On top of the world

BARROW in Alaska, the northernmost town of the United States, is 330 miles above the Arctic Circle and equidistant from Juneau and the North Pole. Naturally, it is often cold, so cold that houses and some public buildings have electrical devices that keep car motors from freezing.

According to Lyn Kidder's A to Z information on Barrow, the man for whom the town was named was never here. In 1826, a Captain Beechez of the Royal Navy and Sir John Barrow of the British Admiralty sent six expeditions to the Arctic in the 1820s, in search of the Northwest Passage.

Barrow is accessible only by air. There are daily jet flights from Anchorage and Fairbanks, as well as smaller commuter air and freight services to the seven outlying Eskimo villages.

The extraordinary force of the wind creates some difficulty for ships to enter the Arctic. Early explorers were often trapped in the ice. Sudden gusts of wind change the course of moving sheets or floes of ice, which close around the ships and harden fast. Explorers often chose to leave their ships to find places where there were better chances of escape from the ice.

So here I am at the Top of the World hotel near the North Slope Borough Police Department. I flew on Alaskan Airlines from Juneau, capital of Alaska, to Anchorage, on to Fairbanks and now this tempestuous and moody place.

This is truly exciting! I enjoy visiting small, less traveled places, and Barrow is one, located on the latitude (66 degrees, 34 minutes) where the sun neither sets on the day of the summer solstice nor rises on the day of the winter solstice. The northern third of Alaska lies above this imaginary dotted line, and passengers have reported how, on certain flights, pilots made a little "jump" over it.

The day of my arrival was rainy and cold. On board our old Tundra Tours van, we reached the shores of the Arctic Sea, the Chukci Sea, and the Beaufort Sea. The waters were sooooo cold!

I took pictures of the huge whale bones decorating historic places, including the Barrow's government offices.

It is summer but I am shivering in my borrowed thick coat.

I see bulldozers and cranes digging and pushing the sand, in preparation for the installation of more pipes for improved public services.

This morning the Arctic Sea is calm. But the tide has risen, and the waves vigilantly splash against the brownish-black sand.

It's interesting how the tourists-Americans from the lower 48 states and Europeans-stay only overnight. Within two hours, a tour of the city is done. But I am fascinated with Barrow, and I stay longer before returning to Anchorage.

A day before I arrived, ice covered the ocean for several miles. In view of sudden changes in the weather, visitors were advised to walk with a companion.

The van-type vehicle is designed for travel on the tundra (land covered by low and slow-growing plants, moss, lichen and grass). The French writer Gontran de Ponchins said it well: "The tundra is bare of vegetation. No tree flourishes here, no bush is to be seen, the land is without pasture, without oases; neither the camel nor the wild ass could survive here, where man is able to live."

The sand is spongy, soggy and difficult to walk on. It is a breeding place of the big mosquito of Alaska but it is also a good source of building material.

My hotel windows are open all day long for I love the sound of the waves and the feel of the wind blowing across my face.

My room has the best view of the Arctic Ocean, and with my passion for nature and life, Barrow has become my pride and joy! Aarigaa. Ah-di-gah. (How nice. I like it.)

Since my arrival, I have had no nights. To sleep, I have to draw my dark-printed draperies to make my room simulate night!

There is a qausag nig (new dawn) for the Filipino here in the North Slope Borough and the Northwest Arctic Borough. The Filipinas-mothers, daughters, nieces, aunts, grandmothers, neighbors, friends-have bloomed into new women.

They say Camai (Hello) or Mabuhay with ease, with a warm hug.

As laughter is the life of the Filipino, to the natives of Alaska, dancing and singing are invigorating. These are necessary, for here in Barrow, the Arctic is a tempestuous place and the changes in weather are abrupt and challenging.

In the Inupiat Heritage Center is an interesting collection of Inupiq artifacts and crafts.

It shows how drinking water and sewer disposal (honey bucket) facilities are provided in remote areas. The "Utilidor," the corridor of utilities, is "a three-and-a-half-mile-long insulated underground tunnel that contains water, sewer and telephone lines"!

Food and other supplies are brought in barges or planes.

Also at the Heritage Center, one can enjoy playing the yo-yo and the game called blanket toss. One is also given a glimpse of the wealth of the Arctic Ocean and the art of whale hunting.

One night (no darkness as usual) at 8 p.m. I joined another tour-this time to the very tip of the world, the Barrow point. It took one hour to get there, another hour to return. The trip cost $60, and it was most exhilarating.

We passed through the tundra on a Hummer, an all-terrain vehicle. The driver-guide decreased the air in the tires from 30 pounds to a mere 12, allowing the Hummer to glide and bounce on the sandy coasts of the Arctic Ocean and the iceberg bridges, in search of the polar bear seen two days earlier, coming out of the cold waters.

The wild ducks and geese, the seagulls, flew undisturbed, floating or soaring. I cast my gaze around, and saw the gleaming waters and the huge bones of whales...