Iceland IX: gas, cracks and whales

Actual whales.

Ase we headed north from Studlagil Canyon, we also headed deeper into ice and snow territory.

Our guide told us about Askja, a region in the interior with hardly any vegetation and the last place to be settled on the island back in the 1700s.

He told tales of outlaws who fled into the interior to escape punishment for their crimes. Nearly none of them survived.

One of these outlaws, Grettir Ásmundarson, has a saga told about him. Apparently the Icelandic sagas are quite something to hear.

Another famous outlaw is Fjalla-Eyvindur, who escaped and lived, successfully for many years in the wilderness with his wife, and later his three daughters. According to legend, he could run up mountains on all fours to escape capture.

But also according to legend, he chose to kill the children to prevent capture.

Speaking of which, our driver also told us of the Icelandic song “Bium Bium Bambalo”. Sung now as a lullaby, the story follows a young single mother who wanted to go to a dance, so left her baby in the snow. The song follows the shame of the citizens, who saw her alone and did not offer any help.

In Iceland, it’s hard not to think about the power the landscape has to shape a people,

We crossed the Arctic ridge again, but this time at a rather wide boundary, and our guide continued to tell us stories. His ability to mix local knowledge and legends with personal insight and stories was truly impressive.

He mentioned for example, that he has been a member of Fjallabræður- and Icelandic men’s choir that has gained some fame in the country. We listened to some of the music later in the day.

There was a quick stop to look at some mountains (and get a coffee/toilet break), and then we headed onwards.

Námaskarð Pass is another geothermal area, and a particularly smelly one.

It’s hard to know what more you could possibly ask for in a trip to Iceland. It had bubbling mud pits, smoking pyres of stone, snow-covered mountains as backdrop, and oily splotches of yellow against ashy ground.

^Ice with hot water running through.

If not for the sulfur stench, I think I could have spent days there, looking at all all the beautiful colours and textures and movements.

But we had places to be.

Jumping back on the bus- and being sure to wipe our shoes down so they wouldn’t eventually dissolve from the acidic mud, we headed to Dimmuborgir.

First up, Grjótagjá, a popular bathing place in the 1970s, which stopped being quite so cool (pun intened), when some volcanic eruptions during the 70s and 80s brought magma streams to the surface, bringing the water temperature to above 60 deg C.

Dimmuborgir as a place is a field of oddly shaped lava pillars, formed by erruptions over 2000 years ago. It is reminiscent of various mythical creatures, and is linked to the Icelandic Yule Lads, while also containing the Hall of the Mountain King!

Because we had a bit of time to explore in the nearby area, Sameer decided to run away.

Although, it turns out he was very good and came back again!

Something something about a butterfly.

Meanwhile, I took photos of the semi-frozen lake:

Before our day was over, we had one more waterfall to check out.

Goðafoss aka, the waterfall of the gods.

12 metres high, 30 metres across.

In true Icelandic fashion, the waterfall was formed by a glacial flood (back in 934). Which in turn was cause by a volcanic erruption.

Oh Iceland!

So friggin’ beautiful, so friggin’ hostile.

FOSSFOTO montage!

I really loved how the spray was causing the nearby plants to get lightly frosted with ice:

Our final resting place for the evening was Akureyi- the Capital of the North.

A fairly large town by Icelandic standards, but still fairly small. We spent some time looking around, and bought some wool, before heading for dinner.

Which….. we first went into what looked like a normal restaurant but seemed to be more of an American Diner once we were seated. I felt a bit stuck, but Sameer politely backed us out and we went to the fancier but much more interesting Eyja.

The food and drinks were both delicious, but It’s necessary to shout out the fact that there was a starter that was basically cheese and butter and pinenuts. Sameer said ‘should we order bread’ and I said ‘don’t be silly, they can’t serve cheese and oil without bread’.

I was wrong.

It was delicious, but probably designed for someone who is about to spend the day climbing every mountain or fording at least some of the streams.

Our final day was Whale watching out of Hauganes.

While I adored my little starsuit, and was happy to see some whales, I did NOT like the boating part.

The problem with whales- and these are Humpbacks- is that they like to do some fancy breaching and breathing.. but then they dive.

So if you are paparazzi-ing them, once they go down, you have to just sit and wait for 2-3 minutes until they surface again, and then jet off with your boat in their general direction.

Sit and wait.

And Rock.

back and forth and up and down and round and round.

It was also freezing, handnumbingly cold, despite the suits, although I do think that the cold played a major role in me not actually vomiting.

I found a position near the front of the boat where I could basically wedge myself in, close my eyes, and pray for land.

The whale watching lasted about an hour or two. I was done after I had watched one whale.

Once we were safely back on land, our amazing guide took Sameer and I back to the Big City, while the rest of the tour (who had booked in for two extra days), stayed in one of the northern towns.