Iceland & Faroe Islands

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The road conditions were truly appalling – large loose rocks, and of course the wind that kept pushing us from one edge of the road to another. In a way we wondered what the hype was all about – in general, there isn’t really much to see except for the barren ground. But I guess it is the glorious sense of solitude and being one-on-one with the force of nature that makes up for the hardships.

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Stunning images, one more amazing than the other!

I also admire your ability to combine adventure motorcycling with photography. I do both, but never combined because I find it too complicated (pulling over, kickstand down, helmet off, gloves off, getting gear out of the luggage rack, walking with uncomfortable moto boots ... then everything again in reverse -- for just one picture!) :D
 
These look like the Devil's Postpiles in the USA - or the Wall from Game of Thrones

Yes, those are surreal and nice scene too.


Stunning images, one more amazing than the other!

I also admire your ability to combine adventure motorcycling with photography. I do both, but never combined because I find it too complicated (pulling over, kickstand down, helmet off, gloves off, getting gear out of the luggage rack, walking with uncomfortable moto boots ... then everything again in reverse -- for just one picture!) :D

Cheers! I've done motorcycling since I was a boy, hence it's grown into my natural reflexes, fitting in a camera work was just a natural step for me.
 
Just before the sun set, and after having crossed three rivers that day, we arrived in Nyidalur camp just half way through the piste at the altitude of 800 meters. The wind showed no sign of subsiding, and the temperatures were nearing zero. Boy, the night was freezing!



Discover Arctic
by tsiklonaut
 
The morning wasn’t easy. First we had hard time getting out of our sleeping bags, but we had to get moving fast – before the first rays of light would start melting the glaciers again, making the water levels rise. We had the biggest river crossing on F26 yet ahead, and we wanted to be there as early as possible.

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We rode on, then turned to the rocky F821 Eyjafjarðardeild piste. Low clouds float like a butterfly, the rocky piste bites like a bee - a fantastic combo to ride in-between!


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Wonderful, wonderful photos. I wish I could do something like what you are doing, but I'm running out of time. You mentioned eating oatmeal in one post; what did you eat at other times. The first thing I think about when going somewhere is what to eat. I love landscape photos, my wife doesn't so that's another problem I have. I look forward to your future posts.

Mike
 
Wonderful, wonderful photos. I wish I could do something like what you are doing, but I'm running out of time. You mentioned eating oatmeal in one post; what did you eat at other times. The first thing I think about when going somewhere is what to eat. I love landscape photos, my wife doesn't so that's another problem I have. I look forward to your future posts.

Mike,

Iceland is very expensive for us Eastern Europeans to travel.

Thus we were reduced to mostly camping food - pasta or rice with ready sauces, potato mash, instant soups etc along with bread and fresh vegetables we could buy from regular shops. Mostly cooking ourselves with our nuclear bomb proof swedish army spirit cooker. There's something really good about camping food when you travel, it's hard to explain to those who don't like to be on their own. We call it being in "travelling mode", your thinking and appetite changes in unusual ways and start to enjoy small things you normally think are not that enjoyable in everyday life.

Only once or twice we bough "official" food, couple of times a hot dog (the cheapest food available in Iceland) or a burger when we were in a hurry or just occasionally bored from camping food.

We had some small stock of Estonian stronger alcohol (Vana Tallinn and sweet cherry wines) with us - those were our absolute favourite treats during those freezing evenings in the tent or when it poured cold rain outside. The scenery was almost always fantastic and the mood good even in very harsh weather. There's something great about being in a "million stars hotel" (wild camping) - I wouldn't ever change those special moments even to a super expensive 5 star hotel with warm blue pool, full banquet and full room service!

Also we never slept in a hotel or indoors, only once indoors (only first night in Faroe Islands in a hostel because we arrived so late with ferry) of 5 weeks of travel - our beloved Hilleberg tent was our home.

Margus
 
But as the piste started descending and we left the cloud that we’d been riding in behind, we were ultimately delighted to see the magnificent Eyjafjörður valley opening in front of our eyes:

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Further down the valley I stopped in one of the river crossings. It was a good chance to wash off the volcanic dirt from my trusty iron horse by crossing Iceland from one side to another through the center and meld this moment with the magical setting of the surroundings. An infrared film captured this particular dreamyness...



Symbiosis
by tsiklonaut
 
Sir,
I now know what the physical end of the world looks like and its beauty and I need to go there.
Thank You
I really like the landlocked boat in infared film, I keep thinking its in the water under its own power. That's what photos should do to you.
Keep them coming.
Lew
 
Sir,
I now know what the physical end of the world looks like and its beauty and I need to go there.
Thank You
I really like the landlocked boat in infared film, I keep thinking its in the water under its own power. That's what photos should do to you.
Keep them coming.

Thank you, Lew!
 
Kariina's front tyre was so worn that we needed to get a new one. We had to settle with what Iceland’s second largest town Akureyri had to offer. Good thing it was supposed to be the nicest weather town in whole Iceland - a good prospect as we had grown quite tired of that miserable rain and cold in the central highlands.

The bike shop that we came across could only find Michelin Anakee 2, which was a pity, but with no choice it had to do. Kariina was then limited riding on hard offroad pistes. We still had to wait till the tyre was delivered from Reykjavik the next day, so we headed out of Akureyri and towards Siglufjörður peninsula, where we camped out near Dalvik:


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