Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.05.2010, Síða 34

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06 — 2010
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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
There is a very small window of time between
the winter and summer seasons when hitting
the road in a sketchy vehicle is ideal in this
country. Winter driving is a nightmare with
the ever-changing and unpredictable weather
conditions. Summer can feel a bit crowded. But
for a few weeks towards the end of April and
into early May, a Tour De Iceland is a stunning
experience in solitude.
The focus of this journey was the East
fjords, possibly one of the most wonderfully
unsettling areas of Iceland. In order to take
our sweet time through our tour, a mad-dash
to Höfn was made on the first evening, appar-
ently driving through an ash cloud and into a
dark blue doomy sky.
Waking up in Höfn is a pleasure. The moun-
tains loom over the harbour-town to the north,
with southern views of the very edge of the
world. Although they are desperately lacking a
bakery or lunch spot that isn’t part of a mini-
mall, they have one of the greatest little pools in
the country, which opened last year. No matter
how cold or windy it is, climb to the top of the
waterslides for the view onto Vatnajökull.
The hills are alive with the sound of
effing music
Next began our long, leisurely trek through the
East fjords. It got pretty awesome pretty quick-
ly. For starters, we somehow landed one of the
clearest, sunniest and warmest days one could
hope for, given the timing. The sea to the right
of us shimmered like silver, clouds shadowed
onto the pure white snow still on the moun-
tains and the wind rustled around the car. And
then came the reindeer.
We spotted three herds before Lón, the car-
commercial-esque road that hugs the cliffs
along the coast before getting into the East
fjords proper. It is quite uncommon to see
them so far south. Each herd was bigger than
the next, some of them casually kicking it in
the road. This left us with little recourse than to
simply pull over and hang out with them. Good
times.
After holding our breaths through the maj-
esty of Lón, we started hitting up the various
towns of the area. The weather clouded over
around Djúpivogur so we came into this sleepy
little fishing town to stretch our legs and see a
man about a horse, so to speak. Spotted locals
eating pylsur. Very appropriate.
In Breiðalsvík, I was put to the task of prac-
ticing my very limited Icelandic comprehen-
sion skills by asking directions to a restaurant
from the only visible locals, two rather elderly
women. They were cool. We lunched at Kaffi
Margrét, a restaurant attached to a lovely wood-
en guesthouse with a chicken coop and a ridic-
ulously cute dog. The meal hit the spot and they
made some of the best hot chocolate ever.
Just emotions taking you over
Then shit got kind of real. As we wound in and
out through the increasingly steep and acute
fjords, the enormity of the landscape started
to bear down, impressing just how miniscule
and powerless we were against nature. Maybe
driving through that ash cloud had residual
effects. Regardless, looking at the massive ris-
ing mountains, the snow and clouds, indistin-
guishably white, and feeling a distorted percep-
tion of distance and time, something happens
to you. You really have to just shut up and look
around.
“It’s big, but it has no soul”
After reeling our way out of the fjords, it was
just a stone’s throw to Egilsstaðir, where my co-
hort somehow suspected we would find a bet-
ter time than in the town I was rooting to go
to — Seyðisfjörður. With my driver still scepti-
cal, we started chugging up the mountain pass
towards the 700-person strong fishing town.
We rounded the final curve and saw rays of sun
creeping down the fjord onto this sparkly little
toy-town and my friend began to ohh and ahh.
I told him so.
Upon our arrival we settled into a charming
hostel housed in the former hospital and hit
our second pool of the day. Seyðisfjörður’s pool
is indoors, but no less exposed to the elements.
Huge vertical windows along each side of the
building give the perfect feeling of swimming
right between the fjord and their dry-sauna in
the basement was a pleasant surprise.
We ended our day’s journey with excellent
pizza at the Skaftfell restaurant and art centre.
After quite a few pints and no other custom-
ers around, we struck up conversation with
the establishment’s owner, Nikolas, and a pair
of locals. My friend asked Nikolas why Seyð-
isfjörður was so much nicer than Egilsstaðir,
even though the two towns are so close and the
former is so tiny. “It’s big,” he said, “but it has
no soul.” Enough said.
Then we got shitfaced.
Travel | East fjords
East Winds blow Good
Hugging the curves of the edge of the world
REbEccA LOuDER
REbEccA LOuDER
The East fjords of Iceland certainly offer one of the island's more
beautiful landscapes. The people are also really nice.
“Looking at the massive rising
mountains, the snow and clouds,
indistinguishably white, and feeling
a distorted perception of distance and
time, something happens to you”