Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.01.2010, Síða 27

Boarding a plane at the Reykjavík air-
port has all the pomp and ceremony of
catching a city bus: no gates, no magic
wands, no taking my belt or shoes off.
After a few minutes of waiting in the
lobby with other red-eyed passengers,
an attendant simply points outside
and we all trudge out towards the prop
plane waiting at the door. Within min-
utes we’re seated in a plane cramped
with over-sized luggage, businessmen
and their newspapers, children and
their cries. “So many people going to
Mývatn,” I thought to myself. Oh, how
wrong I was.
A flight between Reykjavík and
Akureyri is like losing your virginity:
a slightly terrifying and surprisingly
short experience. Bouncing and dip-
ping, the blue and gold plane hardly
had time to reach cruising altitude be-
fore starting its descent.
Rabbi, Air Iceland’s Lake Mývatn
day tour guide, met us on arrival, in-
troduced himself warmly, and guided
us toward the minivan which would be
our trusted chariot for the rest of the
day. A couple stops later our fellowship
was complete: the photographer and I,
an Italian couple, a German couple, an
American mother and daughter and a
lone Japanese tourist.
After enjoying the sight of Akurey-
ri by night, Rabbi sped the van along
to our first serious destination: Goða-
foss. By the time we arrived the sun
was just rising and the view was im-
pressive: 12 metres of cascading water
cradled between snowy banks with a
silver moon to top it all off.
From Goðafoss Rabbi headed to-
wards Lake Mývatn on practically de-
serted roads. Named for the billions
of f lies that hatch here every summer,
the lake attracts dozens of different
bird species that come here to feast
yearly. Those birds, in turn, attract
thousands of tourists. But during our
visit the region was entirely devoid of
pesky flies, annoying tourists, or gorg-
ing birds.
A well-deserved lunch followed at
a nearby restaurant overlooking a vast
volcanic landscape. Here too it seemed
as if our 10-person party made up the
majority that day’s patrons. As the
meal wound down, Rabbi pointed out
the window at a lone figure stretching
his legs on a rocky crag. We quickly
paid our bill and made our way down
the hill where, to our surprise, we
found Stekkjastaur, one of the Yule
Lads, tinkering around. During each
of the twelve days before Christmas
a different Yule Lad keeps vigil here,
waiting for neighbourhood children
to come by and chat. But during our
visit there were no children in sight
and as far as I could tell there was no
neighbourhood either. This didn't
seem to bother Stekkjastaur, who bus-
ied himself with pulling women from
our group on to his lap and posing for
pictures.
Next stop: Hverarönd, a highly
active geological area with bubbling
sulphur mounds as far as the eye can
see. Here too we were alone, strolling
through the steam with red mud cak-
ing thickly on our shoes.
At this point Rabbi was hurrying us
along. There were only a couple hours
left and we’d yet to see the star attrac-
tion: the Lake Mývatn Nature Baths.
The single employee at the reception
table smiled as we pulled in: we were
his only customers. For an hour and
a half the ten of us steamed, swam,
bathed, showered, relaxed and chatted
in perfect serenity as if we’d rented the
complex for a private party.
I asked Rabbi why, given the natu-
ral beauty and attractions of the area,
we’d seen so few other visitors.
“Tourists don’t realise that there
are more things to do here in the win-
ter, not less,” he said. “It’s beautiful
here in the winter. It’d be great to see
more visitors come.”
Driving back to the Akureyri air-
port I had to agree with Rabbi, it was
beautiful here. But I couldn’t help
wondering if more visitors might shat-
ter that special experience of bundling
up with a group of perfect strangers
and trucking around a barren land-
scape without another soul for hun-
dreds of kilometres around.
27
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01 — 2010
Travel | Mývatn
MIcHAEL ZELENKO
bJÖRK THORGRÍMSDóTTIR
Northern Exposure
From Reykjavík to Lake Mývatn and back in 12 hours or less.
Always best price online.
Various online-offers to all Air Iceland's destinations.
www.airiceland.is
websales@airiceland.is / tel. +354 570 3030 Contact Air Iceland or
travel agent for reservation.
ÍS
L
E
N
S
K
A
S
IA
.I
S
F
L
U
4
75
69
1
0/
20
09
KEFLAVÍK
BORGARNES
STYKKISHÓLMUR
SNÆFELLSJÖKULL
DRANGAJÖKULL
FLATEY
NESKAUPSTAÐUR
BLÖNDUÓS
SIGLUFJÖRÐUR
BOLUNGARVÍK
HRÍSEY
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
VESTMANNAEYJAR
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
ÞÓRSHÖFN
HÚSAVÍK
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
Blue Lagoon
AKRANES Geysir
Gullfoss
Jökullónið
Kárahnjúkar
Krafla
Hallormstaður
NUUK
Greenland
ILULISSAT
Greenland
www.airiceland.is
CONSTABLE POINT
Greenland
See www.airiceland.is for schedules and
more action-packed day trips.
“A f light between
Reykjavík and
Akureyri is like losing
your virginity: a
slightly terrifying and
surprisingly short
experience. ”