Photo ops

Snaps from the roadside:

Gas station, Bethel style ($5.51/gallon).

USPS meets the tundra. Larger than I expected, though people only have PO boxes up here, making a larger post office necessary. Also, it is a little hard to tell from this photo, but the building is built up on stilts (like all the buildings here) to avoid melting the permafrost. The permafrost is a layer of the earth that remains frozen year-round (to different depths depending on how far north you are). Keeping that layer frozen is essential in preventing the entire community from sinking into the bog (which I hear is still happening slowly despite preventative efforts). To prevent this, buildings are built above ground on stilts to avoid excessively warming the ground.

Some more images from my day (both taken at the admin office where I suffered through orientation):

Two things that Bethel has a lot of: puddles and empty shipping containers. As I mentioned, the transporting of goods in and out of Bethel is a challenge. Everything is either flown or shipped in by barge to the Kuskokwim River. Apparently it is too expensive to send the empty shipping containers back on barges. As a result, these corrugated beasts speckle the landscape, some abandoned, some being used alternatively (for housing, storage, jungle gyms).

Hmm... wonder what goes on up there...