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28 Feb, 2008
Bang, bang. Knocks on the door wake me up. "Time to go." I hear the voice of Mr. Ohba.
I look the watch. 8:57. We were supposed to be ready to depart by 9:00. I have over-slept completely. I hurriedly get up, and hear the loud noise from the next room. It seems Mr. Nagatani has slept in as well. But we manage to check out the hotel by nine thirty and are headed for the airport.
Today, we will be traveling all day. We will go further north. Every time we change our planes, smaller they become, and the fewer the passengers are. On the airplane to Resolute were only a young man and middle aged man in military uniform who looks awfully tough.
It is two hours and half from Cambridge Bay to Resolute. Left and Right, we see snow fields. On the trembling small aircraft that has two pilots on board, Mr. Ohba, Mr. Nagatani, the young man and the officer, all are dosing away.
The light coming from the round window shifts from afternoon light to twilight, and the around horizon is pale pink and purple, then it becomes darker and darker until all colors eventually give away to complete darkness.
After a while, we see dots of orange lights in the dark.
Resolute Bay.
A gateway to the pole that has hosted so many explorers from all over the world.
Within ten meters of walk from the aircraft, my body reacts to the cold I have never experienced. As I am dressed properly, I don't get cold, but I can feel it on my scalp and even on my eye balls.
Why in the world do you always go to such cold places?
How many times have I been asked this question before I left Japan?
Maybe this journey will tell me the answer.
Why does a man explore.
The answer may be more than one, but I will search it through every event, every moment I will encounter in this journey.
Noriko Miyashita
