Dawn Breaks Over Murmansk - 40 Days of Darkness End With Brief Glimpse of the Polar Sun
34 minutes of daylight. Murmansk saw the first dawn of 2018. On the top of Solnechnaya Gorka drinking tea and listening to music the residents of Murmansk watched the long-awaited sun rise over the horizon. How could one live 40 days in the darkness?
Igor Ageyenko has the details.
Their one-and-a-half-month wait is finally over. Hundreds of residents of Murmansk came here to welcome the long-awaited dawn. Solnechnaya Gorka is the highest point in Murmansk. After the long pause people are finally able to see the light.
In a week, the twilight of a polar night begins to seem eternal. That's why hundreds of people that live beyond the Arctic Circle enjoy this day even more than the coming of spring because the night itself can last from one day to almost half a year depending on the latitude.
Anatoly Lobko, resident: "I welcome sun for the sixth time. I've been doing it every year since 2012. I come here for the sixth time and see many familiar faces."
Every year, the event organized by the local activists becomes more popular. There are even special buses that take people to the mountain.
Tatiana Pichkareva, activist: "We can draw our conclusions from the number of badges we handed out. The previous year, we had 600. This time, we handed out almost a thousand. That's the scale of our event".
The dark weeks are over but the end of a polar night is the hardest period. People have to make it to spring without much sunlight or vitamins. Doctors suggest following a strict sleep and rest schedule.
Tatiana Martynova, pediatrician: "You must try to go to sleep before 11 pm. Because going to sleep at 11 pm and waking up at 6 am. is much more effective than going to sleep at 1 am. and waking at 9 am. because you have to adjust to the biorhythms of nature".
The harsh northern nature still has some tricks up its sleeve. There's another tough challenge waiting for the locals in summer: the polar day. The sun will be hanging over the horizon 24 hours a day.
Igor Ageyenko, Dmitry Ivannikov and Pavel Kovliga for Vesti from Murmansk