I woke up early after a good sleep in the quiet nature of Atlavík. I packed my belonging and drove to Egilsstaðir where I had breakfast with a couple of friends who happened to be traveling through town on their way to go fly-fishing. We continued the chat in the hot-tub of the local swimming pool, where we met an Icelandic speaking Catalan geologist who was eager to chat with us about geology, economy, Icelandic word origins and whatever under…
I left my aunt and her family in Berunes and headed north, threading the Eastern fjords — Berufjörður, Breiðdalsvík, Stöðvarfjörður, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reyðarfjörður, Eskifjörður and Norðfjörður. The route along the fjords is an extremely beautiful ride, with high mountains rising above the road. It was a relaxing ride, I laid back behind the wheel and enjoyed the view — to the extent that I could without loosing sight of the road. I made sure to stop every now and then to…
I spent the day chilling at my aunt’s farm, Berunes, in between walking to the beach and the mountain. I started the day with a stroll along the beach, and then sat myself down on the veranda, reading a book in the sunshine. I fancied climbing the mountain peak above the farm (Berunestindur) but the infamous Eastern-fjords-fog (austfjarðaþokan) covered my path. – You stay where you are city-boy, said the Eastern-fjords-fog, I am the one who makes the calls around…
After making breakfast in Skaftafell, I continued my journey around Iceland. Next stop was the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón. On the way there I picked up Vlad, a hitchhiking sausage maker from Moscow. On the way we chatted about everything and nothing. Vlad told me about his adventures of cycling form Akureyri, over the Icelandic highlands and to Skaftafell. It had been a cold, wet but beautiful journey, partially through fresh snow. Since he had not much time before his flight…
It was nice to wake up early in the relatively quiet countryside at the Vík camping ground. The stereotypical rooster was presumably on holiday since I was awoken by a flock of sheep. After breakfast I went for the popular local past-time, I went to look at phallic structures on the beach. More precisely, I drove down to Reynisfjara (beach) where I looked at the impressive Reynisdrangar (phallic structures). Back from the beach, I continued my trip eastward along the…
Since there are almost thirteen years since I moved away from my native island, I decided that on my current vacation in Iceland I should to behave like a tourist and do some tourism. I decided to drive the ring-road (road nr. 1) around the island from Reykjavík to Reykjavík. Maybe I am not exactly like a typical tourist since I claim to know my school geography quite well and thus have insider information that would be helpful. Dad: What…
A story of a trip to the Pantanal area of Brazil. Some people like spending their holiday relaxing on a beach while others prefer swimming in a river surrounded by crocodiles and piranhas, feeling their skin being nibbled at, unable to see the culprits through the black water. I prefer the latter.
On a recent trip to Chile I was standing in line at Santiago airport, waiting to be checked in for my flight to the Colombian capital Bogotá, when a person behind me in the line addressed me. “Do you speak Spanish?” she asked (in Spanish). “Yes,” I replied (in Spanish). “I remember you from the festival,” she continued. “Festival?” I asked as if I had been to more than one festival during my short stay in Santiago. “Yes, the festival…
When I visited the Iguaçu falls on the Brazilian side, the experience was slightly underwhelming. I guess my expectations were too high. I had expected more power. Consequently, when visiting the Argentinian side of the falls a couple of days later, the experience was slightly overwhelming. I had lower expectations while the natural forces were much stronger.
On my second day in the Paraná area I spent the morning on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, visiting the World’s largest hydro-electric power-plant — the Itaipu Dam. My initial plan had been to take the full tour of the dam — visiting it inside-out. However, I arrived a bit late at the site and without having made a reservation. The morning tour was fully booked and taking the afternoon tour was not an option as I wanted to avoid risking missing the last bus to Argentina. I did thus settle for a panoramic tour of the exterior part of the power-plant.