Teriberka-Murmansk, Russia

I could only gape at the stretch of snow-white sand that stretched as far as the eye could see, the car was moving very slowly due to the slippery road conditions due to the snow.

The journey took approximately two hours accompanied by strong winds carrying snow debris flying erratically across the white road. I closed my jacket and pressed myself against Yura who sat beside me hoping to get a little heat from her body.

Teriberka is a fishing village in northern Russia overlooking the Barents Sea, located approximately one hundred and twenty kilometers from the city center of Murmansk. "This place was once used as a shooting location for a film nominated for an Oscar 'Leviathan' in 2014, and later became one of the tourist destinations in Russia," Valter said without being asked when I looked in awe at the all-white landscape from the car window.

I did not respond to Valter's words, I was too busy with the scenery around me. All I could see the only scenery visible is a dazzling white landscape, combined with the enveloping clouds which are also white until my eyes were able to stop at a board that stated Teriberka in Cyrillic letters. Such a contrast to the land of my birth which every day is presented with a stretch of green scenery.

The atmosphere was very quiet like a dead city, a village area where even the inhabitants were rarely seen, only dogs chasing after. Teriberka has two settlements, Old and New. The two settlements are not so far from each other, in the Old section we see a very dark and dramatic atmosphere, abandoned buildings, damaged, and neglected.

In the New part of the settlement, it is not much different, very quiet, and rare to see people walking outside. This is a portrait of the atmosphere of a remote village in Russia.

"From here we have to change transport with a taxi to get to the end of the beach," explained Valter as someone who had come here before. "Why don't we use the car?" I asked in the cold. my body was shaking shivering, my teeth chattering incessantly so cold. "Natural conditions do not allow us to continue by car, we can only choose two options: walk or take a taxi." He added again.

The taxi that Valter meant was a typical Teriberka-style taxi, the taxi is a sled pulled by a motor. There is no cable car to enjoy winter like in Norway or Switzerland, where everything is still completely manual.

The weather conditions are fairly heavy and strong winds do not dampen our enthusiasm to keep traveling forward. I was on the same sled as Valter, while Liana was with Joseph, Olga, Yura, and Mia were on the other. Mia insisted that I wasn't in the same cart with her, I smelled the aroma of matchmaking here.

But, well, there's no time to think about strange things in natural conditions like this. The ride on the Teriberka Taxi was very uncomfortable, the flakes of snow flew in the face, and it was very painful.

Besides that, the wind that blew hard at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius was able to make me freeze. The taxi provided a thick blanket but the cold weather penetrated and spread throughout my body.

"Are you ok, Jade?" Asked Valter, holding my hand trying to make me a little warm. "It's really too cold for me," I replied softly, shaking almost inaudible. My face and hat are full of snow.

Valter then hugged me tightly trying to save me from the cold wind and snow. I'm really dying. There is a price to be paid for beauty. And we have to go through it for that. And it's all worth it.

20 torturous minutes later, we came to a cliff covered in snow, saw a frozen waterfall, and a beach filled with black rock. This peninsula is directly adjacent to the Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean, the Ocean that separates Russia and the North Pole.

Yep! We are at Teriberka 'The Edge of The World'.

"It's cool," I said, taking a seat on the rocks.

"Yes, we are on the edge of the north side of the world," said Valter. "Maybe things would have been different if we had come in the summer." continued Mia. "According to my tour guide, when I first visited Teriberka, in the summer there was a ship that took you on a trip to the North Pole," said Valter.

"I prefer it during winter," I said again.

"It must be because of the aurora," Yura said.

"Not only that, seeing Teriberka's condition made me feel mixed up." I continued again.

"Abandoned village you mean?" asked Valter.

I nodded in agreement. "That's right, why did that happen?"

"Teriberka was founded in the early 17th century as a seasonal fishing base and became a major fishing center, and in the 1940s Teriberka experienced rapid progress, it was not only a fishing village as it is today but a center for fisheries and reindeer cultivation, but after In the 1960s everything changed, the Teriberka fishing industry began to decline with the arrival of larger ships. This settlement had no place to register the arrival and departure of fishing vessels, so fishermen were forced to dock in the capital, Murmansk. The Russian government then decided to move the fishing port and reindeer cultivation that made this place. Turning it now into being abandoned by its former inhabitants, that's why this place is so gloomy and unkempt, "explained Valter.

I nodded my head while staring in awe at Valter, this man has a lot of knowledge about the history of every city in the world in detail, not surprising because of his profession as a journalist. Most likely this is the reason Mia invites Valter to join because he is the only one who can communicate with local residents as well as his ability to speak Russian as well as being able to read Cyrillic letters.

Well, like the state of cities in the world in general, there will always be people who try to trick or try to take advantage of other people, when they find out that you are a foreigner, who cannot speak the local language.

"If you want to explore more widely, in Russia there are many places like this, which are forgotten by time and left just like that," he continued, his hand touching the beach water. "Come here, Jade, the water's even warmer than the surrounding air," Valter added, I moved closer to Valter.

"Where else is also known as a forgotten place, other than Teriberka?" I asked searchingly. "The fortress of plague in St. Petersburg, a shipwreck grave not far from here, the abandoned settlement in Spitsbergen, the ring of the dead city in Vorkuta, the skeleton streets in Siberia, and there are many other places in Russia," added Valter.

On the way back to Murmansk, we stopped by a shop, which served Reindeer meat steak complete with Cloudberry Sauce. The seven of us finished our lunch heartily, quickly, without saying much. The cold has depleted all of our energy reserves.

Overall, all the inconveniences on the way to Teriberka, are very much worth the enjoyment we got after arriving there.

I walked to the cashier, to pay for our lunch, there were other visitors who were also making payments at the checkout. When he turned around unconsciously and we stared at each other. He was the same man I met on the canal at St. Petersburg. Petersburg and also in the grocery in Murmansk.

"Excuse me, aren't you ....." I said, stunned.

Without saying anything, the man left without answering me and left me full of questions.

Could it be just a coincidence?

👀👀👀