Iceland review - 2002, Page 18

16 ICELAND REVIEW
rapidly scattering. Hikers are well on their way to start the Landmannalaugar-
Thórsmörk trek, and tour buses load up and lumber out of the parking lot.
Landmannalaugar’s dusty parking area is a circus of enthusiastic automobiles with
monster tyres and Icelandic license plates. Weathered Land Rovers and old military
vehicles with campers duct-taped to their roofs are packed with an astounding assort-
ment of gear, testimony to how Icelanders pay their respects to the challenging interi-
or of their country.
In the midst of this vehicular creativity, it takes a minute to notice Café Fjallafang.
Smári and Nína, an Icelandic and Russian couple, have been selling coffee, supplies, and
eclectic merchandise out of a parked green bus here for 11 summers. Despite being the
only cup of coffee for 60 kilometres in any direction, they sell theirs for 150 kr, cheap-
er than any you’ll find in the city. Their business season lasts 70 days, after which they
drive their café to a local garage for the winter. “Otherwise, we’d have to paint it every
year,” Nína says. Their other 295 days are spent in a lighthouse in the West Fjords,
At 864 m, Mt. Halldórsfell presides
over this mossy valley midway
between Landmannalaugar and Eldgjá.
10 IR302 - Fjallabak bs-rm 2.9.2002 10:17 Page 16