Jokul-Land

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Jokul being the Icelandic term for glacier, of course.

I´m back in Reykjavik at the moment, but unfortunately this computer doesn´t allow USB devices to be hooked up so no photos. I´ll try to find a better venue tomorrow before I head out again!

I´ve covered a lot of ground since last time. First there was an exciting bus ride along the SE coast to Skaftafell. Some parts of this road were narrow, windy, and crossing a steep mountainside above the ocean. It recalled photos of those roads in Bolivia! Well, maybe not that bad.

There was a stop at Jokulsarlon, a glacial lagoon where an outlet of the massive Vatnajokull icecap lies almost at sea level. Blocks of ice crumble off the glacier and into a lake, where they float around until they melt enough to wash out under the highway bridge into the ocean. Magnificent ice bergs everywhere!

Skaftafell, where I stayed a few nights, is a spectacular area, surrounded by glaciers on 3 sides. It was mid afternoon when I first arrived, but the weather forecast for the next day was calling for rain so I decided to do a hike that afternoon and evening. It was beautiful and sunny at first, but before long I was hiking in a cloud! It was quite exciting not being able to see more than 30-odd metres in any direction. The trail was (usually) good though, and as I got to the top of the destination mountain the clouds very suddenly vanished to the west! There was an absolutely spectacular view down into the valley with its lakes, rivers, and glaciers. Too bad I couldn´t see the tops of surrounding mountains. Oh well.

The next day was actually pretty nice, but I slept in and didn´t do any major hiking. Visited a few waterfalls and an old turf-roofed farm where the barn was below the bedrooms to utilize the warmpth of the animals. The next morning, I did a short hike to another glacier while waiting for the bus, and had some nice views of Iceland´s highest peak, Hvannadalshnukar.

That night (last night) I spent in Vik, the southernmost town in Iceland. Only 300 people, but that´s enough to make it a major mark on the Icelandic map! Vik has a beautiful black sand beach, which was worth a few pleasant hours. It´s been too long since I´ve felt sand on the toes! There are also some spectacular sea stacks nearby. In the evening, I climbed a small mountain behind town. It was impossibly green, with grass and moss growing out of every nook, cranny, and vertical surface.

And finally, today I´m back in Reykjavik, having completed my round-trip of the island. Tomorrow I´m doing the 'tourist' thing to Thingvellier, Geyser, and Gullfoss, the three 'must see´ sights. The day after, I´m taking a bus to Landmannalaugar in the interior, and hope to do a 4-day trek from there to Thorsmork. Supposedly this is the most beautiful route in the country, so I can´t resist it! I´ll hopefully update again tomorrow, but if not it´ll be a few days before I have a computer again.

Oh, and how could I forget! I found a decent bakery today while doing some shopping. They had cookies. I have photos to prove it! They were actually quite good, a yummy, doughy, chocolate chip construction. I´d give it a 7/10, although it could have been a bit bigger to justify the $2 price tag. Next cookie stop is the Faroe Islands!

Until next time!

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Comments

[Kathie]

Sounds like you've been having a lot of fun. How's your Icelandic pronounciation coming? I was getting frusterated with your little Iceland map on your blogue, because it doesn't have most of the places you're talking about, but when I pulled out my atlas, it's really not that much better. Thanks for the picture of the sandbox machinery for Ilhan. :) And I really like how you spell warmpth.

[I Get High On Mountains]

I know, I can´t spell.
All misspellings are intentional! Er... probably not, since I´m usually posting at the end of the day when I´m tired and racing against the 30 minute clock I have on the computer. Oh well!