Iceland review - 2015, Page 60

58 ICELAND REVIEW
AFTERNOON
Through the East Fjords with two short
stops at the villages of Stöðvarfjörður and
Breiðdalsvík, people sat quietly, as they
did for most of the journey, looking at the
ever-changing landscape passing by.
“Some parts of Iceland I think are not
very beautiful, only strange, like between
Dettifoss and Egilsstaðir,” said Ji-yoon, one
of a couple of young South Koreans taking
the trip. “But I like it here, the mountains
and the sea. What surprises me the most is
that there are no people in Iceland.”
Driver Guðjón told me on the rocky
beach at Stöðvarfjörður that people really
enjoy the small stops, like here. “We are
away from the beaten track, the only people
around. People can walk just a few steps
away and be alone. They like the feeling, to
have a small moment of solitude.”
Before the end of the day there were
two other stops, near the town Höfn in
Southeast Iceland: first at Lón lagoon,
and then at Almannaskarð, with its clifftop
view of Höfn and Vatnajökull glacier in the
beautiful evening light.
THE DAY AFTER
At 10 pm, 22 hours after the trip started,
the bus stopped outside the Höfn Hostel
where we spent the night. The trip contin-
ued towards Reykjavík at 7:30 am the next
morning.
At 9 am sharp, we had the first stop of the
day, one hour, at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon.
Even that early, hundreds of tourists had
arrived to explore one of the greatest
attractions in Iceland.
Some of the people on my tour went
on a 45-minute boat trip on the lagoon,
while others walked the nearby black
Breiðamerkursandur beach, with its shiny
ice cubes rolling in the waves.
Up next was Skaftafell, one of the ser-
vice centers for Vatnajökull National Park,
popular for its scenic landscape and many
hiking trails. But with only 20 minutes,
there wasn’t time for anything more than
a bathroom break. The mighty Vatnajökull
glacier was too far away to be experienced
up close.
TRAVEL
° PIT STOP IN VÍK, 2:00 PM, AUGUST 8.
° SKÓGAFOSS, 3:01 PM, AUGUST 8.
° HAVING A BITE, 4:26 PM, AUGUST 8.