O. wakes up at 6 am for his shift. He plans on staying up at the end of his shift, but when I wake up at 8, he finally goes back to bed.
During my shift, I prepare breakfast and keep the fire alive. The night was chilly :-)

The wind finally stops and the sun is shining again ! At 10 am, everybody wakes up and have breakfast. We pack our stuff. Aim of the day : reach Pyramiden and then cross the bay to reach Bruce Byen.

But when we board our kayaks, the wind blows quite strongly, from North again. I put my neoprene gloves and hat on, because it is very cold due to the wind. Waves are quite large and paddling is pretty difficult. The closer we get to Pyramiden and the stronger the wind (force 3 on Beaufort scale). Last kilometers are very difficult. But we finally reach Pyramiden after 1h30min of a tough and exhausting combat !

We put some warm and dry clothes on, let the kayaks at Pyramiden loading docks, and go for a walk in Pyramiden.

"People say that the Soviet town of Pyramiden was abandoned overnight. In reality, however, the desertion occurred over a period of months. But a visitor arriving in Pyramiden in the fall of 1998 would be justified in reaching that conclusion. In the newly emptied town, withering plants sat on windowsills; clean dishes were stacked on the cafeteria shelves; and neatly folded sheets rested on the former residents’ beds. The equipment used for coal mining—the town’s raison d’être—sat where workers had left it, ready to rev back into action at the push of a button. It was as if several hundred people had abruptly stopped what they were doing and simply walked away.The residents, however, never returned, and today the town still stands much as it was when the last men departed. To explore Pyramiden is to step back in time, to the heyday of the USSR. Soviet culture, architecture and politics permeate the town, from the block-style housing to the bust of Lenin—the world’s northermost statue of that communist revolutionary—gazing down, fatherly and proud, on Pyramiden’s main square. To truly appreciate the town, however, visitors should become versed in the strange history of its impressive rise and mystery-shrouded fall."
(Smithsonian - read more here : http://www.smithsonianmag.com/)

• From the loading docks to the entrance of the city

The city seems indeed abandoned, at the feet of a large pyramid-shaped mountin giving its name to the former Russian mining community. We do not meet any of its (only) 15 inhabitants when walking from the docks to the entrance of the city.
All the buildings we pass by are either abandoned, partially or completely destroyed.

• Entrance of the city and first buildings

We finally reach a huge sign indicating the entrance of the city. Below it lies a coal trolley, supposedly the last one which got out of the mine.
The closer we get to the city center, the more we can see the funicular which used to carried the workers from the city to the entrance of the mine located almost at the top of the mountain.
In the distance, we can see a large building from the mining factory, now abandoned.
We also pass by an incredible yellow house, which is now turned into an heliport.

• Inside a building close to the kindergarten

We then wander in the city among several buildings, meeting 3 or 4 inhabitants. We pass by what seems to be a school or a kindergarten. We finally enter one of the former apartment building where people used to live. We meet a lady carrying a gun, who let us in. The doors of all apartments are opened and we can visit many of them. There is still a lot of furniture in each of them, but also photographs, broken glass, torn wallpaper... It is quite disturbing...

• Passing by the hospital and visiting the swimming pool

When leaving the apartment building, we pass close to the former hospital which is closed. We then reach the gymnasium, which is also closed. Only the city guides have the key and let visitors come in on guided tours.
A large Lenine bust is located in front of the gymnasium. It is the world's northermost statue of this iconic russian figure.
We are quite disappointed not to be able to enter the gymnasium but Benoit tells us that the former swimming pool is usually opened and yet never shown during guided tours. So we try our luck and enter the swimming pool ! It is a huge building, hosting two pools and a gymnastics room.

• Pyramiden's "Champs Eysees" and cafeteria

When getting out of the swimming pool building, we walk down Pyramiden's Champs Elysees, a large avenue facing Nordenskjolbreen glacier and surrounded by red wooden houses, the first ones built in the city. There is a large grass area in between the houses (Benoit tels us the soil was brought from Ukraine in order to be able to grow grain) and in the middle of it stands a large sign representing the insigna of the city.
We finally reach Pyramiden's cafeteria where everybody used to come to share their meal all together. We visit the gigantic kitchens and the huge reception room. While visiting, an armed man arrives and asks who we are. He looks quite ****** off. But when we tell him we are a french group with a guide, we recognizes Benoit and everything becomes fine. Still, he does not want us to stay in that building, so we gently leave.
His name is Sacha, he comes from St Petersburg, he is one of the official guides of the city, and is under contract until march. He can speaks several languages, so he also serves as Foreign Affairs Ministry :-)
When leaving the building, we make a quick stop at Pyramiden's only hotel. This is where the 15 inhabitants are used to living ! There is a bar and a souvenir shop on the ground floor. The room seems overcrowded (at least 20 people there !!) after spending more than 2 hours without meeting anybody !
On our way to the docks, we pass by the building where couples used to live. Indeed, when Pyramiden was active, men, women and couples were separated. The funny thing about this building is that it used to be the loudest building of the city due to the numerous kids living in it. And nowadays, the building has been abandoned but it is still the loudest building since every windows is occupied by a family of seagull ;-) Hell of a noise !