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| The typical roadside view |
As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, near a volcano that is supposed to erupt in the next few days... And having fallen in love with this country.
I have a personal guide, named Tyrfingur, who is by far one of the nicest and most knowledgable people I have ever met. (When this portion of the trip is over, I'll be posting links to his site, and everything).
Now, here's the thing: I HATE tours.
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| My favorite waterfall thus far.. it's just in the middle of nowhere |
to take photos and move on in a bus
filled with people who share a similar
purpose, having a 'guide' tell them some
textbook information about the place. Tours take away the sense of discovery and the intimacy with your surroundings...
But here I am with a guide who is easily
one of the greatest people I've met in this
country (Alongside the manager of a 10/11
and this one Thai girl I talked to). He tells
stories of his childhood, his passion for
Iceland, his views on how Iceland should
advance economically. In short: Highly
intelligible conversation. He's also been
a big help in my tenure to better photography. He encourages me to come back to Iceland and see everything by myself, saying "Anyone with a bike or car can see the whole country on their own". He has a genuine passion for showing people the country he takes immense pride in. Oh, and he's a professional chef.
But let me rewind a bit, for all the glitters is not gold. Yesterday I paid a visit to the Blue Lagoon. Something you hear travel guides guffaw at, and see illustrious photos of...
Well it was the biggest (albeit only) disappointment. Now, I was expecting a tourist trap, but this was a whole new level. It's a pseudo-spa with a hot spring about the size of an Olympic pool. I got there, and cringed at the flock of tourists, walked through the entrance and enjoyed the interior, then got to the hot-spring and cringed again. It's a glorified, egg-scented swimming pool. I got a massive headache from the sulfur, and spent my time in the food court pounding away cups of green tea (which was about $5 [$4.50 too high for a Lipton tea bag]) until I was able to catch the bus back to Reykjavik. My head cleared up on the ride, and I talked to a pleasant woman from Israel who was with her family. Back in Reykjavik, I went to Icelandic Fish and Chips for lunch. I'm writing a restaurant tidbit later, so be sure to hear my reviews of some of the places I ate at. My headache returned, leaving me tired... Aaaaand fast forward to today.
Me and my cynical @$$ were picked up at 8:30 in the morning by Tilly. Of course I had no intention of being rude, despite my disgust to tours, so I smiled and shook his hand. We introduced ourselves and we're on our way in a quant little car with 4-wheel drive. On our way out he pulled up to the house where Reagan and Gorbachev held the peace conference, then left so we could make good time. He then said, "On our way out we're gonna stop at my favorite bakery in the country and pick up some pastries and sandwiches to eat." This is the easiest way to sway my opinion of you, especially when it looks like this:
We got a bag full of Kliena, which are spherical donuts. As well as chocolate pastries, and sandwiches. Then he informed me of the quality and freshness. He said that the throw-out time for all the pastries is that night, since they would not be fresh. All pastries will go bad in a day since they weren't made with preservatives and unnamable fillers... A subtle knock at the food industry in the US.. Which made me like the guy even more!
Polishing of a large black coffee and a retrospectively disgusting amount of foods on the road, we made our way to the region of Sudhurland, the first stop being the sight of the original Parliament of Iceland. It was established as the parliament by viking settlers, who contrary to popular belief, were very political and civil (with the occasional pillaging and whatnot). Now the area as a whole was neat but my favorite part was the gorge. I have no idea why a giant gap in the ground appealed to me so much, but it did.
It wasn't a deep drop off to the water at the bottom of the gorge, so temptation did call a few times... but alas, I didn't do anything stupid (If you're here to hear about me doing absurd things... stick around). Like all water in Iceland, it's perfect and pure so that you see right through it. In fact, you can drink any source of water in Iceland, which makes it easy to survive in the vast wilderness.
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| Crystalline water, a common fare in Iceland |
About 20 minutes after, we went to the ruin of a house built into the mountains that nobody noticed until the 1920s. The couple that lived there is supposedly still alive, and all that remains is a cave... Which makes sense, since, ya' know, it WAS a house in a cave...
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| Carvings outside the house-cave. |
Afterwards, we passed through a small
town where we stopped for a snack.
Now, fruit snacks are nice
and maybe even some pretzels,
but here, you can get
a delicious package of Sviðasulta.
What is this seemingly delightful treat, you ask?
Well, you beautiful reader, I'm about to tell you...
It's Sheep's Head Jelly.
The meat from the head of a sheep and a block with gelatinous fat. You know how they say,
"Dont knock in 'til you try it"?
That applies big time.
It was like pulled pork with the texture of Jell-O, and I'm eating the leftovers as I type this.
We headed to the Golden Falls briefly, which was nice, but I would soon find waterfalls that we're hundreds of times more stunning. I asked Tilly if the childishly-enchanting feeling of seeing all of this goes away when you see it again, and he said, "I've been seeing this since I was a child and it still takes my breath away."
En route to the next spot, the resting place of a Troll (bare with me on this one), Tilly told stories of being a kid in Iceland and the Sagas (the mythos of Iceland), all of it told with a genuineness that was just great to listen to. And by the time he finished telling the story, we were there.
Quick story cut-away time!
So, back in Iceland after the spread of Christianity, there lived a troll who was friendly with people, something which wasn't very common. His name was Bergþór úr Bláfelli, and he helped the farmers till soil and raise livestock. He told a farmer he knew that when he died he wanted to be buried in the cemetery the village folk were buried in. Sadly, he was not a Lutheran (which, as everybody knows, Trolls weren't very religious), so he could not be buried at the cemetery. Although he could be buried next to it, near a river. He was okay with this, since he could, in death hear nth the water and church bells. He told the farmer that soon he will die and the farmer will know that day has come when the troll's cane was leaning against the church door. Sure enough, the framer saw the cane resting on the Church door and told the townsfolk the news. They went to the cave that Bergþór úr Bláfelli lived in and carried the body. One townsfolk noticed a bag of feathers in the cave and decided to take it. He noticed, upon leaving the cave, that the feathers had turned to gold. But when he wen't back to the cave for more, the cave was gone... Which explains the lack of a cave in the area. He was buried near the river above, and next to the cemetery...
The cemetery is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, and hasn't been renovated much in the past few centuries.
We proceeded to lunch at a nearby place that had Lamb Soup. By this point, I have eaten at least 2 whole lambs in the last few days. The soup itself was good, the meat being the highlight.
We then stopped by an area that he found, with one of the most amazing waterfalls I've seen. We spent a good 40 minutes there before moving on...
And from there the day starting winding down, we had a dinner of salted cod soup and lamb (yea... more lamb hahah). I some much more happened in between, in terms of stories told and sights seen. But it is something you need to see and hear for yourself. And while I'm sitting here, I've decided to add this Country to the list of countries I'd like to live in.
The water in this country is so pure you can drink it from anywhere.
The meat and fish is so fresh that it can make any vegan hungry.
And the wilderness... is heart stopping. The weather here
is constantly rainy and grey, but it make's the
never-ending sea of mountains so much more ominous.
When I look into the distance, I'm reminded of the scope
and scale to which we exist. Iceland is a small place, but
when you're surrounded by mountains for miles, and
green-grey hills, you feel even smaller.
It reminds me of Lord of the Rings, the
rolling fields surrounded by lush mountains.
The very thing that made me want to go out
and see the world. Guide or not, being out here is breathtaking, and coming back here alone will be all the more satisfying, with the opportunity to camp and just walk for miles over mountains.
Tomorrow I'll be able to do some hiking and I will be spending a short amount of time in Vík í M'yrdel (and going to another bakery!). I'll probably do an update in 2 days, and include information about Tilly and everything. Until then... Enjoy the view:
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