Barentsburg: Lenin on Svalbard

Svalbard has rich seams of coal and the treaty allows these resources to be mined by any of the signatories. While many of these mines have closed, the one at Barentsburg run by Russia remains and we paid a visit.

It was a bit of a shock after 10 days in the wilderness:

There is a complete Russian town around the mine built in the Soviet area with statue of Lenin and that unique USSR style of architecture (top photo).

There are also a few older buildings remaining, though a bit run down:

The town has bars, restaurants and a hotel, and it was the last of these that attracted us - or rather its sauna so we could scrub ourselves clean.

For we were about to return to civilisation....