Daniel: Iceland was destined to be a cornerstone in our travels. Gavin's tales, Sigur Ros and The Secret Life of Walter Middy all portray a depth of beauty that goes unparalleled. In reflection, it seems quite reasonable that CS Lewis and Tolkien drew on tales of the Uninhabitable Land to the North for inspiration for Narnia and Middle Earth. Iceland is expensive, and it was my intention to arrive there with enough money to have a good time. It was a dream to drive around the West Fjords, to hike Landmannalugar and to visit Solheimar Ecovillage. To swim in glaciers, hot springs, view geysers and play with horses. Somehow, Iceland found us in complete flow. Dreams came true.
Lauren: pulling up the shade on my window after my mini movie marathon on route from Helsinki, all I could see was a sea of white clouds. These clouds were coy, playful and lovely but flirtatiously concealing our destination. After a few moments the rouse was up and as the clouds parted I caught my breath escaping. It was love at first sight, from a thousand feet high.
Dstrel: The air was crisp, the wind was biting, the sky was dreary and the atmosphere was excitedly prime. Upon arrival at the BCM bus station, we were presented with The Keys To The City. A man had purchased 2 Rejkavik cards for the weekend and was flying out. This pass gave us access to all the museums and pools, which sounds underwhelming, but we have neglected to mention the fact that the pools are naturally heated and it was only 8 degrees out. An auspicious start.
We were foiled yet again by European efficiency. We told our host that we were arriving at 3. Europeans speak in 24 hour time, so he was out hiking in the rain when we arrived. So we walked briskly past the national staple food (hotdogs) and hit the pools.
El Strel: Recovering from an R-rated introduction to the women of Iceland in the pool's change-rooms (no doors, no cubicles, no curtains - just a lot of nudity from infants to the elderly), we headed back to the bus station for our rendezvous with our host. We found Hugi through the couch surfing website and while he does offer a free bed while you're with him (not just a couch!) he also charges 200 euro per person for a super charged two day tour with him as your driver and guide. We did a little bit of research and it not only seemed, based on the reviews, that this would be the most fun way to see the sites, but we wouldn't have to sell one of our kidneys to afford the trip.
Dinny - it wasn't R-rated, it was normal. Ok so if you want to imagine a man driving off-road while playing harmonica terribly while drinking tang while iceing both his eyeballs with the only thing he drinks besides tang - energy drinks, that's Hugi. We spent a day alone in the care of this mental patient and lived to tell the tale. We spent the morning (11 - 3pm) running amok on the lava fields, exploring ship-wrecks and abandoned houses that were now a long way from the sea. We learnt how Iceland was sucked into the beast through fishing. They were once a self-sustaining farming community and now they labour and toil to export fish and import televisions and hot dogs. In the evening, with the sun high in the sky, we stopped in at the Blue Lagoon.
At the Blue Lagoon, you can pay a lot of money for a face mask. Alternatively, you can pull up at the Geothermal Plant, drop an egg in the sand and collect a big ol' big of silica for yourself.
Lorenzo: The following day, Hugi took Daniel and I along with two other couch surfers Claudia and Daniel, jumped into a hired van and covered a month's worth of tourist spots in 14 hours.
Digby: The power of those waterfalls, the shrinkage from swimming in glacial waters and the eerie nature of a black beach even now feels unfathomable. Hugi was a genius, the giver of gargantuon gifts.
Thousands of words worth of pictures below.
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| Daniel swimming in the waterfall |
