I had the fortune to spend 12 days on a ship sailing in the Arctic. From Tromsø, Norway up to Svalbard/Spitsbergen. The Archipelago lies at between 78° and 80°N and it is truly beautiful. Sailing up through the Barents Strait was one of the biggest adventures of my life so far.
In this video I tried to compress the entire journey into 3 minutes:
It all started in Tromsø, a beautiful city high up in the north of Norway, surrounded by beautiful fjords.
We boarded the sailing vessel Noorderlicht, a beautiful three-mast schooner built in 1910 in Germany.
While things got quite icy on the ship, the insides were always nice and warm and cozy.
After three days at sea, we finally saw land. Spitsbergen ("pointy mountains") in the early morning sun.
We also encountered ice fields. While not being an icebreaker, luckily the Noorderlicht has a strengthened bow that can take a bit of a beating.
During our passage, we were treated to a wonderfully amazing sunrise. The sun is still behind the horizon, while it illuminates the clouds above.
And finally we arrived in Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard/Spitsbergen.
By the way, it is recommended to carry a rifle if you go outside of town. Polar bears are a real danger here.
