Day 139 to 140: Golden Days in Fairbanks

After the five very eventful days, we finally reached "civilization" again and the next highlight was waiting for us - the Olympic Games of the Inuits and Eskimos from North America. These took place at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. We were able to camp right here at the center on a meadow. At around six o'clock, we set off to watch this very traditional event. The sports that were held that evening were completely new to me. For example, a hanging ball had to be kicked with one or both feet. Many other sports revolved around the principle of tug-of-war. However, instead of pulling with bare hands, it was done with the ears, the neck, or oiled hands. The last discipline of the evening was seal skinning. Six seals were lined up and each skinned by a woman. At the beginning, it was precisely determined how this was to be done and what had to be cut off. Just two minutes after the start, the first woman was finished and held the entire seal skin up in the air. I don't think I need to see something like this again anytime soon, but it was still very interesting to watch (fortunately Greenpeace was not present). Afterwards, we went to sleep at midnight in broad daylight. In this season, the sun only sets for a very short time.

The next morning, we were woken up by loud music and noise. The largest parade in Alaska was being set up in the parking lot next to our camping meadow. This parade takes place once a year to thank the gold rush, as without it, there would be no Fairbanks. After a quick breakfast outside in the bright sunshine, we set off to watch the parade. There was really everything on the move, from clubs, political and religious interests, the military, the governor of Alaska, old cars, and simply everything you can imagine. After about two hours, the street sweepers brought the clean conclusion to the entire parade.

Afterwards, we went back to the Olympics for a few more sports, which were very similar to those from the previous evening. In the afternoon, we headed into nature and found a beautiful camping spot right on the Chena River for the night...