffee in the northernmost coffee shop in the world at Fruene
worshipped in the northernmost church in the world at Svalbard Kirke
had cognac in the northernmost pub in the world at Barentz Pub
used the northernmost ATM
came up close to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault a.k.a Doomsday Vault.
and dog-sledded in the arctic. How cool is that?
Fell in love with a Husky named Curry while sledding. Curry didn't even care for all my gushing and cuddles.
Had the best meals at Kroa. We went there every day and can't recommend it enough. Music was 5*, food 5*, cognac 5*, ambiance 5*, service 5* and Sebastien was a total rockstar.
Had whale for the first time.
I've done pretty cool things but this right here just shot to the top of the list. Now to gather the coins for that trip to Antarctica!
