Reykjavík Grapevine - Nov 2019, Page 12

The Reykjavík G
rapevine
Best of Iceland 2019
12
A Lassie On Laki
Intern Josie takes us on another
mountainous adventure. This time,
there’s pizza.
Words: Josie Gaitens Photos: Art Bicnick
What do the French Revolution,
national bard of Scotland Rob-
ert Burns, and Iceland all have in
common? The answer is Laki—a
volcanic fissure in the south of Ice-
land that was responsible for an
eight-month long eruption that be-
gan in June 1783 and ultimately,
the deaths of thousands of people
worldwide. In other words, the
perfect location for a lovely coun-
tryside jaunt.
Early start (again…)
Laki, which is actually a mountain
bisected by the Lakagígar volcanic
fissure, is located in the Highlands
and is therefore only accessible
during the summer and only by
4WD. One of the best, and more
relaxing ways to see the area—if
you don’t fancy stressful river nav-
igations in your rental car— is to
book a super jeep tour. Also, then
you can tell all your friends you’ve
been in a super jeep.
Our tour set off from Kirkjubæ-
jarklaustur at 8:45am, which un-
fortunately for us meant leaving
Reykjavík at 5am. I think my edi-
tors are under the impression that
I don’t require sleep, which I would
like to make clear is decidedly not
the case. Luckily, the meeting point
was the gas station, meaning we
could load up on more than enough
caffeine and pylsur to satisfy even
the hangriest of journalists, and
pick up a packed lunch for the long
day ahead.
World-changing
eruption
The drive from Kirkjubæjarklaus-
tur to the base of Laki takes just
over an hour, during which our
knowledgeable driver pointed out
local sites and explained the his-
tory of what was one of the largest
eruptions on record. During the
eruption, 14 cubic kilometers of
basalt lava was produced, which, if
you’re not great at visualising these
things, is a fucking lot. In addition
to this, a bunch of very unpleasant
gasses were released into the at-
mosphere, creating a mist known
as the ‘Laki Haze’ which floated
over Europe causing widespread
disease, crop failure and famine. It
is this effect that is credited with
instigating the French Revolution
and, more weirdly, Robert Burns’
poetic output. But some impacts of
the disaster were far more obvious.
An estimated 25% of Iceland’s hu-
man population and 75% of animals
were wiped out in the aftermath of
the eruption.
Driving through the lava fields,
it is easy to get a sense of the scale
of the catastrophe. It’s also easy
to see how life returns to an area
once devastated by lava flow, as
the bumpy plains are covered with
soft, pale green moss, lending the
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H V E R A G E R Ð I - I C E L A N D
Where you find the real local beer and gourmet pizzas
Visit Ölverk - Iceland´s first geothermal powered
brewery. Perfect stopover while visiting south
Iceland and Golden Circle
Breiðamörk 2 / 810 Hveragerði / tel. 483-3030 / olverk.is
Brewery tours / Craft beer / Pizzeria / Great local experience
Distance from
Reykjavík:
300 km
How to get there:
Take route 1 south,
turn onto route 206
Tour provided by:
secreticeland.com South