Reykjavik and around

When i left you i was making my way to Reykjavik with the assistance of Claudia and her car...Well much has happened since then...here goes....

Reykjavik Town
So what does a girl do on her own in a big city? yep same as Berlin... shop! This is a 1st in my life but i have managed to do my christmas shopping in one day. Why now you may ask, it takes 12 weeks to send things home so thats around October before i see anything, so i thought why not just get it done now. I can recomend taking an overseas holiday and combining it with your christmas shopping... (if u see to mmmany ´mmm´s in a word its because the mmm keeps sticking) So i shopped... had a ball trying to find anything at all that i could afford... so if your on my regular christmas shopping list, expect something very small, very Icelandic, know that it cost a fortune (NB: koffee here is $7 Australian) and i had fun in buying it.. if your not on my normal christmas shopping list, you´ll just have to wonder about the things i bought...

Now if you have plenty of money, Reykjavik is a great place to come and shop. Its so Bjork! if you get my drift. The place is full of art stores, great clothing shops, more art shops, lots of wool, koffee shops, North 66 shops and much more. There are some great churches... generally these are very grey with no or limited art. I guess trying to match the landscape but they missed the point somehow.

I also booked a tour or two which i´ll now tell you about in turn... photo´s later.

Landmannalaugar
Elephant stamp for anyone who can say this correctly when i get back. What a place... but from the start. I got picked up from Bjork Hotel (next door to Claudia´s place) at 8,30am. The bus then collected others from the other hotels and then stopped at the busport. By 9,30am we hit the road for the day long trip to Landmannalaugar... by 10am we were stopped in a Esso station waiting for the 3people we forgot to get from a hotel. But then we were off again.

Its a really good idea to book bus trips on wet rainny days. I´m getting very good at this now or its just wet and rainy in Iceland when i choose not to ride. The trip trundles along the route 1 to a place called Selfoss (yes there is a waterfall for those of you who remember the foss conection)... a bit south from here it takes the inland road 32 which is a 4x4 road. Mostly because you have to cross a river or two.

On the way we stop a very nice fall but i have no photo's as at this point in my travels my camera decided it no longer wanted to be wet and cold and spat the dummy. I hoped that if i put the battery in my pocket and tried to dry the camera it would be responsive... it works but is moody for the whole next week... So we rolled on to a place called Stong. Now around 1100ad a volcano in the area called Hekla decided to errupt and bury the farm in ash. In the 70´s the Icelanders uncovered it and have restored part of the home. The farmhouse is a stone and turf construction with a central fireplace, the animals are also housed nearby to added warmth. We leave here and roll over rock road, through black lava sand mountains.

Now rain can be a wonderful thing at times and today was one of those times. I´ll try to describe what i saw in as much detail as i can... picture if you can very black sand mountains, lofty, steep, vertical sides, rocky on top and in shapes that make you swear its a Troll up there. Dust them with red and yellow rust. Then from the top of the mountain have green moss and lichen growing down towards the base of the mountain but not making it. Overlay on the valleys and divits on the mountain side lichen and moss that is so vivid green it radiates, like veins, giving life to the mountain.

From within this valley we climb up to take in the view of a lake and the hills. The lake is called 'ugly pit' in icelandic, but it is far from this. Though the ice cold wind and rain makes it very hard to get a good photo shot and the camera is still a bit niggly about all this rain... Now its the final drive into the Landmannalauga camping spot. What a crowd! Think everyone is here. Our driver encourages us to join him on a walk over the coloured hills to the solphur fields in the rain saying its great. We all go and the walk through the lava field is very special. The rain is not as heavy now and once we reach the solphur field and the sun is trying to come out.. Even in this condition the colours of the mountains is just like a rainbow and just like you see in all the postcards and books on Iceland. There is no trickery in the photos here....

I and others wander back to the camping ground, all the time the sun is getting stronger. Landmannalaugar also has a natural hotpot. So i make a big decision to get into my bathers in near artic conditions, and half naked make the 25meter run along a boardwalk, in rain to the spot you can bath. Now bath is the word. The water is only knee deep and you have to sort of sit in the creek and huddle at the exit where the hot water is flowing. Whilst your doing this your burning your bum on the hot rocks, your back is being washed with ice cold water and all the time your covered in long green slim. Not the best hotpot i´ve been into in iceland or Oz for that matter.

Getting out takes super human effort as its still raining and windy. But i manage to make the run back to the change rooms for a real hot shower. I make my way after this to the old USA school bus parked here for the summer and selling hot coffee and food. As i do this the rain and wind stop and the sun comes out... What a view, what colours, what a great time to be here.

The bus rolls back to Reykjavik, via a view of the volcano, Hekla, but cloud has covered its summit. Its a great day and so glad i got to see Landmannalaugar in sunlight.

Blue Lagoon
Now this is a must do on any itinary to Iceland. Its part of your entry to the country that you go. And its made very easy to do by being conviently located very near the International airport. Or you can take the daily buses from Town the 50kms to the lagoon. Now this is a wonderful resort. Yep its a resort and when i was there it was a bit like being in down town New York as a cruise ship was in town from the states. But despite the accents and loudness, the lagoon is very large and you can find your own spot of hot water to relax in, with your very own pot of white silica mud to smear on your face and let harden... They say its very good for the skin... you don´t feel so much like a dork when everyone is doing the same.

I enjoyed myself here just trying to float and rest in the hot water. Just lovery. When i returned to town, Claudia and i when shopping at the hiking and camping shop in town... What a place. What great stuff they have for the very very cold... I bought some waterproof mittens for riding and some walking pants... Yep after walking around town in wool leg-on´s and shorts for 3 days i thought i needed to look a little bit nazzy! Black helps with this of course.