Iceland - the island at the edge of the world. As I drove into the countryside, I felt as if I’d left the 21^st century behind and was magically transported to a simpler time that didn’t know the constant background noise of industry and technology. The skies were clear and free of contrails; the wind simply forgot to carry the sounds of civilization, as if the only language it knew was of earth, air, sky, and water.

Economy:

Approximately 40% of the Icelandic income is from fishing, 20% from tourism, and I’m guessing about 20% from agriculture. The currency conversion is approximately 77 Kroner per Dollar. Iceland tends to be a bit pricy and it’s unlikely that you’ll find any real bargains. Meals at a reasonable restaurant in the city might run from $30 to $50 per person.

Weather and the Environment:

The weather for this time of year (end of April, 2004) is very much like that of northern new England. The first day was bright and sunny with a light breeze. All that was needed was a light wind breaker or a sweater to take the edge off the 60+ F temperatures. Finding a quiet place in the sun and out of the wind was all that was needed to feel completely comfortable. There were virtually no insects to be found which makes me wonder if it was just early in the season or if they don’t have many to begin with.

One of the most amazing things I discovered about Iceland is not so much what they have, it’s what they don’t have. It is one of the few places that I’ve ever been where there was incredibly little evidence of technology. It was very much like being transported back in time to the early 1800's. There were no sounds to be heard other than the wind, water, and sea birds. No contrails in the sky, no sounds of cars or trucks, and no power lines or cell phone towers to interrupt the natural horizon.

The Food:

There were a large number of horse, dairy, and sheep farms to be found on the south eastern shores. The cattle are raised primarily on grass and hay and the butter, Smjör, seemed to be particularly smooth and creamy. The customs officials didn’t seem to have any problem with bringing a few kilograms back into the states. Another dairy product that seems to be a cross between yogurt and cheese is the apparently uniquely Icelandic, Skyr. It’s actually pretty good! Staying with the snack topic, we also stumbled across a particularly good cookie called Singolla which is made by a Sweedish company, Göteborgs. These raspberry and vanilla cookies were particularly nice to have along in the car while touring the sights.

Although 40% of the Icelandic income is from fishing and 25% is from tourism, I was surprised that the seafood wasn’t more interesting. Granted it seemed fresh, but the sauces and other seasonings seemed flat and uninteresting. The whale meat, which was served raw or lightly (emphasis on lightly!) pan fried, had an interesting flavor, was very tender, but I doubt I could have made a full meal of it.

The Trip: Day One

Iceland is located at 66 deg north latitude and xxx west longitude.

I have to admit that although Iceland was on my list of places to go, I really didn’t know that much about it. It was on a whim that I ended up going at all! Iceland Air was offering a special for midweek travel to Reykjavik and it sounded interesting enough to go.

Boston was the departure point, and after 3.5 hours of cruising at 30,000 feet in the Boeing 757 with a 180 mph tail wind, I found myself looking down on a vast plane of jagged lava fields covered in a deceptively smooth layer of green moss and tufts of grass: nothing else. As we neared the airport, there would be an occasional road etched into the rock surface. Eventually we landed with a nearly imperceptible rumble of the wheels as they touched the tarmac. This was the only interruption in an otherwise mild and steady decent from our 30,000 foot cruising altitude. Given the large size of the runway and the steady headwind, neither brakes nor thrust reversers were used, and the plane coasted to a gentle stop leaving one with the distinct impression that the big bird simply alighted gracefully on the end of a twig.

The Keflavik terminal was small, and appeared to be more ski lodge than international airport with it’s Scandinavian wood walls and stone floors. In retrospect, seeing so much finished woodwork seemed a little odd for a building on an island were trees were virtually nonexistent. The atmosphere of the terminal was very inviting and the staff were friendly and helpful. After passing through an uneventful passport check and picking up luggage at one of the two baggage carosels, we moved on to a Flybus shuttle waiting outside the main entrance that would take us to Reykjavik. The ride into the city was about an hour, and the roadway passed through more of the deserted lava planes. My impression was that I had just landed on the surface of the moon. There wasn’t a tree in sight nor any type of vegetation as far as I could see that stood more than a few inches above the rocks. As we neared Reykjavik, I noticed more housing that had the stark, impersonal efficiency of formed concrete.

The Nautica Hotel in downtown Reykjavik was to be home for the next couple of days. It was early in the morning, so the first point of business was to catch the courtesy shuttle that ran between the hotel and the Hertz car rental office. The car rental office was small but had a rack of self guided tours on CD, one for the Golden Circle Tour and one for the Southeastern Shore. Day one was to be the Golden Circle tour. These tours turned out to be remarkably good bits of information to have along and not only gave route information but, talked about the sites and gave some historical background in many instances.

From the Hertz rental office, route 1 traveled north westerly out of Reykivik. The moss covered lava fields that were laid down 1000 years ago persisted for several miles. Before they ended, the tour CD made a point of describing a small roadside filling station and convenience store called Litla Kaffistan which sounds like it means Little Coffee Stand. In fact, the gas stations in every town seemed to be the center of activity for the communities and held the convenience store and restaurant for the town. Not far from here, was a small general aviation airport offered flying lessons and soaring opportunities. I found that these tiny airstrips were located near most towns and usually consisted of nothing more than a windsock and some pylons laid out to mark the boundaries of the runway which had been raked clear of the larger rocks. Not far from this airport, on the next day, I had seen a para glider hovering in the updrafts above one of the bluffs near the ocean.

The first notable attraction on the golden circle tour was the crater of a volcano that now contained a lake at it’s center. There were varying stories regarding the depth of the lake - from bottomless, to several tens of meters. After that it was time to stop at a small gas station/store for some snacks and drinks to take along.

Faxi, the next stop, was a remarkable find. The word Faxi describes a horse’s mane and the small water fall at this nondescript turnout had the appearance of it’s namesake. The location is very remote and there’s little evidence of dwellings or any occupation at all. Sheep are allowed to wander the landscape during the summer, and when autumn arrives, the sheep are all herded into corals such as the one located here at Faxi during the first two weeks of September where they’re sorted out according to brands and other markings and redistributed among the farmers. Apparently this is a vanishing tradition.

A fish ladder had been built to the left of the falls that proved to be an easy access to the bottom of the waterfall. The surrounding fields were covered in a thick matted grass and made a great place to lie down for a while in the afternoon sun. It was remarkable how quiet everything was. There were practically no other tourists to be found! It felt like I had the entire country to myself. Passing a car on the road was a rare event. The only sounds I heard as I lie on the grass at Faxi were the sounds of the wind, and the birds. There were no sounds of people, cars or planes; there were no power lines or anything that gave the slightest indication that I was anywhere except the rural country side sometime in the early 1800's. It was a remarkable experience that I’ve never felt before. Not even the hint of a contrail in the sky.

Eventually, it was time to move on, and Gillfoss, or the golden falls was the next stop. This was a breathtaking falls that fell on two levels. It was a beautiful place and very well worth seeing. It also impressed me that these natural wonders weren’t roped off with guard rails to prevent the visitors from falling over the edge. I think this is how it should be. Don’t try to protect everyone from their own stupidity. If you’re dumb enough to get too close to the edge and you go over, think of it as evolution in progress and you’re genes have just been removed from the pool.

Geyser was the next stop along the way. Here there were several hot springs and geysers. The main attraction was a geyser that would spray water over 50 feet in the air every five minutes or so. After the geyser erupted, you could smell the sulfur in the air! Occasionally, one of the visitors would stand a little close and come away drenched!

Þingleiver which is more of a place than a town, is a location on the mid-Atlantic rift that’s been used for governmental meetings for centuries. On one side is the European Contentental Shelf and on the other is the North American Shelf. Geologically, this is an interesting place which, had I paid a little more attention, I would have stopped to visit.

I deviated from the tour and headed north and west to get to the coast in hopes of seeing more of the fishing villages. The scenery was consistently and beautifully stark and barren. As we neared Reykjavik we approached a tunnel that went under one of the harbors. It cost about $20 to enter the tunnel. I’m guessing it was about 4 or 5 miles long and it definitely started to tweak at my fear of enclosed spaces! Once I steered the little car into the entrance of the tunnel, the road took a steep downward turn, and continued with this constant downward slope until the half way mark, ears popping all the way and my thoughts reminding me that if it sprung a leak, this was a bad place to be! Finally, the grade turned upward with equal enthusiasm and I began to wonder if the little car would have enough power to climb back out again! Happily I can say it did! I’m glad I drove through the tunnel, but I might hesitate about doing it again!

Back to Reykjavik and then off to find dinner at a small restaurant in the old section of town that specialized in fish. It wasn’t bad, but I have to admit, for the price ($50/person) I’ve had better. The whale meat was interesting, and I have to say, it’s unlikely that I’d have gotten it anywhere else.

The Trip: Day Two

Day two was an excursion along the south eastern coast of Iceland to the small town of Vik. Instead of seeing the expected fishing villages, the predominant occupation was farming. The day was overcast and raining during the morning hours making it a little uncomfortable to be out and about. As luck would have it, as the day progressed, the weather improved.

Skögar was an interesting little town that held a very interesting little museum that contained artifacts from earlier Icelandic life. There were also reconstructed buildings on the grounds that you could walk through to get a better feeling for what it was like to live in 19^th century Iceland. The houses were very compact and consisted of essentially three rooms. The farm animals were kept in the house, beside the kitchen and directly below the upstairs bedroom. The stairs bore a greater similarity to a ladder than a typical staircase; space was definitely a premium and not to be wasted on stairs! A staff member was saying that over the past 6 years, this tiny little museum was visited by 200,000 people from all over the world!

In addition to the museum, Skögar is also home to Skögarfoss, an impressive 60 meter waterfall. There’s a footpath to the right of the falls that leads one to the top of the falls where you can look down over the falls. For all the effort to get there, the view wasn’t quite worth the work. On the other hand, about 10 minutes before reaching Skögar, there was a waterfall cascading off a tall cliff with seabirds circling around and chattering to each other. Here there was a path that lead around the back side of the waterfall where the mist, heavy in the air, clung to everything. This was definitely raincoat territory!

Vik was the end of this particular tour and had the most remarkable black sand beaches that stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions with the waves crashing in, making a continuous roar that blended with the cries of the sea birds looking for mates and nesting in the cliffs above the beach.

The evening was spent exploring the “old port” section of Reykjavik and checking out different restaurants. Kaffi Reykjavik was the winner. There were very few people out on this Thursday night and the restaurant was practically empty which seemed a little suspicious, however, the food was very good, even though the presentation was a little over the top. Much better than Three Jackets the night before. The lamb was particularly good.

The morning of the third day was spent roaming the streets of the shopping district which was approximately a 30 minute walk from the hotel. Here, there were a variety of wool shops, artist galleries and gift shops. At the top of the hill in Reykjavik stands the statue of Lief Erikson in front of a large church. There’s also a museum at the same location which I didn’t have time to visit. From here, the walk back to the hotel wandered through more residential areas, and finally past a variety of strip malls.

The trip was practically over, and the only thing left was to catch the shuttle back to the airport. The flight out started normally enough, but as we neared the coast of Greenland, the pilot turned the craft around and took us back to Keflavik because of a malfunctioning indicator on an engine control panel. We changed planes in Keflavik, and started out again approximately 6 hours after our first departure. This resulted in a variety of delays when we reached Logan airport in Boston. The passport check was staffed by a single inspector and the US staff was not at all polite. I’m continually reminded of how condecending, unfriendly, unhelpful, and rude Americans can be when I’m in situations like that. I suspect it’s because none of the folks who are in those positions of authority have ever been anywhere themselves to know how a kind word and a smile can make an uncomfortable wait easier to bear. We cleared customs at about 1:00am local time. That made for a long day!

Notes for the next trip:

It seems to me that one could have a really nice and reasonably cheap vacation by packing a tent and a sleeping bag, renting a car and spending a couple of weeks driving around the perimeter of the island. The remoteness of Iceland seems perfect for this type of travel. One could easily pull up to a black sand beach, pitch a tent and spend an evening listening to the surf pounding the cliffs, or listen to the wind blow across the fields of moss and grass at the base of a glacier. This is something that I’d like to do at some future point. Perhaps on the way back home from somewhere in Scandinavia.