Barrow Alaska - Top of the World

Barrow Alaska is the northernmost town in North America. Latitude 71.29N, Longitude 156.79W.

From a distance, Barrow Airport looks like a small warehouse. Once inside, it's quite chaotic where all the passengers, incoming and outgoing, cram into one room. Alaska Airlines operates two flights per day, one coming from and the other going to Anchorage.

There's no paved road leading to Barrow. So the town is only accessible by air or sea.

First impression - cloudy and muddy.

The wind from the Arctic Ocean can easily bring you a blue sky.

Church, bank, and town hall.

- A drive-through coffee shop and a white "Polar Cab" waiting in line.

- A fur shop. Inside, it’s more like a mini CVS.

- A fake palm tree made from used tires.

Elementary school, high school, and a turf football field, donated by a visitor from Florida.

A tasty surprise - a Chinese restaurant run by a Korean couple. They have lived in town for almost forty years, serving the community and tourists, while raising four beautiful children. Their fascinating story deserves a longer blog.

- Top of the World Hotel - probably the best hotel in town. And it is the sole operator of the only tour in town.

- A view of nearby beachfront houses from the hotel cafe.

- A life-size photo of native Alaskans in the hotel elevator.

On the tour - heading to the northernmost point of the town. A "Lonely Planet" writer described his feeling when reaching the end of the road: "the end of [this] road feels more like the end of the world".

- A lonely memorial on a lonely hill, overlooking the vast Arctic Ocean.

- A landmark road sign, showing how far Barrow is from more well known cities: 2900 miles from Los Angeles, yet only 1100 miles from the North Pole.

A huge whale bone structure on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The whale was caught in 1968 and estimated to have already lived 256 years at the time!

As tourists, there's not much to explore in this remote small town. It's quite cold even in the summer (30-40F), and far away from everything that we are used to. Yet, there's perhaps no better place to turn our attention inwards -- just gaze into the north pole and contemplate the meaning of life :).