Land of the Sagas: Iceland - Part I

July 9-13, 2010
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If you are expecting to see Ice in Iceland, then you are in for a surprise. We found Iceland to be more green, we could see ice only on the mountain peaks. The general opinion is that Iceland should have been called Greenland and vice-versa. I read in the in-flight magazine that the minimum temperature in Iceland goes down to around 2 degree Celcius during winter and in summer, the temperature reaches a maximum of 16 degree Celcius. It was also mentioned that Iceland does not see any snowfall many a times. Its the surrounding sea that causes such a weather in spite of the fact that the country is close to the Arctic circle.

A trip to Iceland has been on my radar for a long time. The fascination was for two reasons - first, the country is located closer to the Arctic circle (I have only read about it in geography books and never imagined to be there) and secondly, to know the reason why that we do not get to hear or read much about this country in the news. It looks like Iceland is a very peaceful place, but the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in April disturbed the peace for sometime and made the world realise the country's "importance". Sometimes last year, I had once jokingly written to a friend of mine that I would run away to Iceland to be in peace - far away where nobody can probably reach me. Iceland is written in svenska as "Island" (it is of course an island in the north atlantic and pronounced as "Eesland"). Plans were put in place once the volcanic ash disappeared and there were 3 of us - the Vikings, ready for the trip. Our budget entitled us to a stay for 3 nights and renting a vehicle.

Day 1: Reykjavik Airport to Arnarstapi

The fact that Iceland economy is not doing very well became apparent when we tried to get some Island kroners at Arlanda airport, but the exchange centers did not have them. We learnt that the Island currency fluctuates a lot and we were suggested to get currency at Reykjavik airport. Inside the aircraft, Iceland Air had small snippets about Iceland on their seats and they were interesting to read. It took us around 3 hrs to reach Reykjavik airport and as always in all airports, we had to walk quite a bit to reach the arrival lounge. I have a strong belief that people who fly frequently need not exercise to stay fit, the long walks inside the airport is sufficient enough. Our interesting saga (story) started when we reached the car rental office to collect our already reserved AWD Subaru legacy. The legacy was not there and in exchange, they offered us a 2-wheel drive Ford escort which was in a pathetic condition. After a bit of discussions, we were offered a 15 yr old Suzuki Vitara (it was 4 wheel drive one) with the condition that the vehicle was not "cleaned" (we were not sure whether to mean it as "not serviced"). With no other options available, we agreed for the Vitara and hit the highway towards Reykjavik Centrum. Our destination was Amarstapi on the west coast. Iceland is the land of glaciers and you never know, below each glacier you can find a volcano. The nearest glacier around Amarstapi was the Snaefellsjokull (http://www.nat.is/travelguideeng/glacier_snaefellsjokull.htm) and mind it, this has been an active volcano before.

There is one Highway, the N1, which connects all the important "cities" in Iceland and it is not difficult to locate the exit to N1 from anywhere (I suppose). In no time, we were on N1. Contrary to the general thought, there were quite a number of cars on the highway. Realized that there were probably more tourists around during the summer time. We were hungry and the natural tendency for all of us is to look out for MacD or Burger King for a quick bite. But, there was none of these in sight.The first fast food option we saw was called Aktu Taktu (quite a funny name which means "drive" and "take"). I liked the color combination and the style of writing Aktu Taktu. Once inside, our choice was limited to the same options as we know in any burger combination. Surprisingly, to my delight, there was a vegetarian option ocksa (svenska for also). We learnt later that MacD and the likes of KFC have pulled out of Iceland around a year back.

We were driving out of the city limits now and the changing landscapes were becoming apparent. On either sides of the highway, it was vast open land, the sea or towering mountains. Ahead, we could see the never ending mountain ranges and the road to follow. We also had the opportunity to experience the unpredictable weather (just like the Iceland currency I think), it was raining sometimes and suddenly you will see the sun shining out of the clouds. This is just the ideal condition for rainbows and I don’t remember exactly how many rainbows we ended up seeing on our way. On the drive, we crossed the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, considered as one of the longest under-sea tunnels in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_in_Iceland).We did not quite realize the entry into the tunnel, it was just like entering a hole. Our worries with the vehicle started inside the tunnel. We began to realize that the engine of the car was slowly giving up as we tried to accelerate. We survived on our hopes and managed to cross the tunnel. A quick check on the car’s engine revealed interesting information – the car battery was actually a motorbike battery and some components of the car were tied with ropes. Incidentally, the car was running on 3 cylinders instead of the 4. We had no other choice, but to continue with this vehicle, else we would have got late reaching our destination. Yes, there was one advantage though. The condition of the vehicle controlled the adrenaline rush amongst us to accelerate the vehicle beyond a certain allowable limit. The sea gave us company for a long portion of the drive. Very soon we crossed Borgarnes, one of the bigger towns of Iceland and after crossing Borgarnes, we took a left onto route 54 towards Amarstapi. Except for vehicles on the road, there was generally nothing in sight, no houses, no habitation etc. Only once in a while, we could see horses or herds of sheep.Now I know the reason why we do not hear Iceland about news - horses and sheep do not talk or create trouble! Sometimes, you start to feel as to how people could survive here even if they wanted to. It would be like going back to the stone age - wearing leaves and creating fire by hitting two stones against each other. But on the contrary, every place has its own fascinating charm, including Iceland and it’s probably the way how we look at it.

We entered the beautiful Amarstapi (also written as Arnarstapi) late in the evening. The area looked very small and you can count the number of houses around. We were not sure where our hotel, Guesthouse Snjofell was, as we could not see any signboard at all. We kept going ahead and soon reached the dead end of a cliff falling into the sea. The marvelous views around pulled us out of our car in a flash – the steep cliffs, the ocean and the Snaeffelsjokull glacier at a distance – it was difficult to believe. There was a small harbor too and small boats were tied to a pier. We soon realized that we have left our hotel behind and so decided to check-in first before we start to explore the surroundings. The hotel was a very small place to stay and cramped, but good enough to stay for the night. Just to mention, there are not too many places to stay either.

The best way is probably to rent a caravan and stay at the camping ground nearby. The hotel had a small but beautiful restaurant, Arnarbaer where we had our first taste of beer (Thule) supposedly prepared from pure Icelandic water. It was a beautiful windy evening and after the beer, we decided to go for a short walk near the edge of the cliffs we saw a short while before. Just in front of our hotel on the other side of the road, the Amarstapi monument was there. The monument was assembled together using rocks. We walked across the monument and the vast open land towards the edge of the cliff. It was just marvelous. The cliffs looked like straight columns going down into the sea and I read that the rocks are basalt rocks. The coastline was quite long and it looked very beautiful.

There was a big hill right behind our hotel and it hid the Snaeffelsjokull glacier from the spot we were standing. We walked along the coastline on the cliff for some time exploring the different structures which were carved out into the sea. It was getting dark and cold too, so we decided to return back to our hotel and then come back the next day to explore the surroundings in a much better way. We were tired and we needed sleep. We were happy to sleep as the choice to start our trip on the west coast of Iceland was the right decision to make. West Iceland is just fantastic.