August 27: "500
km in one day! "
Up at 6:30 under a cloudless and sunny sky. Another visit to Strokkur, this time lit up by the first rays or the morning sun and again without a harassing cloud of tourists, usually as numerous as the flies at Myvatn. After breakfast immediately off to Gullfoss where we were also all alone to admire falls of another charm and bedecked with a double rainbow. The dirt road towards Landmannalagur had on us the same effect as so many other spots in Iceland: sighs of amazement and astonishment before such vastness, the variety of colors, the natural virginity. How small we are in comparison! We had to do an about turn at the end of 23 km because of a stream barring our way. Yves would have liked to ford this river but the car not being insured for travelling on secondary dirt roads, it would be idiotic to take risks. We therefore abandonned the idea of going furter but without too much frustration considering the incredible beauty of what we had already seen. Dilemma early in the afternoon: which photographs to erase from the camera's memory card to make room for pictures of these exceptional landscapes. We were forced to make radical choices. A little later on, what delight to roll on portions of road being rebuilt at 30 km/h instead of huffing and puffing on foot (with a few "merde" from time to time) at 4 km/h! And what luck we had once again to have a clear sky and exceptional visibility the evening before and all morning . On our way back towards Reykjavik, we made a small detour to visit a geothermal "factory" 35 km east of the city. Anxiety caused by the loud deep humming of the steam spewing out of the ground was hightened by americain style warning signs: "Danger, very hot water. You visit this site at your risks and perils and under your full responsibility ". The huge mushroom of steam rose several tens of meters into the sky and this was only the leftovers of Reykjavik inhabitant's needs who were obviously not very thrifty in the way they used these free calories: some private homes even heat there sidewalks to avoid shovelling snow as we discovered going by roadworks in the city.
Having returned the
car, we felt a bit aimless. No more ambitious plans for the following day,
no more superhuman efforts required, no more anguish about the direction of
the wind or the risk of rain! After dinner, back to the Youth Hostel to retreive
our bicycle box. A minute ago I was complaining about the lack of anxiety.
I should have waited a bit: the box was no longer in the room where I had
left it (with permission) four weeks ago. The receptionist came to my help
and found it behind the third door she unlocked. Ouf! 3 hours to dismount
the bicycle and to carefully put it in it's plywood nest. Into bed at 12 PM
for a last night in the reassuring intimacy of our little red tent.
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Strokkur
before exploding
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The explosion
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Anne at
the end of the rainbow
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Gullfoss
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Gullfoss
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Farm with
grass roof
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Lava field
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Sheep and
montain
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Returning
from Landmannalagur
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Hay bails
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Geothermal
station
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