I´m at the only internet connection I could find in reykjavik. Apparently also the only place people can go to make international phone calls here. It´s mayhem. The line is out the door, not for the internet, but for the phones, I paid $3 for 30 mins of time and I´m sandwiched between two smelly people speaking in strange languages. So I apologize if this post is a bit short. The blog is suffering from the expensive internet.
Jessa and I are heading to þorsmork in about 50 minutes. It´s nights #4 and #5 of sleeping in a tent. I´m VERY glad I was able to reserve space in the hut in Landmannalauger and regretting not putting more time there. I am thinking my travel plans may change a bit as I am tired and not getting a ton of sleep in a tent considering it is never light out. It´s going to be crowded in the tents too once we are in thorsmork as all our bags will need to fit in as well.
Part of why I am so tired is that every day feels like an eternity. Yesterday we hiked in alpine meadows with two large glaciers on either side. Saw a 100 ft waterfall below columnar basalt. Walked up to a glacier. And along a 2 million year old canyon and then went to the beach. Each day seems like 5 and I feel i have been gone a month rather than a few days. I wish I had more time to share it all. What is apparent is that any time you turn off the road in this place you will see something amazing!!
I´m curious what will be next. þorsmork and landmannalauger are in the interior so I may not be able to update for a while. I´m scheduled to arrive in Akureyri on the 6th and plan to make that a firm plan since I actually have a night in a hotel then. Can´t wait to close the curtains and sleep in the dark.
More soon...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
sleeping under the ice
Jessa and I are sleeping under the ice tonight. It´s cold. And a bit drizzly. But apparently internet is here. I guess they don´t have wifi.
After leaving Vik this morning we spent two plus hours driving through black sand deserts. Sometimes there was moss. Sometimes some green hills in the distance but it was a whole lot of nothing. There were single lane bridges at least a kilometer long. With a few pullouts mid span just incase you got stuck. Earlier today I had to back up off of a bridge cause the person coming the other direction wasn´t waiting. It´s bizzare.
After leaving the desert jessa and i resurfaced to a massive scupture of twisting bridge girders at edge of the desert at skaftafell national park. The girders are at least three feet deep and tied in knots. They´re casualties of a flood they had here in 1996. When a volcanic eruption under the glacier caused a massive flood. It formed a canyon 400 m wide x 7 km long x 240 m deep-- only to the top of the water. Insane!
At skaftafell, we set up our campsite under the glacier we headed on to a lagoon filled with ice. The glaciers here are amazing and even more amazing when you look at a picture of Vatnajökul and realize these massive glaciers I am seeing are just the little pinky fingers poking out.
Jessa and took a duck tour in jökulson lagoon with the blue icebergs floating all around us... luckily the gift shop had coffee and cocoa to warm us up!
On the way back we stopped at a little earthen church. Built on the foundations of a 14th century building. The chuch still has a little tile board where they put up the numbers of the hymns they will sing on sunday. There were more than two ölafs in the church graveyard surrounding it.
And now I sit in the visitor center at skaftafell. trying to warm up but about to head back to camp and eat some backpackers pantry beef stew. Tomorrow we start to make our way back. We may dogsled or horseback ride along the way... we´ll see.
After leaving Vik this morning we spent two plus hours driving through black sand deserts. Sometimes there was moss. Sometimes some green hills in the distance but it was a whole lot of nothing. There were single lane bridges at least a kilometer long. With a few pullouts mid span just incase you got stuck. Earlier today I had to back up off of a bridge cause the person coming the other direction wasn´t waiting. It´s bizzare.
After leaving the desert jessa and i resurfaced to a massive scupture of twisting bridge girders at edge of the desert at skaftafell national park. The girders are at least three feet deep and tied in knots. They´re casualties of a flood they had here in 1996. When a volcanic eruption under the glacier caused a massive flood. It formed a canyon 400 m wide x 7 km long x 240 m deep-- only to the top of the water. Insane!
At skaftafell, we set up our campsite under the glacier we headed on to a lagoon filled with ice. The glaciers here are amazing and even more amazing when you look at a picture of Vatnajökul and realize these massive glaciers I am seeing are just the little pinky fingers poking out.
Jessa and took a duck tour in jökulson lagoon with the blue icebergs floating all around us... luckily the gift shop had coffee and cocoa to warm us up!
On the way back we stopped at a little earthen church. Built on the foundations of a 14th century building. The chuch still has a little tile board where they put up the numbers of the hymns they will sing on sunday. There were more than two ölafs in the church graveyard surrounding it.
And now I sit in the visitor center at skaftafell. trying to warm up but about to head back to camp and eat some backpackers pantry beef stew. Tomorrow we start to make our way back. We may dogsled or horseback ride along the way... we´ll see.
Really?!!
That´s what jessa and I kept saying all day yesterday. "Really?!!" The scenery here is so beautiful it blows our minds. earth houses with gigantic waterfalls behind them. You walk to the top of a thundering fall, only to find a gorgeous wide cascade directly behind it. Basically, there is a glacier on the top of a large plateau so rather than having rivers run out the bottom of a glacier you have waterfalls falling off of it. Amazing. Then 5 km down the road we are at a black sand beach with large seastacks and cliffs filled with puffins. The artic terns are so plentiful you would think they were gulls. And our campsite in town at the base of the cliffs is one of the prettiest i´ve been in and it came complete with showers, and a kitchen. We aren´t exactly roughing it. But luckily we´ve been better about budget. We need to. Reykjavik was a bit of a splurge. But it was worth it. Jessa and I had a mink whale kabob and some lobster soup. I recommend the soup over the whale. Mink whale tastes exactly like steak, with a fish aftertaste. And, as Jessa said, "I wouldn´t order it again. I mean, when is the last time you said 'I sure wish my steak had more fish taste in it'" I agreed completely.
Internet access is extremely difficult to find. Apparently you are supposed to travel with your laptop. Wifi everywhere but no public computers and the internet in our hotel in reykjavik broke after my last post. I´ll do my best to update you but posts will likely be few and far between. Today we are off to the glacier!
Internet access is extremely difficult to find. Apparently you are supposed to travel with your laptop. Wifi everywhere but no public computers and the internet in our hotel in reykjavik broke after my last post. I´ll do my best to update you but posts will likely be few and far between. Today we are off to the glacier!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Reykjavik
This is a very cool city. In fact, I think this is a very cool country. Immediately upon arriving back in Europe I am reminded at how far behind the game US architecture is. The national gallery that is a few blocks from our hotel has a series of pools surrounding it with fountains of moss that clean and filter the water as it recycles.
Last night before dinner Jessa and I roamed the streets in the hill behind our hotel. The houses are quaint, picturesque, modest sized dwellings with red roofs and cats on doorstep. Yes, fear not, I have found cats and if you start to pet one they come surfacing from all around. Eager to get some loving. The cutest was an orange one whose name tag said jkola. Or something like that- there may have been a slash through the o. I haven´t learned the Icelandic word for cat yet. I do know that I think Kronur is "women" and the other K word is "men". Opið is open. Although I´m not sure if that is the right funny looking d symbol. Everyone speaks English and doesn´t even seem bothered by it. I think they realize their language is impossible to decipher.
Last night Jessa and I did Reykjavik up right. Assisted by jet lag we lasted til 4:30am and had more than two brennevins (Icelandic schnapps). It´s true it never really gets dark although it´s pretty dark between 2 & 3 unless you look straight at the sky. Luckily our hotel has dark curtains which allow up to sleep any time of the day. Hence, the nap Jessa and i just took. We´ll adjust to the time change eventually I suppose. Besides, when it´s light all the time what does it matter? We´re allowing ourselves to move slowly... tomorrow the real driving and outdoor adventures start-- so does our budget. Things are pretty US prices but we´ve been allowing ourselves some splurges. I can´t imagine how horribly expensive everything used to be. I feel lucky i am able to experience this place.
Last night before dinner Jessa and I roamed the streets in the hill behind our hotel. The houses are quaint, picturesque, modest sized dwellings with red roofs and cats on doorstep. Yes, fear not, I have found cats and if you start to pet one they come surfacing from all around. Eager to get some loving. The cutest was an orange one whose name tag said jkola. Or something like that- there may have been a slash through the o. I haven´t learned the Icelandic word for cat yet. I do know that I think Kronur is "women" and the other K word is "men". Opið is open. Although I´m not sure if that is the right funny looking d symbol. Everyone speaks English and doesn´t even seem bothered by it. I think they realize their language is impossible to decipher.
Last night Jessa and I did Reykjavik up right. Assisted by jet lag we lasted til 4:30am and had more than two brennevins (Icelandic schnapps). It´s true it never really gets dark although it´s pretty dark between 2 & 3 unless you look straight at the sky. Luckily our hotel has dark curtains which allow up to sleep any time of the day. Hence, the nap Jessa and i just took. We´ll adjust to the time change eventually I suppose. Besides, when it´s light all the time what does it matter? We´re allowing ourselves to move slowly... tomorrow the real driving and outdoor adventures start-- so does our budget. Things are pretty US prices but we´ve been allowing ourselves some splurges. I can´t imagine how horribly expensive everything used to be. I feel lucky i am able to experience this place.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Arrival!
just a quick post to let you know we arrived safe and sound. We just spent the last 4 hours basking in the hot pools of the blue lagoon but I´ll write more about that later... first jessa and I are off to find a lamb hotdog!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Plans
I'm a planner....
The last few days have been spent carefully refining the most efficient packing arrangement and making crucial decisions. Two pairs of pants or three? Do I really need a water filter?
Feeling prepared for a trip calms my nerves. Especially when I'm going to be traveling alone. I feel better if i have a plan. So for those of you who like to know the plan here is my itinerary...
July 24 Arrival via the Blue Lagoon
July 25 & 26 Reykjavik and surroundings with jessa
July 27-29 Exploring the southern coast with jessa. Our plan is to eventually make it to Skaftafell National Park at the base of the massive Vatnajokull Glacier.
July 30 & 31 Thorsmork (to spell it correctly you really need to replace the Th with a funny looking letter that looks like it is a cross between a D & a P)
August 1 Landmannalauger
August 2 Journey through the interior
August 3 Myvatn
August 4 Dettifoss
August 5 Asbyrgi
August 6 & 7 Akureyri (largest town in iceland outisde the Reykjavik area-- population 17,304)
August 8 & 9 Exploring my way back to Reykjavik
August 10 Return
The last few days have been spent carefully refining the most efficient packing arrangement and making crucial decisions. Two pairs of pants or three? Do I really need a water filter?
Feeling prepared for a trip calms my nerves. Especially when I'm going to be traveling alone. I feel better if i have a plan. So for those of you who like to know the plan here is my itinerary...
July 24 Arrival via the Blue Lagoon
July 25 & 26 Reykjavik and surroundings with jessa
July 27-29 Exploring the southern coast with jessa. Our plan is to eventually make it to Skaftafell National Park at the base of the massive Vatnajokull Glacier.
July 30 & 31 Thorsmork (to spell it correctly you really need to replace the Th with a funny looking letter that looks like it is a cross between a D & a P)
August 1 Landmannalauger
August 2 Journey through the interior
August 3 Myvatn
August 4 Dettifoss
August 5 Asbyrgi
August 6 & 7 Akureyri (largest town in iceland outisde the Reykjavik area-- population 17,304)
August 8 & 9 Exploring my way back to Reykjavik
August 10 Return
Monday, July 20, 2009
III-- Iceland
This is the third travel blog i've done. I asked myself before starting this one... why did i still feel the need to keep each blog separate? Shouldn't I just have one blog for all my travels? And I came to the realization that no, I wanted them that way. Because each trip is it's own. And it shouldn't have to share anything with trips before, or trips after. It's just what it is.
So Iceland is its own. I've no idea what to expect. I feel like it will be similar to other extreme areas I've visited... Alaska, New Zealand, Patagonia. Yet, I'm a seasoned enough traveler to know not to have expectations.
Instead I have hopes... I'm hoping to hear thundering water, I'm hoping to take dips in hotsprings, I'm hoping to see geysers, I'm hoping I can sleep... without darkness. I'm hoping that the puffin will taste as good as I've been promised it is.... "like salmon" i've been told.
We'll see... thursday I depart.
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