Nearly the North Pole

The flight back from Beijing took a very northerly route right into the Arctic circle. Had the rare opportunity to see the sun rise twice in a day. The first time was during my early morning 50 minute run in cold foggy Beijing (didn't get to run past Tiananmen Square in the centre as hotel was a bit too far out) and again when the plane turned south on its way to Amsterdam. In between, as the plane turned north, the sun disappeared into the southern horizon. In winter, the sun never really rises north of the Arctic circle.

Siberia is really bleak. Further south it is carpeted by trees with the occasional clearing where some logging had been carried out. As you go north the trees got thinner on the ground to be replaced by more and more snow. A cluster of a few lights indicates a settlement down there. No other lights for the rest of the visible horizon. A long long way to visit the nearest neighbours then. Was it a former gulag workcamp or a mining settlement? Hard to even imagine what life is down there in the ice and snow...


The route north

Frozen river in Siberia : Rainclouds over Holland

Location 52°N 2°W