tsiklonaut
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Then we saw the "Most Beautiful Church in Iceland", the Búðakirkja in Buðir:
White door by tsiklonaut
White door by tsiklonaut
Iceland & Faroe Islands
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tsiklonaut
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Snæfellsnes peninsula has been named "Iceland in Miniature", because many national sights can be found in the area, including the Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest mountain on the peninsula and has a glacier at its peak. The volcano can be seen on clear days from Reykjavík, at the distance of about 120 km. The mountain is also known as the setting of the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. The area surrounding Snæfellsjökull has been designated one of the four National Parks by the government of Iceland.
tsiklonaut
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I decided to ride all the way up to the glacier, but my attempt wasn’t quite successful as the track was very steep and loose. Got a decent view nevertheless.
Pictures don't do justice how steep it actually was. It was that steep that I had to come up with a wheelie (front wheel had no traction and I couldn't slow down to lose the vital momentum), but lost control just 10 meters from reaching the top (where I took the pic) and did nearly a sharp 120-degree turn while on a wheelie on losing my final momentum. That was a very awkward maneuver to turn such a heavy bike just from the rear wheel, I'm not sure how the hell I managed to stay upright and not crashing. You can see some of it from the drag track.
The view up on the Snæfell.
Pictures don't do justice how steep it actually was. It was that steep that I had to come up with a wheelie (front wheel had no traction and I couldn't slow down to lose the vital momentum), but lost control just 10 meters from reaching the top (where I took the pic) and did nearly a sharp 120-degree turn while on a wheelie on losing my final momentum. That was a very awkward maneuver to turn such a heavy bike just from the rear wheel, I'm not sure how the hell I managed to stay upright and not crashing. You can see some of it from the drag track.
The view up on the Snæfell.
tsiklonaut
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On descent and on the way further north we could see Kirkjufell Hill in Grundarfjörþur:
tsiklonaut
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Different angle and different film media take on Kirkjufell:
tsiklonaut
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Icelanders have also a very funky understanding of the architecture, a good example is the church in Stykkishólmur:
tsiklonaut
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On to the West Fjords. Looking at the map their complex layout alone sparked humbleness in us, but we decided to go ahead and complete the full circle around West Fjords.
tsiklonaut
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tsiklonaut
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Thud
Established
Sir,
Your photos and narratives is the best I've seen on this site.
Thank You.
Your photos and narratives is the best I've seen on this site.
Thank You.
tsiklonaut
Well-known
Many thank yous sir, glad you enjoy the travelogue.
tsiklonaut
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tsiklonaut
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At Látrabjarg, we could see puffins, seals and other species.
tsiklonaut
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Edge by tsiklonaut
tsiklonaut
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There's a non-marked (not even an F-road) track going around one of the fjords via Lokinhamrar. It was an amazing experience and could be only done at the time of low tide. It was very rocky, with patches of boulders the size of human head.
tsiklonaut
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tsiklonaut
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Abandoned family house in the treacherous West Fjords.
tsiklonaut
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Abandoned houses from 1970s still standing strong today in harsh climate conditions.
tsiklonaut
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The Bakkafjall and Burfell of the other side of the bay reminded us of the buried space ship from the movie Prometheus.
The King Crowned by tsiklonaut
Prometheus Chair by tsiklonaut
The King Crowned by tsiklonaut
Prometheus Chair by tsiklonaut
tsiklonaut
Well-known
The trip took us most of the day, and by the end of it we landed in Þingeyri, in a camping just next to a swimming pool. In Iceland, every town and even larger villages have their own swimming pool, normally with natural hot pots, and they serve as important places to socialize. So we went for a dip to soothe the aching muscles and it worked really well. Interestingly, although Iceland is otherwise crazy expensive, swimming pool tickets cost even less than in Estonia.
Next morning, we got on our way quite early and managed to take a side trip to Sæból in the light of the rising sun. The village itself wasn’t exactly spectacular, but the descent into the broad, green valley where it sits was truly amazing.
On the right you see collected "firewood" (Iceland has NO forests) you can use heating your home. Turns out the careless and wasteful "spill" from massive Siberian forest cutting where they transport the tree logs via floating them with rivers, the "missing" logs go into the North Sea and some of them drift to the Icelandic coast, you'll see tons of siberian logs in Icelandic coast, especially in the north coasts, often in unbeleavable amounts - miles long beaches full with logs that you can't even step normally. Iceland is just a tiny spot in the Arctic Ocean hence you can only imagine how much "lost" wood there must be in other places. With ongoing global warming and utterly wasteful resource usage - a man is his own enemy.
Next morning, we got on our way quite early and managed to take a side trip to Sæból in the light of the rising sun. The village itself wasn’t exactly spectacular, but the descent into the broad, green valley where it sits was truly amazing.
On the right you see collected "firewood" (Iceland has NO forests) you can use heating your home. Turns out the careless and wasteful "spill" from massive Siberian forest cutting where they transport the tree logs via floating them with rivers, the "missing" logs go into the North Sea and some of them drift to the Icelandic coast, you'll see tons of siberian logs in Icelandic coast, especially in the north coasts, often in unbeleavable amounts - miles long beaches full with logs that you can't even step normally. Iceland is just a tiny spot in the Arctic Ocean hence you can only imagine how much "lost" wood there must be in other places. With ongoing global warming and utterly wasteful resource usage - a man is his own enemy.
