Week one is completed and all I can say is WOW!!! Maybe I should use the word Amazing, or maybe Speechless, or even Best Place....This is start of a trip and the first week has met all expectations and than times that by one hundred or even a thousand. Right now, you should be buying a ticket on Yahoo Travel or Cheap Flights for Iceland. Where to start, note the Icelandic keyboard is much different than ones in the States and I have not figured out how to select a question mark.
The Icelandic people are truly wonderful people, who carry a lot of passion and energy and survival with them. Over the past week, I have been embraced by many locals through hitching rides along the ring road and at the local ESSO fuel stations...All are friendly, all are very bright, and most of all they care about each other and their land!
After leaving Reykjavik on Wednesday morning, I took the bus to a little village called Hvolsvollur, about 120 km to the east. Summer season had just started, so the buses were not in full operations and I am glad that was the case, as this is where I met some of my new friends. Drinking coffee, writing post cards, and completing my journal entries at the ESSO station, I was approached by the store/restaurant manager, his name Eymundur asking about my travels and where I was from... We spoke for a short while and I found out that he was the owner of the hostel where I was staying and the former director of tourism for this area of Iceland. He gave me some insights and offered to show me some sights if I returned on Saturday, but most of all was friendly as was the other staff at the store.
I departed the next day for Vik, standing on the ring road with a thumb in the air and a big smile....5 minutes later, I was traveling down the highway with a local fishermen guide who dropped me off at one of the many waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss in Iceland. A beautifull waterfall, dropping 40 meters and you are able to walk behind it... Very cool! After this stop, I was ready to find another ride and was picked up by two women tourists from German. The 3 of us made stops at the other waterfalls and black sand beaches on the way to Vik...we shared a coffee and I found my way to the hostel.
The landscape around Vik is similar to the Kauai coastline, large steep cliffs with lots of green and many birds. An awesome place for the night and where I met two ladies, Anna and Anya from London. We shared some laughs and than it was time for another day of hitching to Jokulsarlon, a glacier lagoon about 200 km, east of Vik.
Again, within 5 minutes, a little red car pulled up and in I went. Here, I met Lebecca, who was traveling to the east coast to visit her parents for the week. The car ride seemed to take 20 minutes, as it was wonderful talking with her about the Icelandic people and the history of the land...
This section of the island has an everchanging landscape from cliffs to lava rocks to mountains to rolling hills to massive glaciers and flowing rivers. An amazing area that continued to impress me and than overwelm me with beauty as we came across the Jokulsarlon...This place is a must see and for me is one of the GREATEST NATURAL WONDERS that I have ever seen. A very large glacier that is over one km thick has a tongue that reaches this crystal blue/green lagoon, which is full of over 1,000 icebergs that are flowing to the nearby sea. The sea had surfable waves, but it would mean dodging the many icebergs in the water...I termed this surf spot "ICEBERGS." I hiked for several hours in this lagoon area walking over rocks, beach, and jumping through creeks to try and reach the base of the glacier, but to no avail as I was stopped by a heavy flowing river...However, lunch was served on the ground, while I enjoyed the beauty of the landscape with the sun shining, the glacier looking to eat me up, isolation for miles, and seals bathing in the water...A truly beautiful day!!!
Another evening in Vik and than I returned to Hvolsvollur for some sightseeing with Eymundur and sleep. I was welcomed back to town, served a lamb dish called shit/smoked lamb (It was Crazy Delicious), and shown several sights within the area that included underground caves that were used as living and spiritual places by Irish priests and another nearby beach. The weather was warm, sunny and the company was great! I went to a BBQ with the locals and ate Icelandic lamb chops and than was taken on an exciting midnight adventure to Dorsmork, one of the only forested areas in Iceland with a glacier and mountains surrounding it... This was a great adventure and ended with the locals handing a bottle of Brennivin to me, also referred to as black death. yummy stuff!!! Several swigs later, we were heading back for the night.
I depart Iceland with many stories, new friends, and a great start to this journey. I look forward to returning again and meeting up with the Icelandic people everywhere. Look out Norway and Sweden that Gert is coming!!!
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