Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2016, Page 55

BOOK YOUR FLIGHT OR
DAY TOUR AT AIRICELAND.IS
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
ICELAND’S WESTFJORDS
ARE ONLY 40 MINUTES AWAY
Let’s fly
ÞÓRSHÖFN
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
GRÍMSEY
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
REYKJAVÍK
is
le
ns
ka
/s
ia
.is
F
LU
7
32
63
0
3/
15

Distance
from Rvk
22 km
How to get there:
Book a trip including bus travel from downtown, or assemble at Bláfjöll.
Trip provided by:
insidethevolcano.is
55The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 8 — 2016 TRAVEL
said: “Now, I can die."
Today’s visitors are different—
for several, the main aim of the
trip is that perfect photograph,
and they run down the thirty-
minute clock by tensely adjusting
their camera settings and posi-
tioning each other to the best ad-
vantage. I suddenly crave solitude,
and manoeuvre as far away from
the group as possible, perching
on a charred black boulder shot
through with seams of metallic
umber. I sit quietly, listening to
the echo of the space, wide-eyed.
Dark, inviting lava tubes begin at
the edge of the cavern floor, and I
wonder what sights lie deeper in-
side the volcano.
All too soon, the lift reappears.
As we’re hoisted back up from this
surreal and emotionally affect-
ing environment, I don’t lament
that it’ll live only in my memory.
I find myself internally asking of
my companions: “They might have
the evidence to prove it—but were
they really here?"
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