We drove the cars down to the area where they keep the oil barrels and unloaded the barrels. Then we were invited to lunch at the Russian science station. The canteen was very old and very typical Russian and we had a fish soup. After lunch we drove one of the Russian patients to Maitri, the Indian station. Maitri is very close by the Russian station, but it takes a while to drive there as you have to first go back up half the way to the airport and then down again.
The people at Maitri met us with a great hospitality and showed us around that station. For example they showed us their new toilets which they are very proud of, but those toilets are specially equipped to break down waste which is a real problem around here. They also showed us their chapel which is the only multi-religion chapel in Antarctica. There you can practice Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam or Christianity. The ceiling was very low so Hjalti and I had to be on our knees but the Indians were able to stand upright. One of them played some psalm on some kind of a harmonica. It was a great pleasure to visit the Indians.
When we came out there was a lot of people around our cars. They asked a lot of questions regarding how they work, how long it takes to drive from the airport, how much they could carry and so on. We will visit them again with more information about Arctic Trucks.
Gísli Jónsson
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