Continued. Beginning in No. 14 (548), No. 13 (547).
And so we arrived: it was only minus nine outside, the sun was shining and almost no wind. And what is minus nine with sun for a Russian person? A completely normal phenomenon; it is much colder in Moscow now...
First, there was a briefing where we were told the most important thing - how to use the toilet. The yellow box is a receptacle for the contents of 'night' bottles, for those too lazy to get out of the tent at night and run to the toilet. The utmost scrupulous attention is paid to sanitary standards in the camp. There is no water: heating water in Antarctica is very expensive, so camp residents have to economize as much as possible. Hands are washed not with water but with a special gel, bottles of which are placed throughout the camp.
Breakfast-lunches were held on schedule in heated communal tents. Those who didn't make it in time had to make do with snacks and cookies. Breakfast consisted of overdried scrambled eggs, overfried bacon, and burnt porridge with toast, and lasted from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. The coffee station was open 24/7, with hot water, tea, and snacks.
An hour after we arrived at the camp, our luggage was brought by tractor with a trailer. Meanwhile, they showed us our tents. Each tent slept two people. We had a trash can, beds, a small table, and two basins. We all rented special double sleeping bags, and another briefing was on the topic 'How to properly pack yourself into a sleeping bag.' After that, we were taught how to use the basins for washing and how to brush teeth properly in Antarctica.
The idea is that you have two containers - one with water, the other empty. You take a sip from the first, brush your teeth, and spit into the other. You must carefully ensure that not a single drop falls on the ice of Antarctica. The 'used' water from the second container must be disposed of in a special tank next to the toilets, which will later be taken to Chile. Until evening, there was free time, and everyone went about their business: some were photographing, some were lazing around, some were playing football. I wandered around the camp trying to take some photos.
And the next day we flew to the South Pole.
We flew on a DC-3, which is not a pressurized aircraft. The South Pole is at an altitude of 3,800 meters; we flew accordingly even higher, so it was hard to breathe, and all windows were constantly icing over. We were each given a grandmother's hot water bottle, and we used them to defrost the windows to take at least some photos.
The Amundsen-Scott Station, named after the discoverers of the South Pole, amazes with its scale and technology. In the complex of buildings, around which for thousands of kilometers there is nothing but ice, there is literally its own separate world. They did not reveal all the scientific and research secrets to us, but they gave us a very interesting tour of the living quarters and showed us how the polar explorers live...
The main building stands on stilts, as do many houses in the north. This is done so that the building does not melt the ice beneath it and 'swim.' In addition, the space below is well ventilated by winds (in particular, the snow under the station has not been cleared once since its construction). The station inside is simply amazing. To begin with, it has a huge gym. Popular games among the staff are basketball and badminton. To heat the station, 10,000 gallons of aviation kerosene are used per week.
A bit of statistics: 170 people live and work at the station; in winter, about 50 people stay. Meals are free in the local cafeteria. They work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day. Sunday is a day off for everyone. The cooks also have a day off, and everyone usually eats what was left uneaten in the refrigerator from Saturday. There is a music room, a gym, a room for training, conferences, and similar events. When we passed by, a Spanish lesson was going on there.
The station has two floors. Each floor is traversed by a long corridor. To the right are living quarters, to the left are scientific and research areas. There is a lounge (billiards, darts, books and magazines), a science laboratory, a computer club. The station has no Wi-Fi, but there is personal internet access at a speed of 10 kb per second. Unfortunately, they did not give it to us, and I never managed to check in at the pole. There is also a medical center, a library, and an art corner. There is everything imaginable: sewing thread, paper and paints for drawing, model kits, cardboard, etc. The station has the most expensive and hardest-to-reach souvenir shop in the world. By the way, you can buy beer and soda in that shop, but they are only sold to station employees.
The station even has its own greenhouse and hothouse. In winter, when communication with the outside world is interrupted for several months, the staff grow their own vegetables and greens. Water is the most expensive luxury. Each employee has the right to use the laundry once a week. They can take a shower 2 times a week for 2 minutes each, that is 4 minutes a week...
The climax and culmination of our journey occurred at the historic pole.
After taking photos at Amundsen-Scott Station, we went to the geographic South Pole, where there was a lot of excitement. There aren't many, to put it mildly, subjects for shooting - all around is just ice and snow, and all travelers start 'going wild' photographing the signpost. The thickness of the ice at the pole is almost three kilometers. Actually, that's why the historic pole differs from the geographic one: over the years, the ice sheet shifts relative to the Earth's surface and changes its position. The historic South Pole is a signpost with a mirrored ball and a row of flags. We waited until everyone calmed down and started shooting ourselves in all possible poses and angles from the series 'Me and the Eiffel Tower.' After that, we flew away. We returned to camp at 2 a.m. The sun doesn't set at that time; you can only sleep with airplane eye masks.
We expected to stay in Antarctica for about five days, because everything there depends on the weather: sometimes people wait for a flight to the pole for up to 18 days. But we were so lucky with the weather that we were done in 3 days. Upon returning to camp, we decided not to wait and flew on the nearest Ilyushin flight, having first climbed Mount Elephant Head.
We spent the evening in Chile, and at five in the morning my plane was already waiting to take me back. After many hours of flights, I finally returned to Moscow, where I met with friends. The South Pole became for me neither the cheapest nor the most exciting point on the map, but nevertheless, I fulfilled my dream and closed the earth's axis from both sides. To be continued.
Prepared by Oksana KISLITSYNA,
Gazeta.Ru.