on facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. wynton at the end of the world neighbors far away in the days are short. it's eleven in the morning and it's just getting light it's the shortest day of the. lighthouse nunavut is as far north and west as it's possible to get on the european mainland. lapland is the. most remote corner right at the top of europe a region of extremes above the arctic circle. first thing each morning eleana hands than so on looks towards the small harbor to see if a boat is still there it's their only link to the mainland it's low tide so she has to wind the gangway down to the pontoon she lives more or less alone on the island in the sea she's been here for five years. at first glance it doesn't look like anyone could be self-sufficient here but first appearances can be deceiving elena is checking on today's dinner. that i can't bear i've caught crabs today it's always something different sometimes it's crab sometimes fish that tate has or carrots from my garden if you just saw it there watching you on the gangway i wonder is this a little bit uncomfortable it did feel a bit i don't know i moved here because i wanted to lead a good and exciting life and challenges like this a part of that life there are forces that are stronger than me once i can't keep up with it now. it's still much too early for dinner so alaina keeps a catch in the water until later. a small realm is a manageable size the island has a jetty a lighthouse a well rocky fields and a sandy beach. elena regularly gets helpers on her island who perform hard physical labor in exchange for room and board here she and rocco from side to nia walk past the potato field to the beach. they want to harvest freshly washed up seaweed to fertilize her vegetables maintaining an old island tradition c wade is full of potassium magnesium and even calcium. we are taught do yo potatoes taste of potatoes or of see when i read. this look at occultism fungal part in that they don't taste of seaweed they taste completely normal a little bit of c oh yeah i mean. how do we let the seaweed dry the salt and sand are washed away by the rain so they get more and then it instead of that i. sometimes it's hard work reviving old traditions like when the wheelbarrow almost gets stuck in the sand ellena isn't a fan of tractors. at least it's light out and thanks to the gulf stream it's not that cold either the sun stays below the horizon and won't be seen directly again for a few weeks. the soil in the potato field is accustomed to the mix of seaweed and i'll be. this was of the most fertile spot on the small rocky island which had one hundred inhabitants in its heyday but that was a long time ago. by two o'clock it's already getting down. but there's almost no better place to see the rugged peaks of the lower foton down from the lighthouse on the little island that lawyer as it's called in norwegian. demand was limited when the state put a number of light houses along the coast up for sale that lawyer is too far north and too far out to sea. to commemorate its great history elaine or occasionally donates one hundred candles to the lighthouse because it was built one hundred years ago. the big light has gone out but a small halogen lamp now does the job elena is often alone in the town but she's not lonely. and so full of them i feel part of a big world up here i see the sky and the ocean three hundred sixty degrees around me. him the terror that it gives me a strong feeling of connection with the wild i can also see the stars at night and all that stood about and assist yeah. every now and then she even sees the northern lights. it's saturday half past six in the morning elena is the first to get up the hours when everyone else is still asleep is her time. going to have some of you i always wanted to work with my hands when i worked as a journalist and in administrator i know that this that's why i moved to the white house to have them enough. i want to do things like they bread every morning. and i'm in the fold out of pocket. at lunch time the next day eleanor takes us back to the mainland a journey of five nautical miles across the open ocean back to civilization. lapland is a place of wide open spaces and freezing temperatures we experience our coldest day in the. swedish town of kiruna it's minus thirty five degrees celsius. we take a helicopter tour around karuna across a desolate expanse rivers and lakes are frozen over with a layer of ice half a metre thick. the snow is so cold that it barely crunches anymore and so light even a semi wild reindeer sink into. the river below us the torn a river provides the best ice in lapland it's clear and blue so it's no surprise that people who love the cold have settled on its banks. but even turned it into a business in this remote region which was once believed to be the end of the world it can't get cold enough for them with the best raw material all around. elsewhere in the world snow gets cleared away but in the warehouse of the hotel on the torn a river it's been piling up for twenty years now sophie rootsy line is a sculptor she's creating a bedroom for paying guests. the merest saga the us at their wrecked what i've called these blocks for myself that they'll be the base for that bed i'm going to create three beds. the rest to create slow release and this could become an arctic fox catching draft. no two rooms are alike each is unique with its own expiring date at some point everything will flow back into the rhythm. so. as in material ice is perfect it adapts one. slough the. the next day the thermometer drops to minus thirty eight degrees celsius there's no wind no fresh snow just the icy cold. the iron ore railway line between kirana and novick continues operating between trains the tracks become a place of refuge. the reindeer wonder along the railway tracks and the streets the buses drive slowly behind. the reindeer have trouble finding food under the deep snow they make slow progress . and. it's so cold that victoria highness going to her son have to go out every morning and night to prevent their small herd from starving we're in poor yes two hundred kilometers south of corona. the reindeer spend the rest of the year living outside in the fells but to get through the winter they need looking after with daily feeding for a few months the reindeer are generally good natured but victoria neela have to watch out for their antlers nevertheless. i don't take care of them every day but when i do i stroke and feed them neela tells. explains that the reindeer ataman says he likes them all. to let us know not. victorious father is a reindeer breeder she studied in stockholm for a few semesters commuting between the city and lapland. neela has a favorite reindeer it's called apple and is harnessed for shorter trips it's an arduous task because victoria can only put on a harness without gloves. or you come after you after my fingers are freezing and going on a sleigh ride has fallen out of fashion these days that. can have almost forgotten that even a sammy woman like me thinks it's cold now if you spend too much time outside without lots on having to touch on a wood so your face will be a bit cold nanina let's get going and look for food for the reindeer. reindeer apo as quickly drawn to a tree. the who regularly have had these branches are covered in lichen a real treat. for randhir people can eat i can too but it doesn't taste very nice you can make tea with it and this is even more that it made me only had a few reindeer we were able to get in through the winter with the like on the now that we have ten it's not enough and you know the boredom that will formally that other of them off we connect to sned for once a raven from then on port gave a demo should i now get out upon. the trip ends after half an hour kneel on his sleigh wants to go home. all. the songs of the sun me are about reindeer a pristine environment silver lakes and golden mountains the seasons being on the move. we're heading father north a thousand kilometers across the ocean. spitzbergen is situated halfway between the north cape and the north pole an island group in the arctic ocean cold and beautiful the average annual temperature is minus five degrees celsius. by only february some peeks out behind the mountains sending a soft light across the horizon. the days are getting lighter again the contours of the mountain landscape visible in. the east fjord which despite its name hasn't been over for a long time now is steam. because warm sea water from the gulf stream meets freezing cold polar air here when there's a high pressure system in the wind drops it's time for small trips the capital of we can call it that is situated in the valley it'll be weeks yet before the first rays of sunlight reach it but it's a tradition among young people in the town to walk towards the sun a few weeks earlier on the sixteenth of february healthcare and multitude german ex-pats making their way towards the sun together with some friends i will see the sun today and i hope if we don't get more clouds we should have miracle. how long has it been going in the valley. we've not seen it in the valley since the end of october since mid october really hot since mid october. so for three almost four months i want to. molest the summit stunned five hundred metres along the ridge out. will we see the sun. it's not looking good we have this band of clouds that's come in from the west but maybe we'll be lucky and there'll be a break in the clouds. if you can just. the final stretch a ridge. it's not looking sunny day no unfortunately not it's even started snowing flight arc. geologist immediately starts uncovering the rock on top of the trolls dine. with the some there behind the clouds it is your. that. there's the one mountain here's the other and it's right here. through her head. but the sun's not visible. but it's there you know it's. the sinister you. get. to. the polar night lasts for mid november to mid january during that time it's always dogg. that's when the residents of long aboon are on their own. on spitsbergen it's so dark that the reindeer switch off their internal clock day and night become one it doesn't matter when they sleep awake. people need to maintain their sleep patterns but cope well the geologist anelka and avalanche expert have lived on spitsbergen for ten years and are old hands we visit them at ten at night it's strange to think that it's just as dark in the afternoon do you have different strategies for coping with the darkness. yet i swear by fish oil like all norwegians a spoonful of fish oil every morning. are used wine. the boss yes doesn't need it coffee in the morning to get going and then a lot of light during the day and then early to bed you have to be active the dark time is a very social time a lot gonzales. said that fossett healthy. it's the eighth of march the official day that the sun returns to the valley the moon is bright in the morning sky it looks like it will be a clear day like every morning mother gets on his racing bike with studded tires and judges into the valley. the sun has been shining on the hillside opposite for a few weeks but a part is a party and a dates a date at noon schoolchildren come to the village gathering place to welcome the sun it would be nice if it showed its face for the celebration and its owner but since two thousand and five the sun has always had an on this day. i find his or her head was. hitting head over to her head her head her parents weren't silver star mothers elizabeth her sister morris head the the are that it was her movie you know that they're the. this plain wooden staircase on which ten year old syria accept a prize for best son sticker plays a special role the son is visible from there if you crane your neck. the. they would go seek and this is the old hospital stay away we used to say that the people who survived the darkness and sold the sun on the steps would get healthy again. soon it's an old superstition that says everything will be fine when the sun returns to the valley homes and that is all i am all for. but no matter how much they clamor for the sun it refuses the show itself in the valley. someone has clearly miscalculated the time the children the younger ones in particular want to go home again but then it doesn't arrive a quarter of an hour late suddenly the adults are is excited as the little children about the start of spring at minus twenty eight degrees celsius now it's really coming. i'm. but it's fantastic. what's fantastic. this sun we've been without it for so long you know people often think that it's dark it during the winter and that we can't do anything as a result but that's not true we have the full moon and that's our sun in the winter we take advantage of every beam of light when there's snow to see the landscape as soon as you leave town you can see very well. the few who. have. winter in the arctic has an undeservedly bad reputation. there are people who say that even long you have been with this population of two thousand people and the same number of snowmobiles is too lively for them there are even people who let themselves be iced in. after around two hours we reached temple fjord which is covered in a thick layer of ice in early march. stuck in the ice is an old ship frozen and immovable and deliberately so. the norden nation is a hotel ship with a captain helms woman and a cook visitors a welcome and a greeted with coffee and raisin buns. mica is the helms woman she navigated the ship here in early winter she makes sure every day that the ice is stable enough for the crew and visitors in the past anyone spending the winter on a ship was worried most of all that ice floes would crush it but those ships were made of wood not of robust steel like the nautilus. the ice has to be hc if a storm what a break out in the open ocean is we could start to drift that's why we need the ice to be stable. it's hard to imagine that ice this thick could break. it off after forty eight centimeters. but. what made you want to come here it's profitable moment it is nice to show this to others people come here to spend the night we recently had minus twenty five degrees celsius it was cold and windy good we could welcome visitors with hot soup and if it is going to find. that number that. was still it was going to feel jack is in charge below day here in the arctic she's baking an apple cake with apples imported from the netherlands she spent twenty years cooking for film crews in amsterdam she now appreciates the solitude. it didn't or didn't you know i love reindeer and they're really tasty too i saw polar bears here two years ago and last year as well but not yet this year i hope i will. sima the school is in the fill the coffers. jack is guests traveled here by snow below from the main town a journey that took two hours after coffee and cake they heading straight back out again a sunday out in the arctic. the dutch flag hangs proudly from the mast it commemorates navigator villain barons who lent to the area and the sea his name four hundred years ago mike i was happy to follow in his footsteps. i love the quiet and i'm amazed such a monotonous landscape with its tree come as a black wide tanqueray can be so fascinating or england to know you can you can you dave into life advice and. we continue west woods across the sea to a small place at the edge of the world. we're heading to greenland the old whaling town of road a bay is our destination. in the winter at first glance everything is still buried under snow and ice forty houses fifty people with no cars and no running water the sea is covered in a layer of ice several meters thick a perfect little village with a church a school under its ideal even the cemetery has see views. this spring sun has brought a little bit of a fill with it it's the perfect time for short trips out on the ice. dogsleds are the only mode of transport here it takes three hours to pick us up from the airport first across the ice then through the mountains. on the way back the dogs have to take regular breaks. steyn and the others take good care of their dogs but they do always have a whip with the dogs are so hardy that they sleep outside in all kinds of weather even on the frozen sea. when the terrain gets too difficult the passengers have to get off this is a dangerous spot the in which call it the broken nose. suddenly some of the dogs bolt with an unmanned sled. one of the dog handlers and tells us about a detour. is this roadway that yes why don't we go across the ice the ice is very thin it's much the go around the shore if. you buy. two of us get on a sled the dog handlers are relaxed confident that the bolted dogs will come back the remaining dogs race at high speed for an hour sweating through their tongues. at the school the teachers and students switch back and forth between danish and greenlandic the language with so many cues and the fifty words for snow. the teacher harold is from denmark he's teaching the first graders how to write their names greenland was a danish colony for a long time it's only had self rule since two thousand and nine since then they have been more greenlandic names again these two boys are called in on quack little person and. damaging or for a long time the indigenous language was frowned upon it wasn't even on the curriculum for some years during the one nine hundred seventy s. that's changing now what will become of damage in and little person one day we ask mayor lars fleischer on change here i see a great future but yes there are few of us. and it's such a big country with so many opportunities since you know what little. bit of stuff you notice in this kind the children stay here or do they have to leave for a bigger town. and either way they'll have a great future. and. even if they want to become a pilot or a doctor they can be anything they like. nuke other cats a cut transforms the school into a place of worship with just a few small changes he's a public sector worker like almost all of the adult inhabitants of road. it's the eighth of april easter sunday only one person is outside rein in the east about for a full hour switching hands every five minutes nearly everyone else is hiding away indoors except the tireless newcomer. says the community is pasta he himself got married in this judge and he's witnessed forty five weddings and more than twenty baptisms here or in a village that's really had a population of more than fifty the people here were converted to lutheranism by missionaries in seventeen thirty three. hundred one or here or here i started here in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven twenty five years in order bay this year. do you know if. so you're celebrating an anniversary. you're sorry i didn't understand you're celebrating an anniversary here yes so on the twenty seventh of july and. few people go outside in this weather despite the tireless bell ringing. and i marry them as wife her daughter mia. the maillard. and steen one of the sled dog handlers they prefer to be among themselves during the easter service. the. but that's not the case during the traditional cafe mc gathering with coffee cake and herring everyone is welcome at the home of the two teaches. most teachers leave again after a year howden lane i have stayed. totally through very well here coddled. steams we moved here in two thousand and seven steyn tuckey and hans was so nice they invited us to a doc's let race but nobody told us how far to go in the end it was thirty forty kilometers the others had ten twelve even fourteen dogs when we only had five and they'd crossed the finish line long before i arrived an hour later. so had they had had several cups of coffee by then they were going to kick off when we use seven dogs and the others he is seven we can compete but if they have double the number things get tight for us. right. but even after five years in right away harold still loses against the local man in the races among the women almost always wins there's not as much competition . in. the. fountain the buy in go from germany is chopping small icebergs into transportable chunks after german reunification ingo and his wife emigrated to redebate the sea ice is unpalatable because it's salt water but the icebergs of fresh water. heaven right here three people estimate this ice flows between a thousand and ten thousand years ago it doesn't have a smell except in the summer when it melts that's all i think because of the oxygen that's been trapped so our stuff that i used. i think it's pure ozone and it's very good very pure drinking water to go through the probability that another human has drunk this water before him and is relatively low as like a pool guy this guy that he's going. through. annamarie is the mayor's wife in the village kindergarten teacher here she's working on a traditional garment this beaded colorways one point three kilograms it's almost a life's work. so so it was american at the switch over into madness here. mr kelly but you are not to say this collar should last my daughter mia her whole life that's why i make sure to mix colors she likes with those i like right i'm nowhere near done she can wear it when she has a child at the baptism and during other festivities than it would have been so of course just see along at the mark or you know serial mchenry how would the show is coming up this one is made from seal skin just like the sole we're not we're never done about that but to me that i do or. does he admit the fact that the looking at the diner added you know. we create this pattern and then we die it different colors but it's difficult to make it very beautiful and it's mind on the inside up. but then i just. i think he said we call the trousers tacky suit is there's another word for them in the north. i mean. this is the skin of a dog and we dyed the buttons i mean i know that when i don't know. but if i can. see. the greenlandic village of rutabaga also has an entrepreneur. the fish factory had gone bankrupt when lars the mayor took it over. to hang out we hung the halibut up to dry for around a month as it was extremely cold this year so one month won't be enough. con the fact hasn't dripped down yet to hardy him churning it all morning and last took over the factory ten years ago his business idea with the dried halibut was brilliant at first but then he got competition to control two factories from royal greenland and halibut greenland came along in ilesa the big town near here. the price of fish started going up much to the joy of the fisherman of course fish but it's hard for us to keep up with those prices. producing here is expensive fish. one of the most important facilities in rather bay which has no running water is the shower house it was closed over easter. now the washing machines in the town's only show is a busy in rather bay that means that six people are coming and going at the same time mariana signs in while waiting for her husband taki whom we met during the dog sled ride because the family didn't want to have it costs fifteen krone around two neuros per person do you think that's a lot you know you can shot for forty five minutes. to a german to twenty minutes. everything's written down correctly and do little. when lainer and harold feel a bit claustrophobic harold takes the dogs out for a run they know joins him for a stretch and then walks home alone for a few hours. then because as fred mccall are living here can be difficult if you had a stressful life before some go crazy after just a week and just want to leave because it's too small for them but if you live here for a longer period you almost become addicted. to oil. do you feel small in the face of nature we are small if you go for a walk in this landscape and fall comes in and it's cold then you won't survive if you can't find your way home and we have very small. that. it's not so easy to get used to life in the arctic with the graves spend half a year covered in a blanket of snow and most of the flowers on the made of plastic. where the washing hangs on the line in all kinds of weather and has to drive there no matter how long it takes and where there are still proper seasons. and when ships appear again between the icebergs in mid may that means the long winter is finally over. meet young entrepreneurs eager to tackle global challenges in our series founders valley if. in this episode india a country that's drowning in plastic waste prohibited from sudden it's doable. in the for when it. meets people who fight for a clean air india part nine of our series founders valley in thirty minutes on d w . d w true diversity. where the world of science is at home in many languages. on top of that i've been going there is no. doubt that our innovations magazine for in asia the us for every week and always looking to the future fund d w dot com science and research for asia. images from an isolated country. images from north korea any telling photographer captured fascinating shots of everyday life in a regimented society. an exclusive peek behind one of the last iron curtain it's. a north korean diary starting december twenty eighth on t w. this is d w news live from berlin poland on the outs with the e.u. brussels follows through on its threat to punish warsaw over judicial reforms it says are undemocratic the move could see poland stripped of its e.u. voting rights all.