Arctic Impressions - Spitsbergen 78°54′N 17°01′E

                   

                   

                   

                   

                   

Many people have asked me, why on earth I would prefer to go to the arctic north instead of spending my vacation in the beautiful south ? But whenever I show them pictures of Spitsbergen, people start to understand, why I am drawn to this beautiful and unique place on earth. Quite simple: Svalbard is one of the few places that still remains untouched. The landscape has a great variety of wild, rugged mountains, glaciers and an endless open tundra. And thank God, there are no roads outside of Longyearbyen which prevents mass tourism. If you want to travel around, you either have to hike, rent a dog sled or boat. Tourism in Spitsbergen is intended to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. Even the snowmobiles are "eco-friendly", meaning less fuel consumption and less oil change. Being this far north (only ~ 900km more to go to the North Pole) the sun does not go down from mid April to mid August which is heavenly for Wildlife Photographers but terrible if you want to sleep. But honestly, who wants to go to bed if you can enjoy this harsh, natural beauty 24 hours long ?.... :-))