Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.06.2005, Blaðsíða 50

O
u
tsid
e R
ey
k
ja
v
ík
Jökulsárlón
“I like coming to work. Every day the lagoon is
completely different. I work in a different setting
every day,” Hanna Dís, our young transplanted former
Reykjavík bartender guide tells us as we ride through
Jökulsárlón in a large amphibious vehicle.
Jökulsárlón is one of the key sites, like Þingvellir,
Geysir and Gullfoss, that tourists feel are musts in
visiting Iceland. Somehow, because these sites are so
impressive, it is not uncommon for locals and even
people who move to Iceland to avoid the place.
In fact, our guide had never been here before she
started working here. “Somehow you don’t have time. I
really don’t know why I didn’t come out,” she tells me
and then turns back to look at the perfect cube of an
iceberg floating by and gives a can-you-believe-my-luck
smile.

I would consider boasting about going to Jökulsárlón four
times in the two years I’ve lived in Iceland, except until
my recent visit, I never bothered to get on a boat and
truly tour the lagoon. The boat tours aren’t pushed on
you. Every time I visited in the past, I joined the other
backpackers and stared out at the boats in the water, and
then tried to convince myself that I was saving money by
staying on shore and probably getting a more authentic
experience.
Not quite true.
As nice as a shoreline visit is at Jökulsárlón, a boat
tour definitely raises the experience a few notches.
Driven by a captain with more depth-finding and radar
equipment than you’ve ever seen in your life, and led
by a man in a rubber boat who taps at icebergs to check
their depth (remember your Titanic wisdom, 9/10ths
of icebergs are below the surface), the boat is safe but
depends on the skill of its driver.
The formations of ice boggle the mind. The icebergs,
as our guide explained, are typically aged more than 1000
years old, and the fact that these monumental pieces of
the landscape are headed out to sea to simply dissolve
adds poignancy to the experience.
The Glacier Lagoon group play their cards right, too.
The guide says nothing at all as you head into the lagoon,
circling glaciers according to the driver’s interest. After
twenty minutes of saying “No this one’s more beautiful”
about the passing icebergs, which pass in the most bizarre
of colourings and shapes, the boat is stopped for a brief
discussion of the lagoon, followed by a brief taste test of
1000-year-old ice.
There is nothing wanting in the forty-minute tour.
The time is just long enough to take in the sites, but
not too long to get… cold. And the quiet of the tour,
with only a brief discussion, is tasteful and appropriate.
Followed up with a cup of coffee and another look-
over from the shore, Jökulárlón qualifies as the most
rewarding gallery experience in the world.
The Floating Sculpture Garden
By Bart Cameron
Rental car provided by Hertz.
Phone: 50 50 600.
www.hertz.is.
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon,
Phone: 478-2122.
More information available at
www.jokulsarlon.is.
P
aul / G
rapevine
P
aul / G
rapevine
��������
�����������
�������
��������
����������
Open 12 - 22
Laugavegur 11
Art,
Music &
Nightlife
Info