It's for the birds

 

Bharathpur Bird Sanctuary, a set on Flickr.

Iceland Day 5–Puffins and Porpoises

We woke up to a bright blue sky, the bad weather and haze of the previous day having dissipated completely. We had a leisurely breakfast, and then strolled down to the harbor where I had booked a whale watching cruise. After doing a bit of research, I had chosen Elding, though to be honest, I don’t think there would be much difference between the various providers. Whale watching is such a chancy business, and the various boats are in constant radio touch to help all their passengers get a chance to see a whale.

We were quite early and used the time to explore the levels of the ship and find the best spot to sit. The bright sunlight made Reykjavik gleam, and spangles of light bounced off the deep blue waters of the bay. The ship gradually filled up, and soon our spotter climbed into the crow’s nest (or what passes for a crow’s nest in a modern ship) and we were off.

We renewed our acquaintance with a Chinese girl who we recognized from our Northern Lights tour, and we also saw our first other Indian group since coming to Iceland. (After UK and most of Europe, where we saw Indians everywhere, this was pretty unusual!) They were Telugu, and to my deep shame, not five minutes after our spotter had talked about the danger of plastic waste to marine life, they were happily chucking empty crisp packets and chocolate wrappers off the side of the boat. What is wrong with us?!

The waters of the bay were beautifully calm, but as we got out to open sea there was a strong wind blowing and the waves suddenly picked up.  Our position in the bow of the boat suddenly got a lot less comfortable, and we started pulling on our gloves and pulling the zippers of our jackets as far up as they would go.

Hardly 5 minutes had passed when our spotter pointed out White-beaked dolphins frolicking off starboard, throwing everyone into a frenzy of activity, camera’s being clicked frantically with one hand with the other clinging to the guard rail.

After about 15 minutes, the pod tired of toying with us, and descended to more peaceful depths, and we turned our attention to hunting for whales. We searched for around 20 minutes and it seemed we would be going back empty handed, when our spotter got word that the other boat had spotted a whale. We raced over and caught a glimpse of these majestic creatures just as they began their dive.

There were maybe around ten Minke whales in the bay, surfacing in random locations, and what followed was a race around the bay to try and catch up with them. As we crashed into the waves, several of the passengers turned green and retired below the decks. With only the tip of my nose protruding, I hung on to the guard rail with all my strength, but it was worth it to catch sight of these leviathans of the deep.

After an hour or so of chasing after the whales, we turned back, completely satisfied. Our luck had held, and we got to see the whales on our first attempt!

After de-boating, we spent a half hour in the gloomy, and rather uninteresting ‘Life of Whales’ museum, before wandering back into town, but not before grabbing a seafood chowder from a waterfront restaurant.

We spend the next couple of days wandering through the city, and the collection of weird, trendy shops which made up Reykjavik, finally ending up at the Hallgrímskirkja, which was made to look like lava basalt flows. A statue of Leif Eriksson stands in front. As imposing as the structure was from the outside, it was pretty austere and plain inside, except for a huge organ dominating one of the walls; rather disappointing after the lush cathedrals of France and Italy. What was awesome was the viewing area right at the top of the church, where Reykjavik stretched before us in the bright sunshine. I spent 15minutes happily clicking snaps before we headed down.

We spend the next couple of days wandering through the city, and the collection of weird, trendy shops which made up Reykjavik, finally ending up at the Hallgrímskirkja, which was made to look like lava basalt flows. A statue of Leif Eriksson stands in front. As imposing as the structure was from the outside, it was pretty austere and plain inside, except for a huge organ dominating one of the walls; rather disappointing after the lush cathedrals of France and Italy. What was awesome was the viewing area right at the top of the church, where Reykjavik stretched before us in the bright sunshine. I spent 15minutes happily clicking snaps before we headed down.

We also made a quick stop at the local wine store or Vinbuden to pick up a couple of bottles of Brennivin, the most famous local liquer, and a delicate berry liqueur. The Brennivin was a bust; super strong and harsh on the palate, but adding a touch of class to any liquor cabinet.

An hour or so later, as the evening light fled the sky, we made our way back to the Apartment to change for dinner. We planned for a Icelandic meal, and had decided on Laekjarbrekka, a classic restaurant situated in a building constructed in 1834. We got seated quickly, and after scanning the menu, decided to start off with a platter of smoked puffin, fried cod and picked beet. The smoked puffin was actually served in a jar full of smoke, which puffed out very satisfactorily as it was opened. The taste of the puffin, on the other hand was very fishy and oily, so I suspect it was a tourist sort of thing. The cod and the pickled beets were very tasty, though.

For the main, we decided to have the grilled Minke whale, with grilled root vegetables and a Brennevin sauce. To all the people exclaiming in anger: I agree with you completely. A lot of farming of Minke whales in Icelandcaters to the tourist population, and I urge you all to refrain from it. My mom was also horrified, but she doesn’t eat rabbit or venison either, as they’re ‘cute’. Having said this, the whale was delicious! I expected something fishy, but what I got was meaty, almost like beef, with a faint taste of the sea.

After dooming the whales and puffins to extinction with our starter and main, the dessert was pretty mild. We chose the traditional Icelandic Skyr, which was served with white chocolate, a lime sorbet and assorted wild berries, which when it arrived, was as pretty as a picture.

Sated and satisfied, we wandered into the chilly Icelandic twilight for a stroll along the sea, where I toll a last few pictures of the glass encrusted Harpa Concert Hall, before heading back for our last night in Iceland.

As usual the complete flickr set is below - 

Iceland Day 4–Light and Magic

After an arduous though exhilarating time the day before, we had planned a relatively tame outing for our fourth day in Iceland. We had booked a tour of Iceland’s Golden circle with David from Iceland Horizons who came highly recommended on Trip Advisor.

On our way!

David picked us up bright and early in his van, and after a few more stops to pick up the rest of the group, including a party of several elderly, very friendly and excited Americans, we were off! We first drove out of Reykjavik on the very familiar highway 1, but this time instead of passing by the big steam clouds on the left which marked the position of the thermal energy plants, David turned off the highway to takes us for a closer look.

Geothermal Power Plants

Though British, and not a native Icelander, to our initial disappointment, David knew a huge amount about the country and kept us enthralled throughout the trip. 

After the power plants, we turned off the highway and drove to a volcanic lake crater Kerið, filled with water of the most violent blue colour, apparently due to the chemicals of the meteor.

Our next stop was a pretty little waterfall, whose name eludes me now.  The wind was really picking up by this time, and the horizon had turned a dull red color as the wind whipped the loose volcanic soil into the air.

En Route we had a friendly encounter with a herd of Iceland horses, a breed unique to the place. The wind whipped their manes, but besides chewing on the sleeve of my jacket they were very friendly.

Or next stop was the Haukadalur geothermal area which was another first for me as I had never seen a geyser before. The landscape was alien, with pools of violently blue-green coloured water bubbling between rust coloured tracts of land, with cloud of steam bellowing from the more active geysers. The original, Geysir, was now dormant but another, Strokkur, sent out a huge plume of water and steam every 5 to 10 minutes. 

 

We stood around and watched a few eruptions, and then it was back onto the van for our next stop at Gullfoss, or Golden Falls,  Iceland’s largest waterfall. It was massive with tons of water thundering past, but somehow not as beautiful as Skógafoss which we saw the previous day. After some time getting soaked from the spray, I climbed up to see the Hvítá twist its way across the plains before plunging into the falls. We then had a quick lunch consisting of a beautiful lamb stew from the nearby tourist shop.

   

Our final stop was Þingvellir National Park, the place which has both geological importance, as this is where the North American and Eurasian plates collide, as well as historical importance, as this is where the Icelandic parliament was founded in 930 AD.  It may be hard to appreciate the amount of history here, but the geological upheaval is apparent in the chasms and ridges running across the valley. 

After a wander around the valley, we got back in the bus and were driven back to Reykjavik while David told us more about Iceland, touching on varied topics such as the political climate in Iceland, the Yule Lads of Icelandic Christmas, and even why people consider fermented shark or Hákarl a delicacy. Little did we know that we would be seeing Þingvellir again before the day was out.

Back in Reykjavik, after dumping our stuff in the apartment, we headed out to explore the town. Reykjavik is super small, super cool and très trendy with fashion boutiques and cool graffiti lining the roads. Being the only obvious foreigners on the streets, we were repeatedly approached by bunches of school kids who were trying to interview foreigners about their experience in Iceland for their school work. We wandered into a few quaint shops and even an Icelandic supermarket, which was quite alien. Protip: Bonus is the main supermarket chain, and can be recognized by its logo of a pig with an extremely sleazy expression on its face.

Just as we were nearly about to walk into a restaurant for dinner, Shweta happened to spy a travel agency with a chalkboard outside on which was scrawled ‘Northern Lights tour starts TODAY’. Well, we had asked around as several places before, but no one had started these tours as it was too early. Well, we couldn’t give up this slim chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis, so while Shweta stayed to buy tickets, I raced to the apartment to pick up our coats and sweaters.

We were just in time, and in about fifteen minutes, we were racing toward, where else, but Þingvellir park, which, as the guide explained, was the nearest spot to view the lights without any artificial light interrupting the experience.

And of course there could be no better setting; as we stood on the cliff overlooking Þingvellir, Þingvallavatn lake stretched into the distance with the moons reflection bouncing off the calm waters. Now, Aurora hunting is not as easy as it sounds; you stare into the sky, imagining phantom bands, all the while shivering as Iceland’s icy winds penetrate your layers of clothing and play with you in a disturbingly intimate way.

After a while, the adrenaline was wearing off, and we were beginning to feel pretty miserable. A lot of people had taken refuge inside the bus, and we were thinking seriously of doing the same. But rather than pack up my tripod and camera, we decided to give it another 10 minutes, and boy were we glad we did!

Almost imperceptibly, a band of pale luminous green stole across the sky, soon brightening to a series of intense blue green snakes which coiled twisted across the heavens. The mood was euphoric, and all of us were pointing and laughing in amazement. Done clicking photos to my heart’s content, I loaned out my tripod to groups of Chinese girls while the bands faded away some 45 minutes later.

The lights were exceptionally active that night, and the bus stopped twice on the way back to Reykjavik as they grew bright in the sky.

Tired and satisfied we fell into bed concluding out penultimate day in this amazing country.


Slideshow with all the photos below.