Pyramiden

The Arctic is Melting! The paths through town have turned to slush, the mountains outside are slowly turning muddy brown and rocks and roads are appearing through the snow.
Dayle and I decided that if we were ever going to make it to Pyramiden it would be now. For those that don't know was a fully functioning Russian mining town as big as longyearbyen 12 years ago. However due to a series of accidents, the collapse of soviet Russia it was completely evacuated and abandoned!
It is also over 100km away. We decided to take a guide with us in the form of a PHD student called Ausmund. He had a powerful scooter, a GPS and all the right gear. I was on Malibu, which we fixed but the way (by stealing parts from a broken scooter left by the roadside) with all my gear on my back.
Due to the melting ice we couldnt go the direct way. We had to go the treterous rout over glaciers, up near verticle slopes and accross slushy water covered ice. On the way we passed seals on the ice, they looked like giant fat slugs. We also saw an enourmous glacier front which was like a mountain only of translucent blue ice.
The weather was grey but we got there in tact. Once there it was very spooky. It unsupprisingly was a ghost town and all the buildings had been boarded up, like in a zombie movie. There were hunderds of birds living in the buildings though, nesting on every window cil.
We wandered around and eventually found a way into the old sports center. It must have been really nice in its day, with a swimming pool and detailed wooden Russian architecture.
Everything had been gutted from the inside except an old springbok and horsebox.

We looked around the town in other places but the buildings had been sealed tight to stop more looting.
After a couple of hours the weather started to get worse so we decided to head back.
On the way back in the glaciers the weather continued to deteriorate. For half an hour we were in complete white out. Dayle's tail light was covered in snow and I could only see him because of his brightly coloured helmet! Ausmund led us with his GPS through the tight cravasses and over the now ever worse slushy ice, the only way was to gun it accross with no control or otherise you may find yourself at the bottom of the sea or lake bed!
But we made it out alive and in to too bad time! It was damn scary but really good fun! On the way back we ticked another box by having our pictures taken by the polar bear sign, its a tourist thing you have to do! I was so happy, Malibu had made it all the way, the longest and toughest jounrney most scooters ever make here! It was something I said I've wanted to do since I got here and so glad I did before all the snow went.

Since then Ive been revising for my exam in two days eek so no more adventures until both of them are over.