Thank you Gamma Dilation.
As to why? I can't answer that. In brief we boarded this ice-breaker ship from the Russian city of Murmansk, where the decaying buildings made it feel like traveling back in time. It took one week to reach the pole and one week to be back.
I also have mpgs. Will upload them soon.
lazy_daisy, here are 2 polar bear pictures. They are curious animals and we had plenty of photo opportunities. Footage for a BBC/Discovery documentary was also shot.
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ld, we also stopped in Franz Joseph Land in the siberian waters - onion rock picture below.
MQ, we were on the ship for 2 weeks. It was not so cold at the pole - it was not windy at that hour. With 24hrs of sunlight, I actually slept with my cabin window open. It used to be cold on the front deck, if you stuck your face out the bow.
Sk, thanks.
SSky, no there was no special clearance, just visa for Russia. We did not sleep in tents, but the parkas were provided by the organizers. Food was good. It was prepared by a group of Austrain cooks. No tandoori, but one day we had chicken tikka sandwiches. That was as spicy as it got.
I will open a thread on other Russian cities I visited in IMG4.
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Captain Neptune's BBQ. Adults behaving like children. Please note Santa does not exist.
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one of the hardworking ladies in the kitchen, wife of a Russian marine