Still raining. After breakfast, I headed East up the Piorsa River and back down the other side. It was weird to see Steam coming up out of the ground all over. Seems very much like a science fiction movie on an alien planet. I also had not seen any cops so far. I did learn that the police don’t carry guns. I should correct that, they do have guns locked in a safe in the trunk but they have to call into the station to get an access code to be able to open it. From my host family I also learned that you have to get approval from a committee if you are going to name your child something other than a traditional Icelandic name. Sounds like a good thing as I was never in favor of kids named Apple, South or Blue. A lot of people hit Iceland as a stopover to and from Europe and a big attraction is the Northern Lights. There are apps for your phone that will alert you if they are out at 4 am. It was cloudy every night I was there so I never got to see them which is a bit uncharacteristic for an entire 13 day stretch. I also did not get up in the middle of the night each time to check, so I might have missed it.
Below are some corrals for sheep herding and sorting. In the warmer months, farms will combine their sheep with neighbors and let them roam the shared pasture. In the Fall, when it is time to bring them all indoors for the winter, they have a celebration and direct them all into the middle of these structures and then sort them into each family’s pen based on ear tags.
The waterfalls and points of interest are not well marked. No huge billboards. I am in favor of it but it will not work when the tourist boom hits. They have 300k people and over a million tourists each year. The busses of Asians are coming and the sites are just dirt parking lots only able to hold 20 or 30 cars. Things must change soon and I am glad I got here before they do. There are also no guardrails so I foresee a few deaths in the near future.
Here is a shot of my car next to the typical Icelandic beast
Speaking of Asians; I pulled into a gas station and a lady was at pump next to me. She came up to me and started yelling, “Excuse me pump 3"!! I did not know what was going on. I said, “are you telling me something or asking a question?” Eventually we determined that she needed help pumping the gas.
Then my credit card was charged 218 dollars. I went back inside and it was a mess of foreigners. I asked why the charge and he just handed me paper and said this will explain. I said why don’t you explain? He said it should be refunded in 30 days. If not call this number. Awesome.
The trip up river was ok. Stopped a couple waterfalls. Was not supposed to be on road with 2wd. A tour group behind me would not pass me as the driver laid on horn and was inches from bumper. Wonder what passengers thought. I played with him for 10 minutes.
Back to a couple waterfalls and hikes.
Stopped at the biggest waterfall in the area – Skogafoss. It is actually the beginning of a 20+ mile hike to Porkmark but with the rain I was happy just doing a few miles and turning back
I got to see a glacier but the pouring rain kinda ruined the experience. I would see some beauties tomorrow
Just outside of Vik (my stop for the night) I found this black sand beach
Once checking into my guesthouse I found one of the only restaurants in town and settled down for my $50 meal. Yes, the prices here are crazy. They say it is because of the cost of transportation but even local fish is through the roof. I found myself ordering pizza a lot because it was only $28
Until Tomorrow
Darren
« Iceland...More Like Rainland (Part 1 of 5) | Main | Iceland...More Like Rainland (Part 3 of 5) »
Comments