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 -

Longleat Safari

Longleat Safari, a set on Flickr.

Wild pictures

Iceland Day 1 - Smoky Bays

When Ingólfur Arnarson chose Reykjavik as his permanent settlement in 870 AD, he was confronted by puffs of smoke dotting the land, which is why he called it Smoke Cove, or Reykjavik. These puffs were of course steam, and were indicative of the huge geologic engine running under Iceland, which both threatens Icelanders, as well as provides them with an abundance of clean green energy.

I can't imagine the Vikings were much more excited than I to see this new land though. As the bus passed the outskirts of Reykjavik, I had to readjust my mental picture of this small cute village to a much bigger gleaming metropolis. We changed at the BSI Bus Terminal to the local shuttle that was to take us to our hotel, and my impression of Reykjavik changed again.The city may be big, but it's central area (the one we tourists are concerned with) is cozy and compact. It's not a rural haven, but more like a ultra trendy mini city, with shops sporting designer labels, chic cafés, and trendy restaurants.

The main street, Laugavegur, is just one lane and teeming with pedestrians, and this was where our cab rolled down to drop us at our apartment in the ultra trendy Reykjavik 101 area.

Now a quick note about our accomodation. We had booked the 'Botique' studio serviced apartment in Apartment K. We were a bit nervous about this, as when we emailed the hotel, they said that the exact apartment may not be in the address we were told, and would be allocated only on our arrival. But our fears were soon put to rest - we were met at the street by Kathy, who was extremely helpful and made us feel right at home.

We were let in to the apartment which was just across the road, and when they said botique, boy did they mean it. It was done up in red and white, with one side of the apartment covered in windows. As you can see from the pictures it was extremely comfortable.

Kathy sat down with us and talked us through the main attractions in Reykjavik, especially pointing out the cool places to eat. She also gave us a crash course on Icelandic pronounciation - the J's were pronounced Y, the ð like th and the ll were pronounced a sorta guttral th.... to demonstrate which she proceeded to spit generously on the table.

After a while we decided to wander around the city, and also pick up a few groceries for the apartment, and also find the local liquor shop. Just for info, the local grocery shop is call Bonus, but there is also a shop called 1011 which stays open late. Alcohol can only be bought at Vinburen (a government owned liquir shop). As we were wandering around we got to see The Sun Voyager (Sólfar), by Jón Gunnar Árnason.

After grabbing some food, I went out at around 12 am to see the legendary Reykjavik nightlife, and it was just amazing to see this small street transformed. I also walked to the Hallgrímskirkja church to get a few pics of it lighted up. 

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