Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.06.2011, Page 61

REYKJAVÍK
Northern Iceland
A region known primarily for its largest town,
Akureyri, there's quite a lot to see in this part of
the country (including famous sites like Mývatn,
Dimmuborgir and the ‘whale-watching town’ of
Húsavík). It's actually a very rich area—from the
plains in the west, to mountains in the centre,
to Arctic desert in the east, and of course some
beautiful coastline all along the top. Akureyri it-
self is about 300 km from Reykjavík, and is also
accessible by plane. There are gas stations along
the way on Route 1, but you should fill up before
heading out anyway.
Some interesting sights: Ásbyrgi, Dimmuborgir,
Kjarnaskógur
East Fjords
East Iceland, much like the Westfjords, is well known for
its stark mountains and narrow fjords, but it also has a
considerable number of towns further inland. The best
example of this would be the region's largest municipal-
ity, Egilsstaðir, which also happens to be home to Ice-
land's largest forest (Hallormsstaðaskógur). It is not
uncommon to see reindeer wandering around out here,
either. It's nearly 700 km or so from the capital, and eas-
ily reached by car (assuming you have the time—you
can get there in one (long) day, but you might want to
stay the night at a couple places along the way, to enjoy
the ride) and by plane. It goes without saying that you
will need a full tank of gas to start your journey, and will
probably need to fill up again, at Höfn if you go the south-
ern route, and Akureyri if you go the northern route.
Some interesting sights: Seyðisfjörður, Hallorms-
staðaskógur, Kárahnjúkavirkjun
South Iceland
Along with the northwest, south Iceland is one of the agricultural
hubs of the country. As such, you'll be seeing a lot of flat farmland
driving through here, but this is also home to two major glaciers,
Mýrdalsjökull and the famed Vatnajökull, around which lies Eu-
rope's largest national park. You can also visit the Jökulsárlón
lagoon, Skaftafell national park, or the region's largest town, Vík.
Only about 150 km from Reykjavík, it's easily reached by car, al-
though there is a landing strip for planes near the town. A half tank
of gas should be plenty for a day trip (about 6.000 ISK) but filling up
wouldn't hurt, in case you feel like exploring more.
Some interesting sights: Jökulsárlón, Eyrarbakki, Dyrhólaey
Bíldudalur is like many small towns
and villages in the Westfjords—
nestled deep in a fjord against
some intimidating mountains,
comprised of what appears to be
two or three streets and a handful
of small houses. But Bíldudalur is
special for two reasons.
First, the location itself shields the vil-
lage from Iceland's characteristic re-
lentless winds, making the weather rel-
atively fair all year round. Second, it sits
on the shores of Arnarfjörður, home to
the bulk of Iceland's sea monsters. In
fact, Bíldudalur has a museum dedicat-
ed to these creatures, which made our
visit an unforgettable experience.
Typically, when you think of locals
using folklore for the entertainment
of tourists, you might imagine some-
thing fairly cheesy or exploitative.
This was definitely not the case with
the Sea Monster Museum. For one,
the layout of the museum itself gives
one more the feeling of an old man's
reading parlour than anything else:
the centrepiece of the exhibition f loor
is a round structure covered in shelves
with books, figurines of the four ma-
jor sea monsters of the area—fjörulalli
(“shore laddie”), hafmaður (“sea man”),
skeljaskrímsli (“shell monster”) and
faxaskrímsli (“combed monster/sea
horse”)—and a few monitors where
you can view a clips from a documen-
tary about the fjord's sea monsters.
This, to me, was the most fascinat-
ing part of the exhibit. It's one thing
to listen to some eccentric hippy-dippy
granola-muncher talking about super-
natural beings; it's quite another to
see old, no-bullshit, grizzled farmers
and fishermen discuss, quite matter-
of-factly, seeing such creatures. To be
honest, it gave the sightings an air of
credibility that even a sceptic like me
was not impervious to. The documen-
tary itself should be released on DVD
this winter.
The crowning piece of the exhibit is
an interactive map that really has to be
seen to be believed. By moving small
plastic pieces over a map of the region,
with arrows to guide you in the direc-
tions of monster sightings, cartoon
bubbles of text and images describing
monster incidents in the fjord make it
seem as though this quite little ham-
let is practically teeming with hor-
rible beasts. Luckily for us, we didn't
encounter any, but thanks to what we
learned at the Sea Monster Museum,
we're well prepared should the occa-
sion arise.
You Will Believe In Bíldudalur:
Visiting The Sea Monster Museum
Billed as “the capital of the north”
more times than I could count in a
lifetime, Akureyri is, to many tour-
ists, the place you stay when you're
up north. And not without reason—
its geographical and topographical
location keep the weather relative-
ly mild year round, the town is lush
with greenery in the summer time
and covered in snow in the winter,
and they also have Hotel Akureyri.
Maybe it was because we had been sit-
ting in a car for seven or eight hours (I
fell asleep a couple of times for brief
spells and lost track), but this place was
like an oasis on a desert planet. The
rooms were great, and when I wanted
some boiling hot water for the instant
cup-o'-noodles I'd bought, the guy at
the front desk didn't make a fuss about
going into the kitchen at a quarter to
midnight to put the kettle on. We chit-
chatted for a bit while waiting for the
water to boil. He told me that his family
lives in Ísafjörður, and he drives there
from Akureyri a few times a month.
This f loored me—earlier that day, when
we finally connected to Route 1 after
driving several hours from Ísafjörður,
it was practically heartbreaking to see
road signs indicating that we were actu-
ally closer to Reykjavík than we were to
Akureyri. I asked him how he was able
to do this drive so often.
He shrugged. “You know, the road
between Akureyri and Ísafjörður is al-
ways going to be several hundred kilo-
metres long. It doesn't matter how fast
you drive. If you try to speed yourself
there, you're just going to get stressed
out and annoyed. It's better to take fre-
quent stops, get out and stretch your
legs, take a few pictures, you know.
Enjoy the way there and take your time,
instead of rushing to get where you're
going”. This was probably the best all-
around travel advice I'd heard since
I learned about rolling clothes up for
packing instead of folding them.
I lived in Akureyri for a year, and
while there's a lot to see and do in the
region, the first and foremost place I'd
recommend anyone checking out is
the botanical gardens. Especially since
summer's here. Amateur botanists
will certainly enjoy checking out the
variety of hardy perennials there; every-
one else should enjoy just being able to
take their time wandering the grounds,
relaxing in a clearing with a packed
lunch, and marvelling at what volcanic
soil plus mild weather can produce. If
you only have an hour or so in Akurey-
ri, spend every minute of it here. You
won't regret it.
Getting To Akureyri, And Enjoying It
Distance from Reykjavík: ca. 480 km
The fishing town Húsavík, which sits at
the shore of Skjálfandi bay, has been
experiencing a great increase in tourism
in recent years. The biggest draw for
travellers is the fact that the Skjálfandi
bay is known for being an excellent
whale-watching spot and many compa-
nies offer daily whale-watching excur-
sions from the harbour. Visitors should
also check out the Whale Museum, lo-
cated by the harbour. The museum was
founded in 1997 and provides informa-
tion on cetaceans and Iceland’s whaling
history. The Húsavík church, which is
one of the oldest wooden churches in
Iceland, is also worth a look.
Húsavík
-It's not the destination; it's the journey
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Map courtesy of Landmælingar Íslands - Map from 1928