Iceland

Part Two - Southeast Coast

By Adam Johnson

CONSTANT CHANGE

The only constant so far in Iceland seems to be constant change. One moment you are driving through some of the greenest hills you’ve ever seen and then next you are crossing a flat expanse of black sands and grey rivers.

The flat black desert eventually led us to the black sand beaches and bird cliffs of South Iceland. On a rainy day like today, the black sand on the beach seemed the obvious choice of color. I’m sure on a sunnier day, it would have been more off-putting.

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VIK

The town of Vik is the southermost village in Iceland. It is also home to the Wool Factory. We’ve been looking at alot of Icelandic wool sweaters along the route, but have not yet found one that pulled at our strings enough to pull out our Krona. Thank you to the Wool Factory for the matching Icelandic sweaters and glasses. It finally nice to not look like tourists in this country.

Vik also had my favorite soccer pitch so far on the trip. The blue seats, red track and green field overlooking the ocean turned out to be a pretty amazing combo.

MAKE A WISH

So far we haven’t driven an entire day in without seeing piles of rock sculptures. Today’s piles were essentially an above ground wishing well. The legend has it that you make a wish, pile some rocks and the wish comes true. So, this is what a bunch of Icelandic wishes looks like.

MILES OF MOSS

My favorite type of grass is moss. It love the soft under layer that moss grows on and how its the closest thing the terry cloth in the natural world. Imagine my joy when we suddenly happened upon miles and miles of giant moss pillows. The pillows are formed by lava that flowed here thousands of years ago, but over time all of the lava rock has grown a thick layer of moss. I was giddy at the sight of it.

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Horgsland Cottages

We finally got to the Horgsland Cottages around dinner time. As we are on the budget package around Iceland, we have been placed in the newer, cheaper guesthouse. It is one of the cheaper feeling places that we’ve stayed. However, they had a really hot shower, which is exactly what I needed after standing out in the cold rain all day. On our way out the door to dinner, we found the best homemade artwork I’ve ever seen. I literally laughed for five straight minutes. If nothing else, they have a really nice color printer.

Kirkjubæjarklaustur

For dinner we headed into the small town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur (pronounced [ˈcʰɪrcjʏˌpaɪjarˌkʰlœɪstʏr]). There we found a quaint little restaurant situated next to a small guesthouse. The menu was only 5 items written on a chalkboard in the corner. I opted for the vegetable soup and Jess got the juicy piece of three legged lamb. It was the perfect meal for such a chilly, rainy evening. Jess threw the gluten-free thing out the window as we split a giant slice of housemade carrot cake for dessert. No matter what happens with her stomach, she swears it was worth it.

BRING ON THE GLACIERS

We woke up this morning at the Horgsland Cottages ready to grub up some breakfast and hit the Vatnajokull Glacier. The weather left much to be desired as it continued to rain steadily.

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The drive the the glacier was beautiful in its own depressing way. The right side of the road presenting black and grey with the promise of ocean just beyond the haze. The left side continued to treat us with rugged green hillsides smattered with waterfalls from the glacial runoff.

The weather broke just as we approached the information center where our tour was to begin. While it didn’t turn into sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, we at least got a reprieve from the rain.

Vatnajokull Glacier

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Kviamyrarkambur

After a bit more driving we happened up another “point of interest” sign. While there was nothing too obviously intriguing about the area, there were two parked cars….and how could two cars be wrong? As we hiked over the hill from the parking area, it opened up onto the most incredibly sight so far. If I ever experience a place as quiet and peacefully serene as this again, my head will likely explode, thereby killing the serene vibe.

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Fjallsarlon

A few more miles down the road we saw another point of interest sign pointed down a gravel road. I replayed the conversation in my head that I had with the car rental agency when I agreed to never take the car off the main roads. Fast forward a bit to us purchasing undercarriage insurance and that was all we needed to take the left turn towards Fjallsarlon.

When we arrived at the parking area for this point of interest, you couldn’t see a thing through the fog. A short hike down the hill revealed a huge lagoon of floating icebergs. Despite there being more people than the previous place, it seemed just as quiet. You could literally here the icebergs shifting in the water and the thunder of new ones breaking off the glacier from across the lagoon. There are no words to describe my level of giddy.

Several miles further down we did not see a point of interest sign. However, we’ve learned to trust that any place with parked cars and a path will likely blow your mind. And somehow it keeps getting better. After hiking over a dirty gravel path, we emerged over the hill to see icebergs that completely dwarfed the ones from the previous lagoon. The variety of shapes and colors was astounding. There was one very special one that glowed a color blue I did not know existed in nature. I am smitten.

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Jökulsárlón

As if icebergs floating in the lagoon were not spectacular enough, another mile down the road, they flow under a bridge out into the sea and then wash back up on the black sand beaches. There are few things more awe inspiring that seeing crystal clear ice boulders washing up onto dark black sand.

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hali

With our minds completely blown from all the beauty we’d see today, we finally arrived in Hali, our home for the night. The restaurant/museum built in the likeness of a giant bookcase that pays homage to Thórbergur Thórdarson, the famous Icelandic author who grew up in this small village. After our run in with the framed clip art last night, it was refreshing to have exposure to some real Icelandic culture. The guest house is very nice. Our room opens out onto a large living area that was pulled straight out of an IKEA showroom and placed next to the ocean.

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The restaurant itself gave us one of the best meals of the trip, which is saying alot considering the incredible meals we’ve eaten. The tattooed chef came here from Russia and beams with pride as he describes each dish in detail. Under his recommendation, we started out with a fish plate and then stuffed ourselves silly with the smattering of amazing dishes he had prepared. Tonight we go to bed fat, happy and almost in disbelief at our experiences of the day. Thank you Iceland for a day we’ll not soon forget.

We woke up this morning to more of the same in terms of weather. There was a bit of clearing to the West, which gave of a small glimpse of the glacier from our guesthouse. The foggy mist of this weather is amazing and makes for spectacular photos, but the brief break in the clouds can’t help but make you wonder what this area looks like on a clear day when you can see the mountains, the glacier and the ocean with a single turn of your head.

Thórbergur Thórdarson

After breakfast, we paid to view the museum exhibit. It is a full musueum dedicated to the life of Thórbergur Thórdarson. He is the famous Icelandic author who grew up in this town. After touring the museum, it was quite clear that he was a very eccentric man. And I’m talking eccentric in Icelandic terms. Icelandic eccentric in the US would likely get you arrested…

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eskey

As we continued our journey along the Ring Road, we saw some beautiful Icelandic horses up on a hill with a parking area just past the hill. We pulled off and began hiking around the area in hopes of finally getting some good photos of the horses. At first glimpse of the horse, I began taking shots as I cautiously got closer and closer. At a certain distance, one of the horses finally got sick of my little dance and just walked right up and started nudging me with his nose. It was a bit nerve wracking to have this enormous creature all up in my business, but it was soon clear that they wanted nothing more than affection. I’m sure they would not have turned down a KitKat, but affection was all we had to offer. For the next hour or so, we stood there as several more horses came over to enjoy our company.

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glacier world!

Today’s drive was pretty short. After a very short distance of driving, we were at our guesthouse for the night at Glacier World. The signs for Glacier World are certainly intriguing. It is a picture of a woman relaxing in what appears to be a natural stone tub surrounded by stone cliff walls. This very inviting image is surrounded by paddle boaters, ATVs and glacial hikers. This was certainly a lesson in not always trusting the brochure.

The Glacier World guesthouse represents the authentic Iceland farmhouse experience. If hotels were given star-ratings based purely on the quality of swan-themed stained-glass windows in the shower, this place earns 5 stars….no questions asked.

We were told that the nearby town of Hofn has the best lobster in Iceland. The proprietor of Glacier World gave us the rundown on the various lobster restaurants in town, but Pakkhus sounded the most authentic and appealing. Its proximity to the lobster boats all but guaranteed the freshness of the catch.

The Pakkhus restaurant was actually very hip. And the lobster was good. I may not be a huge lobster fan, because it was just good…not great, but definitely good. If you’re booking a ticket to Iceland purely based on their legendary lobster, I might recommend the state of Maine as a cheaper alternative.

licorice incident

After dinner we stopped at the local pharmacy hoping to find something for the flu/cold that was hovering over my head. Everything in there looked foreign and intimidating. The only thing that looked as if it would really provide comfort was the licorice candy canes next to the register. I excitedly took a bite off the cane hoping to enjoy the sweet taste of licorice. I’m an impatient candy consumer. I can only suck a hard candy for a few seconds before I start crunching into it with my teeth. This is fine if you’re actually eating candy, but little did I know that I had just bitten into pure licorice. The bite into this “candy” quickly revealed the taste of burnt soil. This then morphed into a flavor that I can only describe as pure evil. I spit a mouthful of pure black onto the ground outside the pharmacy, but could do nothing to get rid of the taste. A bite into a fresh dog turd would have helped. I would have even chewed a wet cigarette had I seen one on the ground. I was later told that people of a certain age do in fact consume pure licorice as candy. Lets all take just a moment to thank our lucky stars for high fructose corn syrup.