Iceland Day 2 - Glaciers and Waterfalls

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn (well 6 am anyway) to light streaming in through our windows. The days were still very long, even though it was September! We were to go for a glacier trek today and Sólheimajökull beckoned. We had booked the tour, Take a Walk on the Ice Side, with Icelandic Mountain Guides and it cost approx.  20900 ISK per person.

The tour bus was due to pick us up at around 8:30, and we were hanging out outside our apartment, when we met this German girl who was on the same tour as us. She complained quite vociferously about all the noise of the previous night (the partying went on till 3 am), and though we smiled sympathetically, we were were quite happy about how lively Reykjavik was. The tour bus picked us up and took us to the main bus stand where we transferred to the larger coach which was to take us to the glacier.

This part of the tour was conducted by Reykjavik Excursions, and it overlapped with their South Coast tour till we reached the lip of the Sólheimajökull glacier, where we would separate from the main group and go on the glacier trek, while they would continue onwards to the black beaches of Vik, and pick us up on their way back.

The lip of the Sólheimajökull

The tour guide (who's name I forget) was a native Icelander, who was passionate about his country and had a wealth of knowledge and lore at his fingertips. Unfortunately, he was not a natural storyteller, but for people who made the effort to listen, he was captivating. As we drove through Reykjavik, we learned how three fourths of the country's meager 300,000 odd people lived here, and how it was one of the cleanest greenest cities in the world. We also learnt about how Iceland was settled, and how Irish monks were coming there way before the Vikings. Iceland seems to have a lot of Ireland in it, with the Vikings often bringing back Irish women as concubines and slaves. the people of Iceland are thus as Irish as they are Viking, though they tend to pay down their Irish ancestry. As one person put it, the Icelanders are Viking when they're sober and Irish when they're drunk.

Just outside Reykjavik, we were driving thorough the fields of boulders covered by moss so characteristic to Iceland. There were lava fields which were fresh enough that no plants were able to settle but the moss. In the middle of this, a few miles outside Reykjavik, we saw a number of places billowing steam which marked the Hellisheiði geothermal power station, which utilised these natural hot steam vents to both generate power as well as supply Reykjavik with cheap hot water. I can attest to the fact that I was bathing in genuine geothermically heated hot water, as there is a distinct smell of sulphur as you turn on the shower.

We passed the small town of Selfoss and stopped about mid day for a quick bite and use of the facilities at a roadside cafe. After enjoying an Icelandic hot dog and some Skyr ( an Icelandic dessert of thickened yoghurt) we were soon off. Geologically speaking, Iceland is a fascinating place, and we could see a variety of landscapes, ranging for huge fields of black volcanic dust, mountains and cliffs twisted into a variety of bizarre shapes to lush green meadows.

Skyr with blueberries

However, behind this amazing landscape is the constant threat of geological catastrophe; earthquakes, volcanoes, and volcano induced flash-floods. As we drove through the various newly restored portions of the road, this was brought home to us.

Finally, we turned off the road onto a dirt path, which took us to about a kilometre from the lip of the glacier. We got off the bus leaving behind the people who would continue on a south coast tour.

Here we met our guides from Icelandic Mountain Guides, who started providing us with ice picks and crampons to fit on our hiking boots. As usual, it took Trigby (our guide) about 15 minutes to find crampons to fit my size 12 boots (and I thought these Vikings had big feet). 

The Crampons

The crampons were nasty pieces of work, and we had to be careful we didn't trip over our own feet and impale ourselves. All kitted up, we walked the remaining portion of the moraine till we reached a small stream. A quick skip over it, and we were on the ice!

Ice Picks

Navigating on ice was not as tricky as I thought (it helped that the incline was gradual), but definitely needed some care as the ice was extremely slick. We were grateful for our crampons, driving them into the ice at each step. 

As we went higher, the terrain became more difficult, and Trigby had to cut out rough steps for us in the ice. Climbing a narrow channel with deep crevasses on either side took some nerve, but worse was to come on our way back.

After visiting some spectacular ice caves we started our descent. Trigby took us on a circular route, so we were going down a new path. Walking down was more difficult than going up, but we were up to the challenge. Or at least we were until we came to the edge of a cliff. Well, I promptly turned around to walk back the way we came, but looked back to see Trigby climbing down this narrow ridge with deep crevasses on either side. It was around this point that our group collectively shat it's pants. 

A beautiful ice cave

My camera, which till this point was slinging nonchalantly around my neck, was stowed in my backpack, leaving both hands free to, as I imagined, wave goodbye as i fell into the bowels of the earth. This was a shame, as the scenery at this point was stupendous. Of course, I would have preferred said scenery on a wallpaper on my laptop, as I couldn't appreciate it and control my bladder at the same time.

Well, I inched my way down this 70 degree slope, slipped the last few feet, and jammed my crampon into my foot ripping the leg of my pants. I think I got off lightly. 

After giving my small toe a kings burial, we continued down where our bus was waiting to take us home. 

On the way back, we stopped a two beautiful waterfalls. Skógafoss, a huge waterfall with an amazingly pretty double rainbow around it, and Seljalandsfoss a smaller waterfall, but one where you could actually walk behind the falls.

Skógafoss

In the mist

Seljalandsfoss

Behind the waterfall

On the way back, we stopped at a farm that had been devastated by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and our guide explained how he was part of the huge effort to rescue the farm and clear it of vocanic ash. It was hard to believe how different it looked now.

Eyjafjallajökull in the background of the farm.

A picture of the eruption

And then it was back to our apartment, for a well deserved snooze.

More pictures below. Click to take you to a bigger version -

Its for the birds

 

The birds in and around my home in Coimbatore.

Snowflakes melt to teardrops.

I'm surpised to find myself still alive and kicking. Yes, yes, I can hear the screams and wails of anguish and disappointment, but I am quite well now. I do have a sorethroat, and the remanants of a fever, but hey; thats what you get for eating ice-cream and playing in the snow in your jammies.

Yes, it has finally snowed in copious amounts in Norwich. And let me tell you it's no fun walking through the snow without a hat or gloves. By the time I reached home the sleet had turned into large snowflakes; it was a veritable blizzard.

Watching those large flakes drifting down onto my bare skin, I was taken back to my youth on my home world of Titan where large blue flakes of methane used to slowly condense out of the air. But I digress...

(You may ask why the flakes were drifting down on my BARE skin, but thats neither here nor there is it?)

Anyway, have a look at the pics. Hah, take THAT, kind stranger; Drama queen, am I ?? :P

As usual, click on the slideshow to link to larger versions of the photographs.

Weddings and Wildlife p2 – Bungle in the jungle

After a good nights sleep, thanks to the mega fabulous weather there, we set off for Ooty, bright and early. Or rather, we left at 12pm (which passes as bright and early for us). It’s a lovely drive through the Nilgiris (which means blue mountains as you can see from the photo), and though Ooty itself is not very clean, the hills around it are lush with trees and flowers.

On reaching, we grabbed a quick cuppa, and then headed off to the botanical gardens, which were quite disappointing, as most of the flowers had not come into bloom as yet. So we headed off to the bar where we proceeded to try to get thoroughly drunk.

We were supposed to wake up early next morning, but getting Loki out of bed and ready takes about 4 hours, so we left for a drive with my uncle at around 12. Along the way we ran into a tribe of black langoors, which are quite rare. The drive was lovely, and we ended up at this beautiful blue lake.

Next, we drove up to this trout fishery, where they are trying to breed and introduce rainbow trout into the various lakes around there. We got to see the whole lifecycle, starting from the eggs to the fry and ending with some massive adult trout.

We set off around four pm down one of the steepest roads I have ever seen (36 hairpin bends in 11 kilometres) to reach this wildlife sanctuary called Masanagudi, while my uncle and aunt regaled us with stories of the various animals they had seen, and of the person we were. This place abounds with wildlife, tigers, panthers, deer, porcupines, and most of all, elephants. The area also teems with resorts catering to the pampered tourist, but we shunned those to make our way to this little place which was owned by my uncle’s friend Mark Davidar. Mark’s place is warm and hospitable; to beasts of the four legged variety that is. Us two legged humans are viewed with deep suspicion and distrust. I was really grateful my uncle (who is a great friend of Marks) was around, cause there was a panther hanging around there, and we had apparently chased it off as we drove in. We also missed seeing a bear by five minutes. Bummer! But the magic had already started; as we drove along the dirt path to Marks place a herd of spotted deer were crossing the path in front of us. A wild boar also kept us company, and trotted along the car for a few seconds, before diving off into the undergrowth. We were already enchanted with the place, and as we sat in the veranda binoculars and cameras at the ready, Mark showed us beautiful snaps of the various animals which visited his house, including tigers which had pushed their heads through the bougainvillea.

Mark’s place, or Jungle Trails, as it is actually called is pretty famous. You can read about him, in Prerna Bindra’s book ‘the King and I – Travels in Tigerland’. The chapter, The Armchair Naturalist is about him.

As we waited, a whisper sprang up; ‘Elephant!’ Two young tuskers were stealthily making their way up to the house. The headed first for the water tank, which Mark kept filled for the animals and then headed for the kitchen, which was a building separate from the main house, It was almost night, and the most eerie thing about the two creatures, is that as they moved through the dusk is that they were deathly quiet, and almost seemed like shadows flitting through the trees.

As we were watching them at the back of the house, Loki shouted, ‘Panther!’. We hurried to the front, but unfortunately I had missed. Suspiciously, Loki was the only one to see this alleged panther. A few minutes later, we watched as a huge porcupine scurried through the trees. It was too late to see anything much after that, and we gave up and bid farewell to Mark and his enchanting place.

We then headed to another resort, this time one that catered to the human species, where we met the owners; a most charming family, who plied us with food and drink till we couldn’t see straight. After talking and singing till 1 am, more than slightly tipsy, we took off through the winding roads and reached Ooty in one piece, where I fell into bed as one dead.

Next morning, we decided to go for an early walk at Cairn hill, which is this beautiful wilderness, untouched since the British left. As we walked through the pine, we saw our most beautiful animal yet, a pair of beautiful giant Malabar squirrels, the richest of maroons, as they danced through the branches in an aerial acrobatic display just for us. We continued our trek to the top of the hill, where a rickety iron machan waited to take us up above the trees where the magnificent vista which is Ooty opened up in front of me.