Transcription
This is the closest town to the North Pole that exists. Here, it is forbidden to be born and also to die. People live practically half the year in complete darkness, and the government legally requires you to have a firearm to reduce the risk of being eaten by a polar bear. Alcohol consumption is regulated, and it is said that more polar bears live on the island than people. Without a doubt, one of the most peculiar places we have visited in the history of the channel. This is a bit of the island of Svalbard. We are in Svalbard, the northernmost inhabited island on our [music] planet. Life here is very extreme in many aspects, starting with the climate. The temperature here, most of the year, usually oscillates between 0 and -10ºC, and in winter, the inhabited areas can reach -30ºC. Oh, I don't know if you notice, I don't know if you hear me, I have a cold. I don't know if you hear me sounding more nasal than usual. I'm naturally a bit nasal, but right now I'm Kiko himself. I caught a little cold since we arrived. It's just that it's really, really cold here. So, this will be an adventure for Luisillo, the little-congested one. People here live 4 months of the year in complete darkness, another 4 months of the year with 24 hours of light, and the remaining 4 months, so to speak, are more like what we are accustomed to in the rest of the planet. There are different communities on the island, with Longyearbyen being the most populated, with a population oscillating between 2,500 and 3,000 people, and that's where we will focus for this video. [music] There are other small towns where perhaps 100 people live, 50, in some perhaps fewer than 20, but it's complicated to get to them, as there are no [music] roads connecting them. Want to go to the neighboring town? You have to go by boat if it's summer or by snow vehicle if it's winter. Imagine you fall in love, right, with someone from another town. Anywhere else in the world, you'd say, "I'll take a little bus, no problem, I'll grab my bike, I'll walk." No, my friend, here you have no choice but to get on your snowmobile, ride for long hours in these extreme conditions, and pray that a polar bear doesn't cross your path, because yes, that's another very interesting fact about this island. Here it is speculated that there may be more polar [music] bears than humans. It is one of the places on planet Earth with the highest concentration of this endangered species. And it's crazy to see how suddenly there are signs warning about polar bears. The population here is required to have a firearm because if you have to [music] leave the so-called safe zones, the risk of encountering wild animals increases, and that's why it's very common for people to carry a rifle in the trunk of their vehicles. Here, good old Nils is teaching me something very interesting, and that is that, look, here in Svalbard, it's super normal for everyone to have guns. By the way, Nils asked me to please tell you that all of this is very safe. The guns are not loaded. So Nils, tell me how many of these do you have? Well, we have one each for me and my wife. Yeah, we use them for hunting and for polar bear protection. Which one would be good for protecting yourself against a polar bear? They are all equally good for polar protection. What kind of bullet does this one use? We have some for comparison. We have for my wife's gun. Now it will seem like she's more manly than me because this is my gun. It's not quite large of around but it's effective. So we always outside the city border we always carry a weapon. We have to bring to Yeah. To scare them off to defend ourselves. I usually use the shotgun when I'm out on a snowmobile. Every time we leave the city then we have to bring a rifle and it's for our own safety. In case there is a polar bear, the last resort is to shoot it, and before that, we try to scare it away with our voices or to use like a flare gun. I've seen around 30 maybe around the town, it's not so often you see it, but when you leave town further away along the coast, that's where you find like the polar bears. Most of them are afraid, so they want to see you, want to get close, stay away.
The population limits are [music] marked by these signs that say "Hells Svalbard," and this means that if I cross this limit without protection [music] against bears, I am theoretically breaking the law and could be fined. For this to actually happen, it's very complicated. You'd have to encounter a truly grumpy police officer, someone who is really having a bad time, but theoretically, you could be fined up to 10,000 kroner, which is about $1,000. This law, I'm told, was implemented around 1996 when a tourist was eaten by a polar bear. And yes, it's right here. Okay, this imaginary line, marked by these signs, from here on, I should theoretically have a rifle for my own protection. And wow, once you leave the settlement, you can really see how dark everything is. Look, let's try it now. We have the light on, I'm illuminated. And let's see, let's turn off the light and see how it looks. Look at this. Hello, Borgo. And that's even with the sky being clear. So we have the moonlight, which is a great, great spotlight, it helps a lot. This is how these people live practically half the year. Another fact that has greatly impacted me about nature is that there are no trees on this entire island. In fact, if you look at the island of Svalbard on Google Maps, for example, the entire ground looks white. The vegetation is more like moss. We are above the coordinates known as the tree line. Very, very different everything. As I said at the beginning, an extremist place in many ways. Some scientists say that the polar bear is one of the only bears that sees humans as food. But this does not mean that it is recommended to kill bears left and right. Of course not. In fact, the polar bear is a very, very protected species, and it is said that you can only kill one if your life is in inevitable danger. It is recommended to carry a flare gun to first scare the animal. Then it is recommended to shoot into the sky, shoot at the ground, make a lot of noise, and if it is less than 2 meters away from you, then you can shoot it. And if you do end up killing one, a whole investigation is opened in which it is determined who attacked whom first, [music] the steps are followed, the bear's movement trail, where the bullet entered, what type of bullet it was, what type of rifle was used. Because if they find that you killed it intentionally and your life was not in danger, wow, you could go to jail for up to 15 years and pay very, very substantial fines. As a result of some bears that have lost their lives at the hands of a human who was [music] in danger and it was proven, in some parts of the city we can see stuffed polar bears, truly impressive, as well as bear skins on the walls of establishments. So, now you know, when you arrive in Svalbard, [music] be well-armed, well-prepared, because indeed our dear tender bears can be everywhere, and when it gets very close to you, you might realize that it's not so tender. Let's move on to a fact that really catches my attention [music] and surely yours too. How is it that on this island you can't die? Well, it's not that you can't die, right? I mean, dying, well, it's not like you schedule it, right? "Thursday at 6 PM I'll die, right?" No, rather, the thing is that you can't be buried here, and this happens thanks to something called permafrost, which is in the soil of this island. It brings with it two very big causes, both intriguing and disturbing. Number one, because of the permafrost, the ground is constantly moving, so this means that even if you bury a human body meters and meters underground, it will eventually come to the surface. And number two, because of the bacteria and [music] viruses that are preserved thanks to this permafrost. It is said that around the 1980s, scientists in the area found flu viruses [music] in human bodies from around the 1910s, meaning the flu virus had been alive in that dead body for about 70 years. So, you can imagine that this can bring a great, truly tremendous biological risk to this island, right? Burying thousands of human bodies, all with live bacteria, well-preserved by the permafrost. No way, my friend. The next macropandemic would arise here, the attack of the zombies. However, as you can see, behind me there is a cemetery. Well, this is a very old cemetery [music] that was built before this, well, disturbing fact, was discovered. And since then, you can no longer bury a body here. You can't even bury your pet's body, for example. You have to either cremate it or send it to the mainland of Norway. And it is also said that if you are really looking unwell, they tell you, "Hey, my friend, you're very sick, very ill, forgive me, but you have to go to the mainland," meaning, to live in Svalbard, you have to be in good health, [music] you cannot be seriously ill. How about that? How crazy, right? How disturbing [music] is that. An island where they send you far away so you can die and your remains can rest without eventually coming to the surface, terrifying the whole town, and possibly creating very, very dangerous diseases. What a fact, huh, very disturbing. [music] This is, so to speak, the center of the town. I'm struck by how people ride their bikes. "What cold," my friends say. Here in this central part, we find many shops, we find a lot of commerce, truly, you can find practically everything. This is the largest supermarket, well, in fact, the only really large supermarket that exists in Svalbard, on the entire island. And look, this is very interesting. You see signs in most businesses prohibiting entry with weapons, because as we discussed, it's very, very common here. We enter the supermarket to browse, and wow, you can find everything. Products from everywhere. I was even struck that there's an entire section. Okay, listen carefully. On the northernmost island in the world, super isolated, in the only supermarket, there's an entire section dedicated to tacos. In these countries, there's a lot of culture around eating tacos, very adapted to their culture, to their recipes. And in Norway, the day to eat tacos is Friday, like Taco Friday. And one very interesting thing we saw at the supermarket is that there's free water. Well, in many of these countries on this side of the world, it's like, why would you buy water if people drink tap water? It turns out that here in Svalbard, the magnesium level in the water is very high, so it can be dangerous if consumed regularly. I mean, if you drink water directly from the tap, it will harm you in the long run. And that's why in supermarkets, they have these huge tanks of free water. And well, walking through the streets, we've also seen many people walking their dogs. A breed that is very common to see here is these large huskies, which are used a lot for work. We talked to a very nice, very friendly girl who told us about her dog. No, he sleeps. And yes, that's the most common breed to see here, and it's the one that endures the most. These dogs withstand the harsh cold. In fact, nature made them that way to be able to withstand these extreme temperatures. Wow, look how funny. We found Adriana from Peru here. How are you, Adriana? Very well. And you? Adriana was just telling me that there's a Latin community, meaning there's a Hispanic community and all that here. I wouldn't have imagined that. Uruguayans, Argentinians, Peruvians, who are a few, there are three of us Mexicans too. And yes, it's very, very cool, as they say, to find your compatriot here, for example, who was the only one here, but now we accompany each other. Hey, have you encountered a polar bear or not? No, not yet. I haven't encountered one, but it's possible if you leave the island. It's also crazy to be here because it's even colder, then you experience -25, -30, you just have to be strong and mentally prepare yourself. My plan is to stay here as long as necessary to pray and then move, right? To another place because it's also intense. It's supposed that people here don't lock their houses or their cars because of the bears, the animals, because if there's a risk, it's like, "Oh no, a bear is chasing me." You can take refuge anywhere. That's what they say. But I don't know, have you confirmed it? I mean, do people leave their houses open? Yes, in fact, I leave mine open. I mean, I don't lock it or use the key. We are in Europe, and we are on an island, which are few. You can go out here at 5 in the morning, nothing will happen to you, at two or three, I don't know. It was a pleasure talking to you, and we wish you all the success. All the success. A pleasure. A pleasure. As in most places with these climatic conditions, of course, Svalbard has a big problem with alcohol consumption. I mean, you live practically half the year completely in the dark. It's very common to have the plan of "day off, let's drink from very early on." So, a very interesting measure that the authorities have taken to prevent addiction from getting out of control and having more serious consequences is that they have limited the amount of alcohol that locals can buy. Basically, they give you a little card on which they put dots, just like when you go to the coffee shop, for sandwiches, right? For hamburgers, and with each purchase, they put a hole. And with this, basically, you can buy a maximum of 2 liters of liquor per month. In this month, you can also buy 24 beers and 1 liter of strong wine, but it's a very curious measure, honestly, that I hadn't seen before. And you can only buy alcohol in authorized stores. Look, that happens in all countries in this region, like Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, they have their government stores, and this store here is the only liquor store in this town. To understand more about this alcohol issue, good old Renato here welcomed me into his home. How are you, my Ren? All good, all good here. Now, take it out, I mean, take out the card. [laughter] Take out the big card, my good Ren. Check this out that we're seeing. It's the card to control alcohol consumption in the population. Sometimes there are people who don't consume any alcohol, but they have the card, and there are people who consume more. They trade, they go, they buy for them, and they simply pass it on. Of course. And they make it seem like someone else bought it. Hey, that's cool. That's cool. Look, if you end up here, you're not an addict, you can profit from the addicts, right? Like, [laughter] give me some money and I'll let you buy with my little card. And well, here, good old Renato is basically dedicated to cooking. You're a chef, right? He welcomed us into his home, by the way. Thanks, Renato. No, no, what hospitality. What great people we've met here. Renato gifted us a bit of his talent. Wow. I mean, he made us some super fancy little toasts, decorated them with red fish roe, and made us cauliflower with bacon and some crab legs with butter. No way, a dish for which people pay $300 at the place where Renato works. We enjoy that here, right? Thanks, truly. Thank you very much. Hey, Renato, and are you team dark season or light season? Dark. Even though the first time was a bit difficult, during that time I suffered a bit from a bout of depression for about a month and a half, but I overcame it by taking my vitamins. The same, doctors prescribe things for you to feel better, go out with friends, talk, be in a social environment, in short. Hey, well, you truly asked for help. Wow, it's good that you recognized it, because many people last much longer, and it's well known that in these places, with these climates, horrible things happen, people hurt themselves, and so on, so I'm very happy, I'm very happy that you're well and that you're so successful, so awesome. Good old Ren is giving me a tour of his house. Honestly, it's incredible today, right? They live beautifully. Congratulations. But what caught my attention the most, I want to show you, is that the house they rent includes this attic. Check it out, here in the attic, the house they rent already includes a safe to store weapons. Check this out with the space here. This one is identical to the one we saw, for example, in the church, in the one we saw at Nils' house who hosted us. You haven't gotten your gun permit or anything? No, I want to do it, yes, but I have to take a course first and then I'll go buy it. So, the fact that you don't have your gun license means that you basically can't leave the city. I can't leave, but I can go out with a guide or someone who has a license and a weapon. Indeed, well, my good Ren, when you have your weapons here, with a lot of responsibility, right? Obviously. [music] I love that a large part of the marketing on this island is that they put "the northernmost place in the world" on everything. For example, here is the northernmost bar in the world, the northernmost Toyota car dealership on the planet, and also the northernmost gas station. Look at this. The world's northernmost fuel station. It's truly good marketing and completely true. It's just that it's really crazy. I mean, after us, if we keep going up, what's left? Polar bears, a lot of ice, and too much, but too much icy water. It makes me laugh that there's only one gas pump. I mean, this is all there is. Or it has two sides. Ah, no, there are two. Look, this side. Okay, number one and number two. Here, two cars can be at the same time. [music] And of course, there are no firefighters here, no gas station attendants, but you refuel, pay inside. Quite good. Good marketing strategy, and it's cool, honestly, for the people who live here to say, "Hey, I live in the first point on the planet, in the northernmost part of the world, it's cool, I'm slightly envious," and then I remember how congested I am with these climates, and it goes away. Better, [laughter] better I'll go back to my warmth. The island of Svalbard is governed by Norwegian law, but it is said that the inhabitants here are from approximately 50 different nationalities. This is an island of migrants. Of course, the largest percentage are Norwegians, but you meet people from all over. Anyone looking to save a good amount of money, because here it is said that salaries are paid very well. And whoever doesn't mind freezing their balls off half the year is welcome. Come on over. By the way, if you're seeing some movement behind me, uh, a lot of people walking and so on, it's because it's currently midday. It's 12 PM right now, the light stays like this for 24 hours. It's no mystery that winter clothing is very expensive. That's why locals here in Svalbard started this initiative called "Bruk Tingen," which basically means "the used store," where you can get winter clothing completely for free. Basically, since many people come and go here, they accumulate things, right? You buy a lot of jackets, and then it's like, "Well, I'm leaving, I'm not going to take four suitcases of winter jackets." So people come here, donate what they no longer use, and then those who arrive and perhaps need winter clothes to, well, not freeze to death, can come here, get what they need, and it costs them nothing. Unfortunately, we found it closed right now. I would have loved to go in and see exactly what they sell inside and all that, but more or less from the windows, we can get an idea, and it's very cool. I loved this initiative. More "Bruk Tingen" around cold places in the world. Before coming here, honestly, I thought I would find a very rustic, very disconnected community, and that communicating and sending files would be very complicated, but no, the truth is that we have found that everything is very, very developed. In fact, I want to show you this. Look at the internet quality I have on my phone. This is not a Wi-Fi network, it's the phone's internet. We'll do it in real time so you don't think it's a screenshot. Look at this. Almost 200 MB download, upload, if it's 20, it's really very good, very, very fascinating. And this has pleasantly surprised me, being able to communicate with my work team on the other side of the world, sending them high-quality files, and everything has not been a problem at all. And as in all my journeys, now I stay connected with, please read here, Holafly. Of course. A brief break from our beloved sponsors, Holafly. Thanks once again for supporting our content. And indeed, Holafly is an excellent service that I've told you about many times for staying connected around the world. They offer regional plans, which makes it easier if you are visiting different [music] countries, you don't have to be changing SIM cards in each territory. It works with an eSIM, very easily. For example, here in Svalbard, I have coverage [music] with my same European region plan. I didn't have to buy another one. Prices are more than convenient. You choose the number of days you will be traveling, and it gives you the price for unlimited packages. Of course. In many territories, it even lets you share internet, I don't know, for your computer, for another device. And if that weren't enough, we have a discount code for channel users. Here you'll see a 5% discount on every purchase and recharge. And if you encounter a polar bear, take a photo of it at that moment, and before the bear eats you, you'll have time to send it to your mom so she can at least remember you fondly. Thanks Holafly for sponsoring our content, and honestly, it's a service I usually use on my travels. Well, let's continue freezing our balls off. [music] You know, being with 24 hours of darkness does affect your head. You don't know when it's day, you don't know when it's night, sleeping is strangely difficult. And well, I want to show you this very cool hotel we're staying at. It's really cool, very cool. This one is called the Base Camp Hotel, which is themed as if it were a camp, a base, a campaign, the whole hotel, honestly, is very cool, the staff is super top. Unpaid mention, okay? We paid for our accommodation and everything, but I do want to show you this accommodation, it's very cool. Check out our room. This is like the suite, right? I don't know. We have our little living room, honestly, very fancy. Look at this. These are the little beds, uh, small. Warm, honestly. It's not bad. It's not bad. But don't get diarrhea from up here because no, no, no, by the time you get down, you've lost the battle, my friend. Honestly, it's cool. If you ever come to Svalbard, I highly recommend it. I repeat, not an unpaid mention at all, but it's a very different experience. Tea welcomed me here into her home. I introduce you to Tea, a 100% Norwegian gem. She's been living here in Svalbard for a while, and we're learning a lot. She has a beautiful house, honestly, with a balcony that's just lovely, lovely. They have seal skins in their living room. We're learning a lot about daily life. Thank you for having us, Thea. Really, it's so special for us. This is what I wanted to show. I find this quite, I don't know, amazing. So, check this out. They have all of these jackets. By the way, I love these animal heads. Very, very cool. Then they have the specialized clothing here. So, check this out. What are these ones for? These are for like snowmobile trips and like hiking trips with us or kindergarten. It's the Svalbard thermo suit. It's brilliant and often covered by regular pants underneath. And it's not just this, I mean, the coats and all that, but they have an impressive amount of shoes. Look at this. These ones are like snow snow. This one I'm guessing. Uh-huh. This is for hiking. This one is more fashionable. Yeah. But they're still warm. I'm curious. Of course, this is a more adult population town. But how many kids are there? Like 400 and almost 30. For 23 I think. 423. A lot of kids here. It's a lot of families and it's a wonderful place to spend family time. So, um, your kids here, they go to school, right? Yes. One in kindergarten, one in school. And school here, what do you have to pay for it? Is it public? Public. All schools, like public schools in Norway are free. They have first grade until 10th grade and then high school and universities. So would you say that it's a good place for living? You like it? I love it. I will never move back. We know we cannot stay here forever, but we want to stay here for 10 more years or more. Maybe. All right, that's good. That's a good plan.
Can you see that little house right above the mountain that's lit up? Well, it has a legend, honestly, a very beautiful, very tender one. It turns out that in reality, what that is is an old entrance to a coal mine that was there. Eventually, the coal mine was closed, decommissioned. So, that structure remained, and from there, the locals of the town started a legend that Santa Claus lives there. Since this is the closest town to the North Pole on the entire planet, they say that Santa Claus hangs out there, right? And he's relaxed there and having a good time, having his beers all year until it's time to work in December, and that's why they made this [music] little mailbox here. So, in this mailbox, children come during the Christmas season to leave their wish lists for gifts for Christmas. They put everything here, and the belief is [music] that Santa Claus will come for them, and if you've been good, he'll leave you your gifts. If you've been bad, he'll leave you a lot of coal, which comes from that very mine. We can see that the structure has some little lights on. This has no other purpose than to continue the legend. They turn them on on December 1st and turn them off on December 31st, when the holidays are over. And it's nice, right? It's tender. On December 1st, children come here, they tell me they form lines, that it's very beautiful. [music] Here, people come and distribute hot punch, and they have a very nice time. What a beautiful belief. And I loved that little letter here, look. I don't know if we can see it with the camera. Look, it drew a little house there, like Santa Claus's house, with its candy and everything. I love that towns do that to make children happy. There's nothing more beautiful than that. Another disturbing fact about the island is that the houses here are [music] slowly sinking, and this also happens because of the famous permafrost that we already mentioned. Because of this, the ground is moving. The foundations of the houses, no matter how deep they may be, are tilting, and this is causing many houses to be evacuated today. We just came across one that, wow, it couldn't be clearer. This thing is [music] very, very crooked. And indeed, it had to be evacuated. They had to tell the people who lived here, "You know what, my friend? Your house is going to fall, it's going to go, we'll get you a new one." This has led to one of the major industries, sources of employment on the island, being people brought from outside, from the mainland, engineers, carpenters, builders in general, to be able to put in new pillars, new [music] foundations. While we're talking about this, it's also worth talking a bit about the housing situation here. [music] And it's very interesting that it's estimated that about 80% of the housing here belongs to companies. I mean, the owners are large companies. And this happens because, as we've discussed, this is a society whose population rotates a lot. It's rare for someone to decide to stay for more than, let's say, 5 years here. So, the owners of most of the housing are large companies that constantly hire people, and it's like, "Okay, I'm hiring you, work for me for a few years, I'll give you this house to live in, or I'll rent it to you at an affordable price, blah blah blah, and then you leave, I'll give it to someone else." And yes, only about 20% of the housing has a private owner, someone who said, "I want to invest in a house here, build a future, and so on." Uh, yes, only about 20%. How about that? A very interesting fact, and yes, this sinking thing, wow, it's scary, and here we find it very, very well exemplified. You know, and this permafrost brings many, many consequences. Look at this we're seeing behind me. I'm learning that it's the drainage system, as well as the cabling system. They can't have the cabling or the sewage underground because this would eventually cause it to come out and break, and it would be chaos. So it's on the surface, they put it in these wooden boxes, and if, as we're seeing, through this wooden box, surely a gentleman with a big poop is currently transporting at full speed, and also all the electricity cables and so on. Wow. No, no, no. This permafrost, you see, it has the people in charge of the island very resourceful, thinking of solutions for everything. [music] We were walking down the street and we came across a very handsome young man riding his scooter, and we said, "Wow, that looks cool, that looks awesome." And out of nowhere, he let out a powerful Luisillo, and it turns out he's from Argentina. How are you, Luchi? All good. I'm from Argentina, from Patagonia, and I've been living here for a year and two months. And check out here, good old Luchi is letting me try his scooter. Basically, you have to give it a strong push, and once you accelerate, you don't stop. Look. Hard, hard, hard. And off we go. It picks up speed quickly, but I want you to see this. When you brake, whoa, it skids horribly. So, it's not a good idea to brake hard here because, well, everything is frozen. Hey, but what a great mode of transportation, my Luchi. My good Luchi, have you ever crossed paths with a polar bear while riding your scooter? No, I haven't had the luck because the reality is that I would like to, only on a boat trip. That's the only way you can see them. But why do you say you would like to? Because I would love to. I love them with all my soul and I would like to see them and have the opportunity to run. [laughter] Let's see if your scooter can catch up. Well, look, uh, few have the fortune to die doing what they love, and Luchi, apparently, would like to die seeing a polar bear. And now what? Were you heading home or what? Now I'm going to my house, just over there on the front side. Yes. Hey, can we join you? Yes, yes, obviously. Oh, well, let's go. Obviously. [laughter] Alright. That's how easily you make friends here in Svalbard. I've noticed that in all the buildings and so on, you have to leave your shoes outside. It's something extremely traditional in Norwegian culture. It comes mostly from the time when there were miners, coal miners. So, they made it a custom to take off their shoes before entering so as not to dirty the place. Hey, what a beautiful house you have here. Wow. It's very normal here in Svalbard, the thing about candles, uh, lights, because since we have 4 or 5 months of darkness, then we have to make our homes cozy and as illuminated as possible. Hey, and I see you have plants and everything, how do you make them not die? Exactly, we have these lights that are specifically for plants, so that way they survive the entire dark season. I'm learning some very curious things here with good old Luchi, especially about pets. Let's see, tell me. He's telling me that you can have dogs, but not cats. This, why are they prohibited? Because they are basically predators, so they could complicate the local fauna and flora because it's an extremely exotic place. So, cats are strictly prohibited. Unfortunately. It could bother a reindeer. Uh, you can't touch reindeer, you can't interact with them, except to take photos. So, neither cats nor dogs can try to attack them because they are protected animals. Is it true that for not having a weapon, you can be fined? I mean, how does that work? You get fined for the act of crossing the signs at each cardinal point of the town, and if you cross that line, it's like you're breaking the rules. So, that's why the fine would be charged. Apart from the risk. If you don't tell a friend you're going out for a hike, if a bear eats you or you get lost, nobody knows, nobody will find you because the wind can blow, and the snow covers you, and you can be under the snow for years. We're going to visit the Svalbard [music] Global Seed Vault, that is, the seed vault of [music] the whole world, which is, as its name suggests, a deposit that has seed samples from all countries in the world in case any catastrophe were to occur. I don't know, let's suppose a natural catastrophe or a horrible war, politicians go crazy and launch nuclear wars and wipe out entire populations, and suddenly it's like, "Brother, I had the corn that I had been developing for over 200 years [music] there, my friend, I won't be able to make my delicious blue corn tortillas [music] that I like anymore." Don't worry, because here in Svalbard, they have a copy of the seeds so you can plant them again, so you can recover all the progress humanity has made over hundreds of years. Right in this building, which I tried to get access to, but couldn't, they are very strict. I've seen videos online of people who have managed to get in, and it looks impressive inside. Here I leave you some samples with the respective credit of the creators and all that, because it's really very, very cool, great work. But good old Luisillo here from the outside, feeling very cold, will tell you. It is estimated that there are about 1 billion samples here, and collectively [music] about 500 billion seeds from all over the planet. The most recent case of a country that has needed it was around 2015, when in Morocco, something very bad happened, they truly lost seed samples, and it came to the rescue of the situation. And one asks, why here? Why under Norway's regime? Why do they trust them so much? Number one, because Norway is at peace. Number two, because there is a treaty that says that there can be no military activity here in Svalbard. So, unless someone wants to invade, there shouldn't be a catastrophe here. And number three, why do you think? Well, because of the permafrost. That's right, it comes up again. As we've said, permafrost preserves everything very well, and since this deposit goes all the way down under the mountain, it can be at temperatures of around -6 degrees, -6 to -10, which will preserve it very, very well. Next time, let me in, okay? Svalbard authorities, that would be cool. I'll return in the summer to see what it's like during the day. [music] I was welcomed at a husky breeding center. This is fascinating. They have about 80 dogs here, although they tell me that if we count the pregnant mothers, there might be about 90. And all of these are Alaskan [music] Husky, although many are mixed. Let's not get too technical about the situation. These are working dogs used for sled expeditions. Basically, they are trained to endure very long days in nature. Well, as we've mentioned, there are no real roads connecting the settlements on the island. So historically, people have traveled by sleds pulled by dogs, and nowadays many travelers seek this experience. They are all cool, they all have their little houses, in which they have a layer of reindeer fur. They also put sawdust in them for a bit of extra warmth, but these dogs themselves withstand these temperature levels very well. I'm a city person, and honestly, I'm used to seeing dogs in sweaters, it's the most normal thing, and the dog sleeps on the couch. That's very good, that's excellent, these are simply dogs of the North Pole. However, most of these dogs eventually, at some point in their lives, will have their stage of wearing sweaters and having toys, because here they work them until they are perhaps about 7 years old, and then they are given up for adoption. We've talked to some owners who have told us, "Ah, of course, my dog was one of these."
training centers. Once he turned 7 or 8 years old, they gave him to me." And they are usually very, very obedient dogs. The truth is, they are really, really cool. I've enjoyed seeing the process and how they have them all in their little houses with their little names. Some climb onto the roofs. Very nice. And as I tell you, it's something cultural here, literally for hundreds of years. now working with with the dogs through through the company base camp. Best part is going on the trips trips with them of course the expeditions bringing guests into guiding in general. This is uh where we connect connect the dogs. It's a steel cable. This one is now rigged for is it eight eight dogs. Little bit different from different companies but it's uh you have two dogs in the front and then uh in pairs they go two two two times four. So you have eight dogs in the system. harness being such a small population, there really isn't a jail here, there isn't a prison system, but what there are are small holding cells here at the police station. Let's see, it's not really like you see patrols everywhere and stuff, it's a very small town and there's a very, very small probability that someone will commit a crime here, but what they tell me does get registered a lot are drunken fights, and that's why there are some holding cells here so they can catch them, cool them down, my friends, and then they release them. But if someone were to commit a crime beyond that, a serious crime, I don't know, kill someone or something like that, some type of more serious aggression, what would happen is they would detain them here until the authorities from the mainland could come, they would take them to mainland Norway, and then they would be sentenced and all that. Just recently, our good friend Renato had a close experience with the police. Uh, he has a buddy who was in jail, so he can tell us about the experience, right? Well, some guys who were Norwegian started looking for trouble with him, and in the end, he stood up to them and ended up winning, you know? I mean, they fought, they fought. Yes, of course. And well, they went to complain to the police, and they told him he had to serve a certain sentence for about a month, but they told him he could go at any time of the year when he wanted to show up, right? So, they told him, "You have to go from Bálvar all the way to Oslo, let's say, the capital, the month you want, uh, you show up, and we'll put you in jail for a month." [laughter] Hey, that's pretty convenient, right? It's good. Yes. And he says he was fine there. it was like a mini it had a TV, DVD, they did their shopping and everything, he had all the benefits there, right? You tell that story in great detail. For me, you were the one. No, no, no. [laughter] It was an Argentine friend whose name we can't reveal, but he knows who he is and he gave us permission to tell this. Ob. Yes, in fact, I spoke to him just now and everything, and yes, he gave us permission. He gave us permission. How crazy. Well, it happens, it does happen, and indeed you have to go to the mainland to pay your. We enter [music] briefly the church, which is actually the only religious temple that exists on the island. This is, honestly, very interesting. Since Svalbard is a multicultural population, here in this church, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., etc., are also invited to gather, because yes, there are people from many parts of the world here. So, if you suddenly want to have a special ceremony, right? And gather all the people who follow Islam on the island, you convene them here in the church, and they are very open about it. Like, yes, freedom of worship, do your thing. How about that? I found that super beautiful, right? Very respectful, very open. And check this out, this is also crazy. I don't think many churches in the world have a vault, a safe with weapons, very unusual, uh, a church where all the religions of the world can come together and it's well-armed. Another very peculiar fact about this island. There is only one hospital on the island, which is this one here, it's actually quite large, where emergencies, basic illnesses can be treated, and patients can be kept for later transport to the mainland. For example, if you need a very complicated surgery, of course, they can't treat you here. If an animal suddenly attacked you and they have to amputate a leg, they will take urgent action here, but then the more specific things will take you to the mainland. And similarly, if a pregnant woman's baby arrived seven months early, there's no other option, she couldn't be transported to the mainland, she will give birth here. But the idea is that sensitive matters happen on the mainland of Norway, and here very, very urgent matters are handled, or things that are not too complicated. Until a few decades ago, Svalbard island was very different, basically a place for miners and scientific researchers, but as time has passed, it has taken on a much more family-friendly vibe. A clear example is this Christmas market we came to visit, very nice, very friendly. All these types of activities have made tourism one of the great activities in Svalbard today. And curiously, this, the fact that people now come here and fall in love and raise families and stay for a long time, is part of Norway's strategy for this territory. Let's be realistic. All over the world, there will always be conflicts over land. Almost 100 years ago, Svalbard was in a major dispute with several territories over who would govern it. So today, to avoid conflict, to prevent war, to prevent military intervention, what Norway has done is incentivize people to have families here, to have life, to have shops, to have commerce in general, for people to be able to live well. So, in this way, armed conflict is avoided. Honestly, very good, great strategy, it provides work for many people, it gives them quality of life, areas are urbanized, and at the same time, peace is promoted. I think we all prefer to live in a world with nice Christmas markets and families walking their dogs and babies in the street, than in a world where leaders are fighting over pieces of land. [music] [music] So there you have it, a bit of life in Svalbard, the northernmost island on our entire planet. Honestly, I've loved it. What a beautiful adventure this was. We're leaving here with new friendships too. What interesting and cool people we met. What a unique, peculiar lifestyle. Truly, one does not exaggerate when stating that this is a very, very unique place. What did you think? What did you find? Let me know down here in the comments. Would you like to live in a place like this? Thank you very much to all the people who opened their doors to their homes, to their lifestyles, who told me such personal things. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart very, very much, and of course, thank you very much to all of you for accompanying me on another adventure. We'll see you, as always, you know, in a few days with a new video. Goodbye. [music]