Month: May 2016

I woke up at 4:45am thinking it was noon. It definitely felt like noon.

Packing up my tent, I noticed one of my poles was slightly cracked at the end. Probably from the wind at Vik. A brand new tent only been used for a week, kinda disappointed with MSR. Then again, maybe it was my fault was leaving it out there all day. Hopefully holds till the end of my trip.

Jokusarlon is a glacier run-off from the massive glacier – Vatnajokul. As I approached the glacier, the enormity of the thing blew me away. From a distance or on camera lenses, its hard to capture the scale of objects.

I pulled off into Vatnajokull National Park to do a few hikes. It was only 8am-ish and I figured I could do with some sweating.

About 3 kilometres into the hike, I came across Svartifoss. It had these strange rock formations that looked like they had been chiselled out of the rock by a sculptor. I spent about half hour there and ate my lunch or breakfast.

I should look up how they were formed, but after days of reading about erosion and rock layers and fissures, I didn’t particularly care.

I ventured on further for about 3km and came across a viewpoint looking into the glacier run-off. Whoa!!

This sounds cliched, but this thing really puts into perspective how tiny and insignificant we are. Just little dots buzzing around this massive hulking creature thats been around for ages.

I spoke to this hippie-looking dude. He looked interesting. Turns out he’s from La Prairie, Quebec. He had been hitchhiking around the island for the past few weeks. Quebecers are one of the most adventurous people I have met.

Heading onwards, I got to Jokusarlon, which is a glacial lagoon. The glacier has been retreating for the past few years and massive hunks of ice break off and float in the crystal clear water.

I walked along the shore, used a stick to steer a piece of floating ice towards me. I broke off a chunk and ate it. It tasted like ice. Not sure what I expected.

After leaving Jokusarlon, I was flagged down by a couple on the highway. I pulled over and saw that their car was in the ditch. They said they were driving along, distracted by the scenery and went off the edge!!

Their english was subpar and they were visiting from Shanghai. I offered to take them to the nearest town and help them find a tow truck.

The car ride there was very tense. The wife was super-upset, and I tried making conversation but the man only responded in grunts. I made a joke about how they weren’t helping the asian driver stereotype hoping to lighten the mood. It didn’t help at all.

We got to Reynivellir and after I saw that they had the help they need, I grunted a good luck and bid adieu.

Beautiful wild(?) horses running around on the way to Hofn. I had to stop a bunch of times and it made the journey longer than expected.

By the time I got to Hofn, I was exhausted. I went to the local swimming pool, unwound with a hot-bath/cold-bath combo, swam a few laps and drove to the campsite. Awesome day. I wrapped a piece of cloth around my head so I should make it to later in the morning.

Vik is windy. I thought my tent might fly away with me in it last night. Inspite of this, I lazed out and decided to leave my tent in Vik and head back west to check out the black beaches before continuing east later tonight.

Reynisdrangar beach is right at the foothill of a cliff that has interesting patterns due to erosion. This mixed with the black sand and rising rocks from the sea gives it a game-of-thronsey feel. The below picture is in colour.

I found a cave I liked. Felt kinda homely and a good shelter from the incessant wind. It almost had an apartment feel to it.

I drove out to Dyrhólaey a little further west along the shore, which is on a cliff.  The ocean was rough and the waves were ten feet high. Definitely glad I didn’t take the ferry to Vestmannaeyjar yesterday.

I got a little adventurous and tried driving up a side road – Rte222 that leads to a glacier run-off. My car made it about a kilometre before I got to a steep gravel road that was too much for the little guy. I had to reverse back downhill. I pulled over to the side and saw this monstrosity barrelling down the road. The driver waved at me, stopped and told me I’m crazy for trying to take my car up here. Ok, maybe not my brightest idea.

Next stop was the site of the US Navy plane wreck from when it crashed in an open field by the sea in the 70s. I had seen pics of it on the Internet and figured it would be a good photo-op.

Parking the car off the ring road, the trek is a 8km round trip to the site of the wreckage. The wind was insane, there was black sand flying everywhere and reminded me of being  stuck in crazy sandstorms when I was a kid.

The plane itself was an interesting subject to shoot. Kinda worth it, I guess.

 

 

Trek back to the car was just as bad. At that point, I was done with the “magnificent black beaches” of Iceland.

Generally, I have a dislike for sand growing up in the desert. I can handle white Florida sand, but black sand is even worse as it is much coarser. I got back in my car, got to Vik, packed my tent up in a haste, and got off the coast asap.

Spotted these guys on the way. Living the good life.

Driving further east, I camped at Hörgsland. The horses in the field next to my campsite were pretty interested to see a tourist. The sun seems to up even later now. I need to get eye-patches or something.

Glad to be off the windy coast. On to Jökulsárlón tomorrow.

7am is the earliest I have woken up so far. The hike up the same path I had taken last evening was more enjoyable in the morning air. Dave, Eli and Ani were good company as well as we made it up to the top of the falls.

At the top, we saw some mist in the distance. Another waterfall? Maybe a geyser? We trekked further up the stone road to check it out.

Up there, we found the most gorgeous waterfall, hidden in a little canyon-of-sorts (these aren’t technical terms). There was grass growing all around it and it steeply led to the bottom of the falls.

Sitting on the grass and watching the falls, I felt like I was living in a dream. I get into this dream-like state at times, where I feel like my reality is an illusion. I feel kinda weightless and exhilarated, yet calm. There is also a strong sense of deja-vu, like I have been here before.

We got back down, had breakfast and parted ways. I decided to drive out to the harbour and catch a ferry to Vestmannaeyjar. Once I got there though, the strong winds, expensive ferry tickets and the inhospitable looking island put me off. I snapped a quick pic of the black sand on the beach and got back in my car to head further east.

On the way to Skogafoss, I passed Eyjafjallajökull which is the volcano that erupted back in 2010. I stopped at the visitor center to check out the exhibits and watch a quick 20-minute documentary on life before, during and after the natural disaster. Powerful movie, really gave me a lot to be thankful for. Mainly not living near a volcano.

Skogafoss popped up as I drove along. I stopped by and saw a beautiful rainbow form at the base of the waterfall. This little girl was trying to find the pot of gold at the end of it and got pretty wet in the process.

There is a hike above the falls called Fimmvörðuháls that takes you between the 2 glaciers and all the way to Posmork. Its about 25 kms long and full of waterfalls and magnificent views along the way. Apparently, the hike is closed till June 1st due to snow. I hiked for about 5 kms before turning back. Maybe some other day.

Exhausted from the early start, I drove on to Vik where I decided to set camp. Vik is famous for its Black Beach, which should be fun to explore tomorrow. The view from my tent-spot was incredible.

Arnes -> Poristungur -> Hekla -> Seljelandsfoss

I woke up in Arnes hearing some kids playing by the river. Pretty glad I wasn’t completely alone in this town.

Instead of heading back to Selfoss, I decided to drive towards Poristungur, which is further into the highlands.

I drove for about an hour without seeing a single other vehicle on the road. It was desolate, to say the least. Walking in the middle of the highway? No problem.

As I headed further in, I saw these 4WDs heading out from further inland. Not sure how much further I could take my little car.

The road goes along the Pjorsa River all the way into the highlands until you get to a huge power plant on a lake in the mountains.

Its pretty hard to describe or even capture on a camera what you see out there. The lava field, distant glaciers, volcanoes, glacial lakes, mixed with no other human in sight makes it all very overwhelming, epic, scary, wonderful all at once.

I drove back along a gravel road through the lava fields of the Hekla Volcano. This is one of the most active volcanos in Iceland and there are warnings strewn all over to keep your cell phone active incase there is an eruption. Not sure how getting a text message will help when you are fleeing from molten rock.

Lava ash fields all around with rock debris from the last eruption of Hekla in 2000. It reminded me of the The Martian movie with Matt Damon.

I stopped the car and walked around for a bit in the lava field. After walking around for about 5 minutes, I got to a part where my foot sank in upto my ankle and the black ashy sand started shifting and flowing away. This, along with the fact that there was absolutely NO ONE around, and all the warnings everywhere, kinda freaked me out. I got back in my car and drove the hell outta there.

As I drove out, I saw the first sign of life after more than half a day. Horses woohoo. Iceland horses are so photogenic, they could be on magazine covers.

I got back onto Rt1 (the famous ring road) somewhere near Hella. I decided to head to Seljelandsfoss.

The falls here are definitely more interesting than Gullfoss. You also get to walk behind the falls which makes for interesting colours as the sun sets.

I saw some people hiking up a path to the top of the cliff. Following them, I came up to a high plateau. A volcano peaked out from behind that looked epic in the setting sun. The path lead right up to the top of Seljaladsfoss.

This dude thought it was a good idea to lean off the edge to get a shot. Watching him made me skirmish.

I walked back down and went over to the campsite next to the falls. Excellent facilities.

I met a couple of guys from Montreal, Dave and Eli and a girl from Germany Ani. We hung out and chatted it up about this and that. After ~24 hours in isolation, I soaked up the social interaction like a sponge.

The owner of the campsite, a friendly Icelandic man filled us in on stories of life in Iceland and during the 2010 eruption. I asked him if he ever considered leaving the island during the disaster and he said that the thought never crossed his mind. I would have packed my bags as soon as I saw smoke.

We ended the night with a shot of Icelandic Liquor, Opa. It tasted like Buxleys Cough Syrup.

As I walked back to the tent, I saw the moon was out. Awesome day. The four of us are planning a 7am hike tomorrow morning.

I froze last night. The temperature definitely dipped below -2C. I woke up in the middle of the night to put on all the clothes I have. I considered boiling some water to heat up my tent, but it was too cold for me to even step out.

Also super windy, I guess the highlands aren’t the friendliest camping spot. Earlier in the night, I had met some guys from Quebec who had a camper-van. They seemed to think I was crazy for sleeping in a tent, maybe they were right.

Gullfoss was a 10km drive from Geysir. The falls were beautiful, but I still would say Niagara Falls is more awe-inspiring with its sheer force and beauty.

At some point, throngs of tourists started to arrive in buses and I figured it was time to leave.

Based on a recommendation from a guy I met in Reykjavik, I drove to Flúðir in search of a secret lagoon. After getting lost a bit and annoying some locals, I managed to find it. After freezing last night, I welcomed the hot water.

The water has a gel-like viscous feel to it due to the silica-deposits. The lagoon also had a sulphur smell and the water was pretty damn soothing.

After a while, I met an awesome couple visiting from Denmark – Ashutosh and Fatima. We chatted up over a few beers, and hanging out with them really made the time fly.

I left at about 9pm, after five hours in the lagoon. My skin had wrinkled completely and I figured I should probably leave.

I drove to a nearby town of Arnes to set up camp. The town was completely deserted! I saw no cars, no people, no lights on, nothing. The campsite was empty too. Whatever, I was too exhausted to care. Cooked up a quick dinner and to bed it was.

Picked up my horse for the next 3 weeks. It’s been a while since I drove a manual, but it came back to me pretty easily.

As soon as I got out of Reykjavik, the scenery really pops out at you. I was so blown away by the surroundings, I found it hard to concentrate on driving.

First stop was Thingvellir National Park. This is where the Atlantic and European continental plates meet, and since they are moving apart every year, there are a lot of fissures and canyons and a gorgeous lake.

I took a hike through the middle of one of the cracks. The hike felt dreamlike. I walked the last km in almost a trance-like state. Being between the plates, there was no wind, and the grass absorbed all sound, including my own footsteps. I felt like I was floating. There was no one else on the hike too and I enjoyed the seclusion.

The hike ended overlooking Thingvellir Lake, and a gravel road that I followed back to the parking lot. I bumped into these guys on the way back.

After this, It was already around 7pm. Thanks to the endless sunlight, I wasn’t too worried about being caught in the dark.

Geysir was the next stop on my list. The natural geysers here spout every 10 minutes. It erupted as I was driving towards the town and it freaked me out. I got a shot of it, unfortunately a little underexposed.

I set up camp at a campsite right next to the geysers. Not too bad accommodations. They also have wifi! At a campground! Impressive.

The hike in the fissure is something I will remember always. On to Gullfoss and beyond tomorrow.

I woke up kinda late. I blame the jetlag mixed in with laziness. Also, the 22 hours of sunlight a day messes up the sleeping schedule.

The buses to Mt. Esjan Hiking Centre run infrequently on the weekend and I had to wait ~1 hour at the transfer station. The surrounding scenery kept me entertained though, and it sure as hell beat waiting at Highway7/Leslie (which I did for 16 months). The picture below doesn’t really do it justice.

The hike started off feeling like something in New Hampshire or Vermont, with small brooks running down and trees on either side.

Soon after though, the terrain got very other-planet-like. At one point, it really didn’t look like any other terrain I have seen before. Volcanic rocks everywhere, with ashy sand mixed with grass and mud (this is probably geologically incorrect).

Apparently, the water running down the mountain is the purest water you can get. I found these locals taking a break drinking from the stream… they asked me to take a sip too but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

I made it to the summit, which was in the clouds. Kinda eerie, since I couldn’t really see the path too well or anyone else. I figured if I just stuck on the path, I should make to the top.

The walk back down took about an hour. I should get hiking poles.

I met a local boy studying at university at the bus-stop. We both had an hour wait and he filled me in on life in Iceland. Seemed kinda bleak, to be honest. He said he wants to move to America soon… he wants to start a space company. I didn’t bother to ask him for details.

Tomorrow I pick up my car for 3 weeks and head to Gullfoss. Mt.Esjan was gorgeous, I am super excited for things to come.

I slept like a baby last night. Something about a 1-person tent that makes it feel really cozy. The birds started chirping at 2am, but I can sleep through anything. I lazed around all morning, contemplated going on a hike to Esjan Mountain, but put it off to tomorrow. Instead, I decided to explore more on foot.

The Reykjavik Botanical Gardens are right behind the campsite, and are gorgeous.

I then went to the Laugardalslaug Swimming Pool next door. Wow! It beats any of the Scandinavian Spas I’ve been to in the past, and only for 900ISK. I spent like 3 hours in waters or varying temperature, swam a few breathless laps in the Olympic Pool, went down the huge slide with a bunch of kids. Definitely will go back.

I came back and passed out in my tent. Too exhausted from doing nothing.

Landed in Reykjavik at 6am. The cold surprised me. Took the FlyBus that dropped me off right in front of Reykjavik City Campground. The facilities here are really nice, definitely the most luxurious camping I have done. Its also conveniently attached to the Reykjavik City Hostel, which offers for indoor comforts when you want it (+ internet!)

Walked around a bunch, into the “downtown”. Things are expensive, the city has a european nordic feel to it.

Ate some icelandic fish stew for lunch as well as the famous Icelandic HotDog.

I found a volcanic rock, that I thought was cool until I saw many more everywhere. Not as special as I thought I guess. After exploring the city and the Old Harbour, I walked back, took a nap, and went back out at night for the nightlife. Meh, its nice but nothing special after Montreal.

What I found more interesting is that it never really got dark. It goes directly from twilight to dawn. The birds were chirping as I walked back to my tent at 2am. Surreal.

Also, the women look like supermodels and the men are huge.