thats right, i'm in finland.
sitting in my cozy little flat north of downtown with a view that looks over Linnanmäki, a big amusement park on a hill. not too much to report yet. helsinki is hella beautiful. dense and thick with people. tall buildings almost all made out of stone. and trees! iceland doesn't have trees! there are so so many of them here, and they're in glorious full bloom. i never thought i would miss trees, but now that i'm around them i think they're the thing i missed the most in iceland.
i've got a bit of culture shock happening. but i'm pretty sure that will pass. i have to get my act together and get a life and a rhythm out here. not really sure what that life will look like, but probably biking, language courses and hopefully some work if i can find it.
luckily i have some friends out here, and the great kirsi kivistö found me the flat i'm in now, picked me up from the airport, lent me a bike, and pretty much set me up out here. thanks kirsi!
30.5.10
28.5.10
6 day trip around iceland!
beginning may 21st through to may 27th me and 4 others did a road trip around Iceland in a rented car, and hit all the best spots. our line-up was Lars (Sweden), Ankie (Netherlands), Heta (Finland) and Liz (Canadian).
first stop was the farm that my friend Ashton is working at in Hvolsvöllur. we got to hang out with about 6 dogs, some chickens, baby cows and some horses. we couldn't find the kittens no matter how hard we tried. you win some you lose some.
next stop was Skaftafell national park. this is a lovely park tucked into the side of the mighty Vatnajökull: by far the largest glacier in iceland. the park was incredibly green, and we did a short hike at the end of the day before camping at the campground in the park.
we hit the road the next morning and stopped in the little harbour town Höfn, which is tucked into the southeast. we had lunch at a fish and chips place and hit the road north through the East Fjords. this is probably my favorite place in iceland to drive in and to look at. the roads twist and turn, go up and down: most of the time while on the edge of the world perched on one of the fingers of the East Fjords. strangely enough, i can't remember where we slept that night. maybe Vopnafjörðer? somewhere in the North East.
the next day we hit a pass in the North East that was full of treacherous hair pin turns. constantly at a grade of like 12% for what seemed like 10km. part way up, we rose above the clouds, and everyone in the car got giddy from the view. mountains rising out of the clouds with the treacherous road winding down below. awesome. the rest of the North East was pretty uneventful. i think we got to Mývatn and did some hikes there. we camped in Mývatn.
we lost Ankie the next morning, as she had to catch a bus back to Akureyri. we did some more adventuring around Mývatn and then hit the road in the direction of the West Fjords. we got to the 'entrance' of them on the ring road, and camped there for the night.
next morning we lost Liz, because her flight back to Canada was leaving the next morning from Reykjavik. we carried on into Hólmavík, through Drangsnes and into some tiny small town not far from here to a natural hotpot which is basically just a hole in the ground. after the pool i talked to the local hotel owner to see if he knew any good hikes. he referred us to a local archeologist Magnus who knows the local area like the back of his hand. randomly, i had met Magnus at an earlier class where he was the guest lecturer, lecturing on the very subject of archeology in the West Fjords. so we went and visited Magnus in his old wooden house (which is rare in Iceland), and he showed us the lay of the land, and recommended some good hikes, which we did. we camped in Drangsnes that night after sitting in the free hotpots which sit right on the edge of the ocean.
hit the road early and headed south and then west onto the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with the intention of seeing and hiking the legendary Snæfellsjökull volcano, which is greatly known as the setting for the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. after getting some advice from the local information center, we drove to the base of the glacier/volcano and started hiking. the snow/ice is almost pure white. we got near the top within about 1.5 hours, and then slid/ran down back to the car. the view from the top is absolutely breath-taking. i'm surprised i haven't heard more people talk positively about Snæfellsjökull. its easily one of my favorite places on the island. we did a short walk after this to some lighthouses and some bird cliffs.
we were tired at this point, and booked it back to reykjavik to sleep in our beds. awesome awesome awesome. when i get all the photos from everyone i'll post them.
i packed up all my stuff, and got on my plane for finland on the morning of friday, may 28th. i'm in helsinki now. i'll write about it soon. ;)
first stop was the farm that my friend Ashton is working at in Hvolsvöllur. we got to hang out with about 6 dogs, some chickens, baby cows and some horses. we couldn't find the kittens no matter how hard we tried. you win some you lose some.
next stop was Skaftafell national park. this is a lovely park tucked into the side of the mighty Vatnajökull: by far the largest glacier in iceland. the park was incredibly green, and we did a short hike at the end of the day before camping at the campground in the park.
we hit the road the next morning and stopped in the little harbour town Höfn, which is tucked into the southeast. we had lunch at a fish and chips place and hit the road north through the East Fjords. this is probably my favorite place in iceland to drive in and to look at. the roads twist and turn, go up and down: most of the time while on the edge of the world perched on one of the fingers of the East Fjords. strangely enough, i can't remember where we slept that night. maybe Vopnafjörðer? somewhere in the North East.
the next day we hit a pass in the North East that was full of treacherous hair pin turns. constantly at a grade of like 12% for what seemed like 10km. part way up, we rose above the clouds, and everyone in the car got giddy from the view. mountains rising out of the clouds with the treacherous road winding down below. awesome. the rest of the North East was pretty uneventful. i think we got to Mývatn and did some hikes there. we camped in Mývatn.
we lost Ankie the next morning, as she had to catch a bus back to Akureyri. we did some more adventuring around Mývatn and then hit the road in the direction of the West Fjords. we got to the 'entrance' of them on the ring road, and camped there for the night.
next morning we lost Liz, because her flight back to Canada was leaving the next morning from Reykjavik. we carried on into Hólmavík, through Drangsnes and into some tiny small town not far from here to a natural hotpot which is basically just a hole in the ground. after the pool i talked to the local hotel owner to see if he knew any good hikes. he referred us to a local archeologist Magnus who knows the local area like the back of his hand. randomly, i had met Magnus at an earlier class where he was the guest lecturer, lecturing on the very subject of archeology in the West Fjords. so we went and visited Magnus in his old wooden house (which is rare in Iceland), and he showed us the lay of the land, and recommended some good hikes, which we did. we camped in Drangsnes that night after sitting in the free hotpots which sit right on the edge of the ocean.
hit the road early and headed south and then west onto the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with the intention of seeing and hiking the legendary Snæfellsjökull volcano, which is greatly known as the setting for the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. after getting some advice from the local information center, we drove to the base of the glacier/volcano and started hiking. the snow/ice is almost pure white. we got near the top within about 1.5 hours, and then slid/ran down back to the car. the view from the top is absolutely breath-taking. i'm surprised i haven't heard more people talk positively about Snæfellsjökull. its easily one of my favorite places on the island. we did a short walk after this to some lighthouses and some bird cliffs.
we were tired at this point, and booked it back to reykjavik to sleep in our beds. awesome awesome awesome. when i get all the photos from everyone i'll post them.
i packed up all my stuff, and got on my plane for finland on the morning of friday, may 28th. i'm in helsinki now. i'll write about it soon. ;)
16.5.10
hot river & Eyjafjallajökull
yesterday (saturday) we left on a road trip to the south to see a few things that i've been meaning to see. we stopped outside of the town Hveragerði and proceeded to hike to the hot river. its about a 30m hike through valleys on the sides of little mountains. at the destination, there is a river which is hot! like 50 degrees or something! it is such a strange experience to find a small river of water that is too hot to even sit in. luckily it intersects with one of those more common cold rivers, and mixes to a temperature that will not burn you. basically 46 degrees all the way down to whatever the temperature is that day, the further down the river you go. the sun was shining, and someone had built a little damn out of rocks, making a little natural hot pot in the warm water. surreal, and amazing. i`m pretty sure its just about the best place on earth.
next stop was the dreaded Eyjafjallajökull: the volcano that is currently spewing ash all over Europe, and other places sometimes too. we drove to near its base, and just sat in the car gawking at the ash cloud, which morphs and shifts in a hypnotic way. kind of like staring at a bonfire, or watching eddies in a river. we sat there for a bit, and were thinking about driving into the ash cloud to experience the apocalyptic like darkness of the ash-cloud, but it was already getting to be 23h (and there was still light in the sky!), and i was tired. so we turned around and went home.
pictures here!
next stop was the dreaded Eyjafjallajökull: the volcano that is currently spewing ash all over Europe, and other places sometimes too. we drove to near its base, and just sat in the car gawking at the ash cloud, which morphs and shifts in a hypnotic way. kind of like staring at a bonfire, or watching eddies in a river. we sat there for a bit, and were thinking about driving into the ash cloud to experience the apocalyptic like darkness of the ash-cloud, but it was already getting to be 23h (and there was still light in the sky!), and i was tired. so we turned around and went home.
pictures here!
Akureyri, Dalvík & Mývatn
Ashton and i left on friday morning and took public transit north outside of the city limits of Reykjavik. it was grey and raining, and we started hitch-hiking from there. in about 20 minutes a black mercedes stopped (!) and gave us a ride. a middle-aged icelandic woman and two small, but quiet, dogs going all the way to Akureyri. we talked most of the 5 hour drive with little dogs in our laps, and got mostly crap weather all the way there.
once we arrived in Akureyri the woman (whos name i can't remember) invited us to meet her daughter who lives pretty much in downtown. we met Rakel, and they invited us in for coffee. Ashton and i quickly discovered that the daughter Rakel may even be nicer than her mom, and they soon invited us to stay the night at Rakel's place, as they have a spare room. Ashton and i were flabbergasted by our luck at finding the Nicest People in Iceland, and after a bit of stammering, accepted their offer to stay the night. we all did some barbaquing later on their cadillac of a BBQ and hung out with the dogs in the back yard. i have never had better luck hitch-hiking. i think Ashton's beginner's luck is to blame (1st time hitch-hiking).
so, next day ashton and i left and caught a bus north to Dalvík, about a 30m north into the rural. we got dropped off at the N1 (gas station) where Hjörtur was waiting to pick us up (drummer from the old band). so after meeting and greeting we hung out at his little blue house with kids and girlfriend and pets. awesome. we spent two days there just puttering about, and we got some sweet music playing done. felt so good.
next we caught a bus back to Akureyri and rented a car to go to Mývatn. Mývatn is a lake that is situated where the tectonic plates meet (i think?) and there is much volcanic activity there. there are also tons of wetlands and thus tons of birds there too. there are many strange and interesting things to see there, like island calderas, warm pools tucked in rocky caves, and lava fields. the tourist brochure said it was "the iceland you always imagined". Ashton agreed. we spent the night here and toured around to all the little places.
the next morning we got up super early, and went to swim in the cooler of the under ground grottos. there was frost on the roof of the next house to where we stayed, and the water was not very warm. but it was amazing.
then we booked it back to Akureyri to return the car, and then we hit the road back to Reykjavik. we had pretty good luck, and got back in good time, dropped off right at our front door. sweet hitch-hiking victory.
pictures here!
once we arrived in Akureyri the woman (whos name i can't remember) invited us to meet her daughter who lives pretty much in downtown. we met Rakel, and they invited us in for coffee. Ashton and i quickly discovered that the daughter Rakel may even be nicer than her mom, and they soon invited us to stay the night at Rakel's place, as they have a spare room. Ashton and i were flabbergasted by our luck at finding the Nicest People in Iceland, and after a bit of stammering, accepted their offer to stay the night. we all did some barbaquing later on their cadillac of a BBQ and hung out with the dogs in the back yard. i have never had better luck hitch-hiking. i think Ashton's beginner's luck is to blame (1st time hitch-hiking).
so, next day ashton and i left and caught a bus north to Dalvík, about a 30m north into the rural. we got dropped off at the N1 (gas station) where Hjörtur was waiting to pick us up (drummer from the old band). so after meeting and greeting we hung out at his little blue house with kids and girlfriend and pets. awesome. we spent two days there just puttering about, and we got some sweet music playing done. felt so good.
next we caught a bus back to Akureyri and rented a car to go to Mývatn. Mývatn is a lake that is situated where the tectonic plates meet (i think?) and there is much volcanic activity there. there are also tons of wetlands and thus tons of birds there too. there are many strange and interesting things to see there, like island calderas, warm pools tucked in rocky caves, and lava fields. the tourist brochure said it was "the iceland you always imagined". Ashton agreed. we spent the night here and toured around to all the little places.
the next morning we got up super early, and went to swim in the cooler of the under ground grottos. there was frost on the roof of the next house to where we stayed, and the water was not very warm. but it was amazing.
then we booked it back to Akureyri to return the car, and then we hit the road back to Reykjavik. we had pretty good luck, and got back in good time, dropped off right at our front door. sweet hitch-hiking victory.
pictures here!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
