Blogs from Vík, South, Iceland, Europe
August 9th 2011
Hola de nuevo a todos, tras nuestra experiencia asiatica aqui estamos en este impresionante pais. Todo empezo con el viaje a Alicante desde donde salio nuestro vuelo y tras llegar a las 5 de la mañana a Keflavick, montamos las bicis y sin mas dilacion emepzamos nuestro camino, primer dia, 62 Km a Reyckyavick...duro por la falta de sueño pero empezamos a atisvar la belleza del pais. Tras dormir en un camping nos fuimos a Laugarvatan tras pasar por Pingevellier, 72 km de ruta y un dia increible en el que vimos la falla que separa la placa norteamericana de la euroasiatica, el primer parlamento del mundo (1100 años ni mas ni menos) y dormimos en un hostal de lujo y nos dimos unos bañitos termales en un spa a la vera de un lago increible. ... read more
Ash not what the volcano can do for your country
Published: June 30th 2010Europe » Iceland » South » Vík
June 30th 2010
Despite a far-too-late night and a vat of wine (thanks for driving me home, Inge) at Inge and Osk's house, I managed to haul myself out of bed for a bus tour of the south shore of Iceland. I was a bit leery of a 10-hour bus tour - especially this little bus which seemed to be riding on its axle, having left whatever springs it once had far behind. But a coffee stop revived me and we were off. As we headed closer to the area where Eyjafallajokull (prounounced "Ella" and henceforth to be referred to as "the volcano here) erupted in March, the landscape started to change. The dramatic green-covered lava fields gave way to flat, black expanses and stopped up rivers that had washed the road out, creating huge ruts and bumps. And ... read more
May 12th 2010
Le 12 mai Le réveil sonne à 8:00. Le lever est pénible, au Canada il est 4:00am, beaucoup trop matinal pour moi. On s'habille puis on file à la boulangerie et à la station-service pour acheter quelques provisions. Naturellement, l'épicerie Bonus est encore fermée, décidément, nous n'avons pas de chance. À la station-service, on s'achète des sandwichs, jus, muffins et Skyr pour composer notre dîner. On fait ensuite une razzia à la boulangerie: pain au fromage, fromage, gâteau au chocolat, etc. Ça rattrape plutôt bien nos repas moches d'hier. Avant de partir, on vérifie notre habillement. Aujourd'hui, ça doit être de type sèche-vite car la première attraction de la journée est une chute derrière laquelle on peut marcher, de quoi prendre une bonne douche! Carl choisit pour l'occasion de mettre ses shorts... Contrairement au bon sens ... read more
October 11th 2009
10:00PM As predicted, the ducks turned up around 9.30 looking for food, and the world appeared to be heading back to normality after the storm (talking to various people since, these storms happen a couple of times a year, though not with quite the same ferocity). Not long after the ducks had waddled back to the pond, we were on the road. The landscape had completely changed from a couple of days before, the wind and rain wiping out the snow and ice that had covered the ground for miles around, showing the miles and miles of lava fields that had been sitting beneath. The whole area had been farming land until 1783, when the nearby volcano Laki erupted in catastrophic fashion, destroying the whole area, killing up to 25% of the population and 80% of ... read more
October 6th 2009
8:20 PM Whenever we have been off on trips to foreign parts in the past, we have always made the best use of the public transport available, mainly, across Europe, the formerly bargainous Inter Rail tickets which enable us to jump on a train anywhere in Europe and jump off anywhere we want (I say formerly bargainous because the price shoots up once you hit the age of 26, and the collapse of Sterling against the Euro in the last 12 months has now made it doubly expensive). The problem with Iceland is that there aren’t any trains; the landscape doesn’t make building them particularly easy or cheap, and given the population of the island outside of Reykjavik, it almost doesn’t seem worth the effort. The lack of trains meant that if we wanted to go ... read more
Day 7: A Tiny Town Surrounded By Mountains and Black Sand
Published: November 17th 2009Europe » Iceland » South » Vík
October 6th 2009
8:20 PM By the time the car had crossed the south coast’s flat plains, gradually moved in an upward direction and then back down a steep slope into Vik, it was starting to get dark. We quickly checked into the hostel, which was more like a family guesthouse on the hill, and went straight out for a walk into the town before the light completely failed. The others seemed a bit dubious of going out for a walk at first, mainly because the howling winds seemed to be threatening to rip the hostel away from its hillside residence, but I think we all silently agreed that if that did happen, it was probably best if we were elsewhere at the time. On the way down, we took the main path that we had driven up, crossed ... read more
August 24th 2009
DAY 133 I am so excited today because the first thing that I get to do is go horseback riding. I have seen the icelandic horses in the fields and they have to be the happiest horses in the world. I see them chasing each other rearing up on one another and they just look like they are a bunch of kids in the school yard. When I arrive at the horse farm, we are given equipment to use for the ride, helmets and warm clothing if needed. I take a pair of gloves as I have none. The saddles are English so this will be my first time on one of those. My horse is Sibby and I think they paired her with me because we have the same hair style. The Icelandic horse is ... read more
July 2nd 2009
For the first time, we our of the tent before 9 - because it's too hot! The sun is burning on the ten, and soon there is nothing to take off anymore, we have to get up. Hendrick and Carlo also soon come crawling from their tent, and starting getting some basic supplies ready for a bus tour into the interior, before heading on towards Skaftafell. We have some coffee and breakfast, then get back on the bikes, and follow the ring road back to Vík. The road first passes through rolling green hills, but soon lava fields are all we see - for the next 50 kilometers. When we take a break at a rest stop, we meet an American cyclist who is touring Iceland all summer long. Envy! Ah, to have the time... Just ... read more
July 1st 2009
After yesterday's fun day of headwind-cycling, we decide to try and use the headwind - which seems to be the predominant direction the wind here - to our advantage. Since we had planned to get to Skaftafell, and then take the bus back, why not turn this on its head, take the bus to Skaftafell, and then cycle back along the south coast with tailwind? As it turns out, the bus stop is also directly at the campsite, so we don't even have to work hard to catch the bus - simply pack up, and make sure we stand ready at 11:40 for the bus. No problem: the bus is almost empty, plenty of space for our bikes, and we get tickets to Skaftafell. The road continues straight, but soon starts climbing quite rapidly up a ... read more
May 17th 2009
Day 10 here in Iceland and my time here is disappearing as quickly as the ice on Vatnajökull. Ok…. maybe my time is coming to a close a little fast than that. On Friday morning Tammy took me for a drive along the southern coast of the country. It was a long and great drive. We drove for about 5 hours. The landscape along the southern coast is absolutely beautiful. There are hundreds, if not more, waterfalls from the glacier melt off. Black sand landscapes, Pillow-top moss formations over volcanic rock, glacial lakes and fantastic old buildings. Our first stop along the route was at an amazing waterfall called Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall drops 200 ft over the cliffs of the coastline. What is really cool is that it is possible to go behind the waterfall. It ... read more
