April 16th: Goodbye Iceland, Hello Amsterdam

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Amsterdam and Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)


After having heaved a sad goodbye to Iceland, we took an early morning flight back to Amsterdam. Anchal and Tannu were flying back to Singapore later in the evening, while we were staying on for the night before taking another early flight, this time down south to Malaga. It took us a long time to get used to the city -- the air felt a bit polluted, the streets seemed littered, traffic felt very noisy and those ubiquitous symbols of globalization -- Starbucks and McDonalds -- seemed alien. And so many people! Walking, cycling, hailing cabs, hopping on to boats, talking.. the crowds were jarring against our senses. And to think, we live and work in Hong Kong -- finding our way through hustling, busy masses of people is second nature to us, so much that an empty road almost feels eerie and unnatural. And here we were turning our noses up at one of the most iconic cities in Europe -- ohh, what snobs one week in Iceland had made of us! 

Pretty maids in a row

Bicycles galore  

Anchal and Tannu had only a couple of hours to spare, so we decide to do the usual touristy run and take a boat ride around the canals. The slow rocking motion of the boat was definitely not what the doctor advised for the sleep deprived, tired lot that we were. It was quite a struggle to keep our eyes open, and it was only after some much needed 'chai' at Dam Square that the energy finally picked up. Or maybe it was singing 'My Girl' along with that garrulous old man in front of our cafe that snapped us out of our languor.  By the time it was time to see Anchal and Tannu off, Gireesh and I were all charged up to explore some more of Amsterdam. And the city played its part well, gradually unveiling its charm as we let our feet lead us wherever they wanted -- colorful narrow town homes with hooks on their roofs (to help the folks on the top floors to move their furniture in, stairs apparently being wide enough for one person only), cycles parked willy nilly all over the place -- next to shops, tied to trees, lining the roads, adorning the sidewalks next to canals, even falling into the water! -- locals BBQing on boats all around the canals, impromptu music pulsating through as we walked by, colorful paintings being sold on sidewalks, happy happy faces waving at us.. I guess probably every major city in the world presents similar quirky, artsy and throbbing facets to its visitors, but sometimes familiarity does not breed contempt, it just evokes peaceful contentment -- we were just happy to be in Amsterdam on that day, at that point of time and would not have wanted to be anywhere else.

Apr 15th: Reykjavik

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)


We had a full day in Reykjavik today -- with no agenda and no list of things to see, the plan was to roam around and just dissolve ourselves back into civillisation. The weather was pretty much the same as it had been throughout the trip, but it was a lot easier to negotiate with umpteen cafes and shops to duck into when we needed to warm ourselves. :) The first thing that stood out for us today was that Reykjavik is not an early riser -- and not an early sleeper either, considering how the buzz outside our hotel on Laugavegur grew louder as the night grew deeper later on. Most places for breakfast were not even open when we strolled out at 10 am, so I guess brunch is the more acceptable time to grab a bit. I am not complaining though, because we stumbled on to a really cozy little cafe when we finally got down to eating. Cafe Babalu felt exactly like the kind of place Gireesh and I would have owned were we in the cafe business -- comfortable squishy couches and chairs thrown together, knick knacks, postcards and even currency (we did our bit with some HKD!) from around the world adorning walls and ledges, board games, wholesome food, friendly staff, a balcony looking out onto the streets outside,  a brick wall to scribble on (see if you can spot our little brick in the cafe if you head out there!) -- it was almost like you are sitting in someone's living room, a very Bohemian someone at that.

Wall at Cafe Babalu

After a very satisfying meal, we headed out to the old harbor to check on whale watching tours -- the waters off Reykjavik are a hot spot for catching these cetaceans in action. But weather gods had some other plans for us. It was too windy and choppy for the boats to sail, so we were constrained to the land for the rest of the day. But, each time you see a dark cloud, a silver lining is never too far behind. While meandering around the city center, Gireesh and I were peering at a map to figure out where to head to next, when a girl stopped by and asked us if we were lost. We said we were just looking for things to do and on an impulse, I just asked her whether there was anything she would recommend we must do, something that she as a local would love to do. She thought for a moment and then led us on to this little square where a big costume party was in progress -- Moominpapa seemed to be a favorite, as were some cartoon penguins and bears we couldn't recognize. There was even a group dressed up as tampons.. eek! Our guide told us this was the end of high school party -- this adrenaline and beer charged group would be turning up for their exams in a few weeks' time and would then head out on the road dealing with mundane worries like finding a job, getting an MBA, buying a house etc. This was their last day of freedom and they were celebrating it as hard as they could! "Don't worry", she said as she headed off, " they may seem rowdy but they are quite nice. They might even come and try to hug you once they see you" ... err, ok! And true to form, as soon as they spotted us, a bunch of moominpapas disentangled themselves from the group and bounded over to give Gireesh a nice, tight hug. Soon we were surrounded by a huge group -- it was a very chatty bunch, speaking about everything from football ('Why does a country like India with more than 1 billion people can't produce a decent football team? Its not that difficult to kick right?" ... hmmm, no answer to that one!)  to youtube to travelling -- almost all of them said they would be saving up over the summers to head out to Asia by the end of the year. One cute little 'tampon' put it the right way -- "Ohh I love Iceland. But I want to travel all over the world, specially Asia because its so different and far away. And then I can come back here and say, I loooooooooooooooove Iceland!"  It was impossible not to get infected by the joie de vivre of this happy bunch of teens.. they would make any cynic doubt himself!

Our dressed up friends!

After this happy little distraction, we took a circuitous route back to the Hallgrímskirkja -- Reykjavik's hip and modern church and it's biggest symbol. The church was quite pretty inside, with a rather new age organ, and there was a viewing deck upstairs looking out into the city -- red, blue, pink and yellow roofs combining together to make a colorful little jigsaw all the way to the sea. 

Reykjavik

Gireesh and I just walked around the city after that, stopping here and there for an interesting gallery or a photo-op. Reykjavik is a very pretty city to just amble around and its compact enough to not tire you out completely. Interestingly, whenever we stopped for a drink or a meal or got chatty with one of the Icelanders, a common conversation pattern was:


Q: 'Where are you guys from?'
A: 'India, but living in SE Asia'
Q: 'Ohh wow, that's a long long way to come.'
A: 'Yeah, but worth it!'
Q: 'But why Iceland?'
A: 'Why not?!!' 


And you can be sure we were rewarded with some warm smiles after that one. :) We could see people would turn around and notice us when we walked by. But unlike a few other countries we've been to, they would actually stop and speak to us, very curious about seeing us there at that time of the year! We were mini-celebrities on those streets of Reykjavik. :) 


All in all, a fine day in a fine city and a perfect end to our little tryst with Iceland. During dinner that night, our last meal in Iceland, Gireesh and I were wondering if we would actually be able to do justice to Andalusia (the next half of our two-weeker), so hungover we were going to be with Iceland! I don't want to reveal the answer to that one yet, but now, more than a month after coming back from Iceland, I still feel the wind in my hair sometimes, still see the waterfalls gushing down the ridges and still practice saying Eyjafjallajökull.. so the Iceland hangover is still on. What had started off as a hesitant little flirtation has turned into a full blown love affair.. and trust me, we are heading back to Iceland soon! :)

April 14th: Snæfellsnes – and an introduction to Reykjavik

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)

After an almost washout the previous day, weather was back to being predictably volatile again today, yay!! We got some good sunshine interspersed with its usual rainy, haily and snowy companions, and all was good. Visibility was much better, the terrain more mountainous and we had lots of green Golums around, this time resembling elves, trolls and dwarves. Snæfellsnes Peninsula is supposed to the land of fables and myths, the place where quite a few Icelandic fairy tales originate, and looking at the landscape, we could just about imagine a quaint elfish story being enacted around us. Icelanders still believe in these ‘little people’ – we got confirmation from our friends at Hotel Budir last night! – they dedicate prominent landforms as their homes or churches, and almost every farmhouse garden has motifs to welcome or ward them off. 

Elves and trolls

We drove around the peninsula, from Budir all the way to the western town of Stykkishólmur, with sea facing cliffs on our left and the cloud shrouded glacier on our right. We opted to take a bumpy ride on a dirt track behind charming little Stapafell – a small mountain overlooking Arnarstapi and anointed by numerous legends to be the home of the aforementioned ‘little people’. The drive was an adventure in itself – both Gireesh and I ended up with awfully muddy boots after a tromp on the quicksand like trail to Sönghellir (a little ‘singing cave’ known for its echoes) and since the road completely iced up a few km later, we had to negotiate an iffy U-turn on a one-car wide track inclined at around 60 degrees – so much for Iceland having 2WD friendly dirt tracks! But with frozen tarns and streams all around us, Hellnar and Arnarstapi lying unfurled below us like little lego-blocks and sun rays poking at the blue black waters mischievously on the horizon, we were rewarded aplenty for going off the beaten track here. All this beauty has been in the making for millions and millions of years, it’s just a humbling experience to be able to witness it. I just hope it stays this way always – or maybe just become more beautiful, if that’s possible. :)

Stapafell

We also made quick stops at a couple of white and black sand beaches (the water of course being too cold to even contemplate entering), saluted the Londrangar, two rocky protrusions into the sea believed to be the church of the elves, and paid our respects at the statue of Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir, one of the earliest documented adventuresses ever and mother to the first European child born in North America, centuries before a certain Mr Columbus stumbled upon his Indies. Trails and hikes of varying degrees of difficulty dot the entire peninsula and seemed to invite us to join them in their wanderings at every place we stopped, but unfortunately, we were just too short of time. But worry not, we will be back! :)

Londrangar

Adventuress extraordinary!

One major highlight of the drive was Mt Kirkjufell, a.k.a the Sugar top, appearing in the horizon just as the surroundings went white, and showing off completely different front and back profiles for us as we crossed by. 

Front view of the Sugar Top

Back view of the Sugar Top

Our last stop on the peninsula was at Stykkishólmur, one of those sweet little fishing towns where nothing much seems to happen. To us, it was just a prelude to Reykjavik, a gradual introduction to urbanity after so many days of solitude and remoteness. And on the way back to the big city, we came across a pretty little frozen lake, surrounded by snow capped peaks on all sides. An ideal location for chiffon sarees to unfurl and woven pullovers to be swung in the air! We just had to make do with our little snowman here. :)

Snowman!

We reached Reykjavik pretty late in the evening and it felt like such a contrast after days of lounging in the wilderness. It looked quite pretty against the dusky skies, with colorful slanted roofs, snow-kissed sidelanes, cute little cafes and bookstores and a modernistic church that made the entire town its own. It was lively, young, and energetic that night, and yet we had mixed feelings about being there. Being in Reykjavik meant that we were done with those wide vistas and countless waterfalls, farm houses and rainbows, sea arches and bird cliffs, and it was time now to move ahead. Well, but such is a traveler’s lot! You can either be a rolling stone or a mossy one, not both. 

No luck with northern lights again today, all tours from Reykjavik were cancelled because of the weather. So we had nothing much to do other than have a sumptuous meal and get lost in the city lights. It will be all about Reykjavik tomorrow, our last full day in Iceland. 

April 13th: Out of luck with the weather!

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)

It was bound to happen.. after getting used to experiencing all seasons in a day, we were stuck with just one the entire day today – rain! And not the drizzly types which would still keep everything light and fresh, but dull dark clouds sweeping down really low and bringing almost zero visibility, just like the day we had first landed. :(

Our first stop today was Þingvellir National Park which is a landmark of natural and historical importance – the first Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi) was established here on the ridge between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The rocky fault and the sweeping vistas around it provide the drama and grandeur necessary to imagine scores of tribesmen gathering around a central coterie, discussing disputes, forming alliances and formulating the law of the land. Very little remains of the actual assembly though, but we did spot a few budirs here and there, little plateaus which served as sites for tents for the gentry (and for mid-night revelry as well, I am sure!). The rocky formations on either side of the fault seemed to fit into each other like giant 3-D jigsaw blocks, giving more credence to the fact that the whole region had been created by Earth pulling against herself. We climbed up the fault to the big observation deck getting great views inspite of the rain and the clouds – from Europe to America in a few steps! – and visited the famous Oxarafoss, supposed to be one of the earliest examples of man-made water diversions. However, I think our favorite spot was a crystal blue natural wishing well which we just chanced upon while driving around the area; the water was sparking with coins that had been thrown down by generations of visiting tourists (us included), promising to return, a la Fontana di Trevi. The well sat in a little fault of its own and was very close to icy cold Silfra, one of the most famous diving spots in Iceland and where frogman Anchal actually took a nice long dip. I rated Þingvellir as my favorite of the Golden Circle – Strokkur got two votes and Gulfoss one, so I think honors were quite equally divided. :)

Wishing well at Þingvellir

A long drive awaited us as we headed out from Thingvellir – next stop was Budir in the Snaefellsness Peninsula, about 200km away. This drive was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip, with the topography gently changing from plains to hilly as the road meandered towards the eponymous volcanic ice cap made immortal in Jules Verne’s ‘A Journey To The Center of The Earth’. But the weather was in no mood to cooperate. :( It was still a pretty drive, very desolate, with the usual peppering of colorful farm houses (green, orange, red and cream roofs standing out against the sheets of rain falling down). And throughout, we got the feeling that should the cloud cover lift a little bit, we would be absolutely spell bound by the place. Alas it was not meant to be.

The clouds got darker and rains heavier as we rolled into Hotel Budir, our stop for the night. Budir is an old abandoned village, and apart from the hotel and a single church, no other buildings remain. The hotel and its surroundings reminded Gireesh and me of what Kirrin Cottage (from Enid Blyton’s Famous Five) would have looked like. Wind swept, all by itself next to a rough sea and overlooking a snow capped glacier (which we could just about make out), the place was atmospheric, harking back to a bygone era with colonial sofas, velvet cushions, black and white photographs on the wall and a big telescope in the living room. We could almost be in 19^th century Iceland, but then we entered our room and the Hyundai HD TV broke the myth! We were the only guests in the hotel and including the receptionist and the chef, there were only six souls about for miles and miles around. With the wind swooshing all around us and not a light to be seen in the tall foss-bearing rock faces that formed a three-sided cauldron around us, it was definitely a bit spooky – I wonder if there is a ghost story or a haunted house around this area, the setting seems so perfect!

Lonely church in Budir

After a quick stop at the hotel, we drove around 15 km further off to start on a short walk from Hellnar to Amistapi, two villages along the coast connected by a rocky, ridged coastline. Highly recommended by our guide book and the receptionist at the hotel, the walk was worth the hype. We only did a part of it because of the fading light but it was chillingly beautiful, with sea arches, blow holes and deep inlets cutting into the sea. There were birds nesting on the cliffs – gray and white in the air, in the waters and in the guanon-white rocks jutting out dramatically – and trying to fly against the wind, straining each and every sinew to get back to their airy homes. The wind, waves, fog and birds gave the whole place an Agatha Christie setting – you could almost expect a dead body to float up from the blow hole, complete with clues and red herrings.

Guano covered sea-arches dotted the walk from Hellnar

After a wonderful dinner at our hotel, we invited the receptionist and the chef to join us for drinks. We almost became fan boys and girls waxing eloquent about how impressive and wonderful their country was, and they took it with an endearing non-chalance – as if they were used to foreigners losing their head over their magnificent land. But I am sure if we had been underwhelmed by the place, they would have been slightly offended – you could sense their pride in Iceland and everything the land had to offer. However, when we asked the chef for what he would do if he were to visit Reykjavik (our stop for the next two nights), pat came his response – ‘get back here!’. And I wouldn’t blame him, no city, no matter how great it might be, will be able to match up to the sheer brilliance of the tall, cloudy mountains, gushing waterfalls, lonely fields and craggy coastline of this peninsula.

Not a chance of seeing the lights today, it was so foggy that we could barely see a few feet ahead! Our last chance was to take a guided tour tomorrow evening from Reykjavik, but we have had so many amazing experiences already, even if we do manage to catch the lights, it would just be icing on a very yummy cake!

April 12th: Walking on glaciers and carting with dogs

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)

Another day of being able to predict the weather! You could see what was coming your way over the next few minutes or even the next few hours – hail, snow, winds, cornflower blue. At one point today, we drove with curtains of rain falling down parallel to us as we basked in the sunshine. We could literally see clouds opening up to display their wares.

Clouds opening up -- this pic is from the previous day,
but rainy curtains stayed with us throughout today too

The morning started with a short, guided glacier walk on Svinafellsjokull, the first such experience for all of us. Weather was the usual mixed bag and I was a bit nervous about trying crampons on for the first time -- imagine walking on pointy nails on top of slippery, melting ice -- but walking was a breeze. We walked from the moraines surrounding the glacier right onto the tongue itself, a transition from black to blue white. We had a good chatty guide who was pointing out various formations on the field and describing the geology around the general area. Quite a few movies have been shot around this area, including Batman Returns with Christian Bale, so we also have some movies to revisit now. :) Unfortunately, glaciers of Vatnajokull, like all the others around the world, are receding at such an alarming rate that the whole area we tromped around would become a shallow lagoon by summer next year. We had an open debate about whether global warming was the sole villain here and no one really knows the answer, but it is still a very sobering thought. Overall, our first glacier walk was a very good experience but we all agreed that it got a bit repetitive towards the end and we could have tried a longer, more challenging walk which, I am sure, would introduce us to even more diverse features around the glacier. None of the other tours were open yet though (one of the downsides of visiting places in fringe months), so we had to make do with what was available.

Happy glacier walkers

After the walk, we were on the road again, retracing our route all the way back to Hotel Ranga, our pit stop for the night again, and heading off a bit further on for what we thought was an evening of dog sledding. We had been quite disappointed when our first booking was cancelled a couple of days ago due to the weather, but we were able to find a slot for this evening and couldn’t be more excited. So after a longish drive, with the typical rocks/moss/waterfalls/rainbows for company, we arrived at Holmasel at the headquarters of dogsledding.is. The place is run by an ex-policeman and a French lady, both of whom were quite chatty and seemed to love running the enterprise, the only one of its kind in Iceland I think. This was the first time in the trip so far that we got to interact with local residents at leisure, and it gave us an interesting insight into their daily chores, caring for the dogs, managing a business and living on a ranch away from the nearest village. However, we soon found out they only do sled tours in the summers and this would be a doggie cart ride around their farm and not a glacier run as we had expected. Initial disappointment apart, it was still great fun. We got to harness the dogs (10 Greenlandics – my favorite was a cute shy bloke who ran  hiding into his little house as we approached him and kept waving his paws at us in welcome), drive the cart around and even feed them horse meat at the end of it (ok, I didn’t volunteer for this one!). We even got to see a beautiful full rainbow, the first one of the trip so far. Tannu is an ardent dog lover, so she went completely gaga over our team of carters as well as the puppies we met later on.  

Dog carting

After a couple of roller coaster days on the ground, where our adrenaline charged emotions went up and down, today was a plateau, the day to soak it all in – the initial euphoria over the landscape had been overcome, a few activities ticked off, quite a few miles added to the odometer – and we just basked in the glory of how far we had come and what a great decision it was to be here.

The wait for northern lights continued another day – it was our last hope before we head westwards and into forecasts of heavier rains. We were keeping our fingers crossed and hoping the skies stay clear. All our gear in place, arranged and ready, we slept uneasily, just waiting for the good people at Ranga to call us as soon as they saw the elusive show started.