Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.07.2009, Qupperneq 36

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2009
TáLkNAFJöRðUR hOT
POOLS (FREE OF ChARGE)
Where: Located a few kilometres
outside the charming village centre of
Tálknafjörður in the ever so beautiful
West Fjords.
how to get there: Drive along
Strandgata until you see a red-roofed
cottage on your right.
Amenities: Modest changing rooms.
The pools usually have some algae in
them, but not to worry – it won’t do you
any harm!
Special: According to the locals, this is
the best spot to see the northern lights
in the wintertime. When the weather
gets really harsh and snow covers
the village, the feeling of putting on
your trunks and jumping into the hot
pool is incredible. It is just you alone
accompanied by the cold wind, beautiful
mountains and the comforting hot
water.
Travel | Activities
Pools, Tubs, Cheese Containers – YES!
I get a kick out of swimming pools.
Hiking tours, road trips or countryside
family journeys should all be tied
together by visiting a pool of some kind.
A long bath in a desolate, small hot
water pool in the middle of nowhere
is simply the best way to relax before
hitting the road again. Dipping into
a pool, soaking in a tub, this is what
makes a perfect trip.
In Iceland, finding a place to swim
is incredibly easy. According to www.
sundlaugar.is (they claim to list all
known pools in the country), Iceland
has 130 official swimming pools. A
wider spot on the road is usually a sign
that a swimming pool is close by. In
fact, it is almost impossible to find an
Icelandic gathering of more than, say,
eight buildings where you won’t be able
to take a swim or soak in a relaxing hot
water pool.
The rule of thumb is that wherever
there is a block of houses, there is a
swimming pool. What is even better,
though, is how easy it is to find a hot
water pool outside the residential areas
– as long as you know where to look.
Not to put down the Blue Lagoon
or Jarðböðin in Mývatn, I still go for an
isolated, peaceful hot water pond in
the middle of the Icelandic countryside
over a fancy, jam-packed water park
where you are marked by a plastic band
attached to your wrist. Every time.
In my opinion, the most inviting pools
are the desolate ones. Imagine floating
about in hot water whilst gazing at the
cold, stormy ocean roaring just a few
metres away. This particular view from a
pool is the best one in the whole country
and can be found in the Westfjords,
right at the end of a narrow bumpy road.
Another extremely pleasant swimming
pool is located in a green valley in the
middle of nowhere, a few kilometres
outside the nearest village Vopnafjörður,
just waiting for passers-by to stop and
dive in.
It is not at all rare to be the only
visitor in many of these pools. This is
ideal. Moreover, whether you are an
early bird or a night person, these pools
are almost always open. When you go,
please remember to leave some change
in the donation pot – a few hundred
Icelandic krónur isn’t a lot to part with
in exchange for a unique swimming
experience. These donations are used
to keep the pool and its surroundings
in good condition. Giving donations to
the villages’ swimming pools also means
you can come back and re-live the
wonderful experience.
When in Iceland, go swimming. On
your tour around the country, you should
try out at least some of the following
places.
kROSSNESLAUG
Where: Norðurfjörður, in the north part
of the Westfjords. Krossneslaug is at
the very end of road number 643. Drive
carefully – the narrow sandy road from
Hólmavík up to Norðurfjörður has a lot
of curves and is quite bumpy…
how to get there: Follow the road after
Norðurfjörður camping area and gas
station all the way to the end. You can’t
miss it; the pool is right next to the sea.
Amenities: Showers, toilets and
changing rooms. The site has no
electricity though, so if you are a late
visitor and you’ve missed the midnight
sun, remember to pack some candles
with you.
Special: Candlelit swim in a peaceful
pool right next to a stormy sea – need
I say more? This is easily the most
romantic swimming pool in Iceland.
SATU RäMö
OLd ChEESE CONTAiNERS
Where: In the most fun town of
Northern Iceland: Húsavík.
how to get there: The cheese
containers are located a kilometre away
from the town centre. Drive along the
road Höfðavegur out of town and then
take a right turn on to a smaller road,
leaving a quaint-looking lighthouse to
your left.
Amenities: Changing rooms and
showers.
Special: This is the ultimate second-
hand swimming pool: the two hot water
pools have originally served as cheese
containers for a cheese factory, and the
changing rooms are built into an old
cargo container. The hot water, very rich
in minerals, comes straight from the
ground. So if the pools are empty, the
tectonic plate movements are to blame;
the water may dry up after earthquakes.
This happens occasionally.
VOPNAFJöRðUR
Where: Around seven kilometres north
from Vopnafjörður village in Northern
Iceland.
how to get there: When driving along
road number 85, you come across the
pool in the valley of Selárdalur.
Amenities: Showers, changing rooms,
toilets. During summertime, there is an
attendant that cares for the site. Outside
the official opening times, remember
to leave an entrance fee in the donation
box.
Special: Perfect spot to either take a
swim in the big pool or relax in the hot
ponds. The atmosphere in the green
valley between the mountains is nice
and quiet. An average visitor to the
site is a villager from Bakkafjörður or
Vopnafjörður. Random travellers rarely
come across the place as the pool is not
situated next to the main road, road
number one. But believe me, the pool
itself and the surrounding landscapes
are worth taking a detour from the ring
road.
One of this country’s best redeeming
qualities are the pools of hot water
found sprinkled all over it. Those pools
somehow manage to make life on the
edge of the inhabitable world somewhat
bearable-to-goddamn awesome
when all else fails, especially when
temperatures drop below sub-zero
and an endless winter takes hold of
the heart. They are also pretty great
during summer, when those dark days
seem like a distant, repressed memory.
We treasure every single one of the
geothermal pools, quaint hot tubs and
glorified puddles sprinkled all over our
small rock in the North Atlantic, and so
should you.
All of those pools are special, all
of them offer something to love; the
modern concrete and glass constructs
with their fishtank steamrooms and
suburban families, the indoor pools and
their ambitious architecture, the barren
wasteland screaming ocean end-of-the
world three-person decaying concrete
tubs. All of them do, yet some of them
stand out, earning a very special place
in travellers’ hearts, haunting their
dreams and demanding repeat visits.
One such pool sits on the Reykjanes
peninsula, not the one with Keflavík in
it, the one that rests firmly on one of the
Westfjords’ many jagged corners.
This is not the first article we publish
about the pool at the Reykjanes resort,
and it probably will not be the last. No
amount of words or pictures could
possibly capture it in optimal conditions.
Its raw concrete structure (re-done this
summer) fits surprisingly well with the
area’s rugged geography, underwater
wooden benches provide a place to
rest and contemplate the warm water
blending in with the clear, clean sky,
the sometimes angry ocean or the
mountains looming afar.
The pool itself is an Olympic-sized
outdoor affair. It is Iceland’s biggest hot
tub by all accounts – the hot geothermal
water making it way more suitable for
floating around and forgetting whatever
ails you than engaging in any Olympic-
style activities. It was built in 1934 to
replace the older (1889) rock-and-
dirt-based model, remnants of which
are still visible. It was until recently
Iceland’s ‘longest’ swimming pool;
although it was originally meant to be
a modest 25-metre length the builders
apparently got the measurements
wrong. The geothermal heating results
in a comfortably inconsistent average
temperature and a warning sign graces
its banks: pool may be extremely hot,
patrons enter at their own risk.
The charmingly rustic hotel/campsite
usually offers the kind of peace and
quiet most tourists will happily travel
across continents to reach, and you
start wondering why the resort is one of
Icelandic tourism’s best kept secrets.
Floating in the pool during sunlit
summer nights invites many a curiosity
(it officially closes at 23:30, but the
resort folks don’t seem to mind if you
loiter around forever); I have had several
close encounters of the bird kind while
resting my laurels there, a redshank
or whippoorwill landing on the water’s
smooth surface to rest along with me
and share a few tweets. All sorts of
birds seem to know about this place,
and they seem to like it.
Boil your senses away, douse them
with beer and you will understand
exactly what they mean. Soak yourself
for hours. You can ponder eternity,
or you may engage in conversation
with drunk tourists, should you find
yourself in their company.
It is also worth checking out the official swimming pool
of Tálknafjörður – it is the biggest one in Westfjords.
Thank God For Hot Water
The Reykjanes Pool and some of what makes life bearable
hAUkUR S MAGNúSSON
JULiA STAPLES
www.rnes.is
+354-456-4844
Photo: Jón Sigurðarson - www.vopnafjordur.is
Photo: Björgvin Hilmarsson
Photo: Björgvin Hilmarsson
Photo: www.gusti.is