Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2011, Síða 38

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38
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2011
Travel | Landmannalaugar
The full-day tour begins at 7:40 from the BSÍ bus ter-
minal where we meet a friendly driver and guide who
welcome us aboard the bus. The guide begins to tell
us about all of the amazing things we are going to
see. We make a quick stop at Selfoss to pick up some
lunch and then it’s not long before we leave civilisa-
tion behind us for the day.
DIDACTICISM AND AMUSEMENT
As the bus lurches along, the landscape looks like
something from out of this world, only the wild
horses prove that it isn’t. We first stop at a marvel-
lous place to admire Hjálparfoss, also known as the
‘Helping Falls’ because the horses that inhabited the
region in the past recovered there after arriving from
the desolate Sprengisandur route.
In front of the waterfall, the guide teaches us
about three different types of flowers used as spices
in Iceland. One of them, the thyme wildflower—a re-
ally small purple one—“is delicious mixed with meat,”
our guide tells us.
As we continue driving toward our destination,
we make some stops to take pictures of the ex-
tremely impressive landscape that characterises the
region of Landmannalaugar. The lava fields surround
the dry mountains in a variety of colours and the hills
appear like dunes in a desert of lava. While tourists
on our bus liken it to Mars on Earth, we can’t help
but picture it on the big screen as a backdrop to a
Hollywood blockbuster.
ExTRATERRESTRIAL LANDSCAPES
Then we start a 4,5 kilometre hike, which begins on
a narrow path flanked by bizarre walls of gray and
green that add to the alien-like landscape. Beautiful
colourful stones and rocks surround us the whole
way.
Our guide stops several times to show us sharp
volcanic stones and explains that the inhabitants of
the island used them as weapons in the past. As we
continue our ramble we arrive to even more weird
scenery: A scarlet hill with steam vents. Once again
we have the feeling of being on an old movie stu-
dio set with fog machines expelling smoke, adding a
touch of mystery to the scene.
We leave the hill to our side and go up a steeper
slope. Though it is a little bit difficult, the effort is
worth it because our reward is an overwhelming
view over the valley. The mountains appear in front of
us as enormous defiant giants of stones and rocks.
We take a breath and relax while enjoying one of the
most beautiful moments of the trip.
A HAPPY ENDING
With our stamina completely renewed, we face the
last part of the hike where we find several stretches
of the path covered by ice, adding some risk to our
adventure. All the way back our guide giggles and
talks about introducing us to a couple of his friends,
but we find out sadly that those famous friends are in
fact a rock formation that visibly resembles a couple
of drunk guys after a crazy party.
When we complete the hike we don’t get on the
bus immediately. A well-deserved bath in a natural
pool of hot water awaits us. There are a bunch of
children splashing around, but it is not an impedi-
ment for enjoying a moment of relaxation in the
warm spring. It is such a happy ending to an amazing
trip into the vast uninhabited heart of Iceland.
Words
Marta Bardón and José Ángel Hernández
Photography
Natsha Nandabhiwat
“ Crossing a river, touching Hekla’s ashes, finding a huge
crater lake, and contemplating
waterfalls—these are just a
few of the adventures that
you will experience on the
‘Landmannalaugar & Saga
Valley’ tour with Reykjavík
Excursions.
Discovering The Saga Valley
The ‘Landmannalaugar & Saga Valley’ tour is offered by Reykjavík Excursions
for 18.000 ISK. It can be booked through www.re.is or by calling +354 580 5400.
Note that it is only available during July and August.