On Sunday, I took advantage of a free (150 EUR) tour to go back to the black sand beaches of Vik, the glacier, and the falls.I went back to my favourite beach, about 5 km west of Vik, and one of the village dogs came to greet me on the beach. She was incredibly friendly this time, and we played for only 15 minutes before I had to go. We chased each other, and I rubbed her belly. We didn't speak the same language, but she was the most perfectly trained dog I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I gave her commands through gesture and she instantly obeyed, not moving an inch until I made another motion, and praised and pet her profusely for her effort. Playing with her made time stand still. It was a one of a kind, special memory I will always have with me...
I also experienced the rarest occurence in Iceland- a crime! We were parked at a beautiful falls, and I decided to stay in the tour van this time. (I don't know why!) A vehicle pulled up a few meters away from the van, and a man, two women, and a toddler got out. Then the man opened the back hatch, and two sharpei dogs jumped out. Naturally, I was enthralled with the vision of two rare Japanese dogs playing under waterfalls in Iceland, but I noticed the man struggling with something under the dog's beds in the back of the vehicle. He finally pulled out a bolt cutter, which I didn't find too odd, until he put them down his pants. So I continue looking, and the man's travelling companions were making a big show of corralling the two dogs, while he walked over to the bathrooms, and used the bolt cutter on something. I couldn't see what he was doing, and I was too stunned to take a picture. When the guy finished what he was doing, he went back to the truck, and hid the bolt cutters under the floorboard under the dog's beds. When he rejoined his family, I walked over to the bathroom, and discovered he had cut the padlock on the donation box for the public washrooms. I assume he was planning on coming back after his visit to the falls, to collect the money in the de-locked box. I point out the goings-on to the driver and the tour guide, and they decide to ask the guy if he cut the lock. I don't know if this is the Icelandic way, but of course the guy said he didn't do it. Eventually, the tour guys call in the occurence to their head office, who told them to call the police. Interesting end to a tour day!
A the end of the tour, I ask the driver to drop me off at a restaurant the tour guide recommended. I have not experienced traditional Icelandic food, so I was eager to go. It was a buffet, (or do they call it a smorgasboard here?) of mostly fish. I tried most of it, and it wasn't too bad, but it didn't agree with my stomach, unfortunately. Also, it was more than 3 times the price the tour guide said it was. Oh well, at least I experienced real Icelandic food!
After dinner, around 8 pm, the tour bus picked me up to go see the northern lights. The tour goes north of Reykjavik, in order to avoid the interference caused by the glow of city lights. Well, this was my third try, so I was quite excited: "3rd time's the charm", and the forecast was for mostly clear skies. The tour bus went up the North-West coast of Iceland, and we got to go through the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, which is 5770 m long, and goes 165 m below sea level. It only took about 5 minutes to travel under it, as opposed to 1.5 hours it would take if we drove around the fjord. We arrived at our first destination/attempt at about 9:45 pm. There was a small, mostly clear patch of sky above us, but the tour guide thought we could do better. We drove further north, then inland a bit, to a rural community centre parking lot, where there were no lights, and a lovely large patch of clear sky. The stars were closer, brighter, and more profuse than I have ever seen. (Unfortunately no picture; my wee camera couldn't get a picture of the starry sky.) We waited in below freezing temperatures, all necks bent at an unnatural angle looking up at the Northern sky. At about 11pm, people started coming out of the community centre. A play had ended, and they were serving home-made waffles, fresh of the grill. The tour guide explained our presence to the people at the community centre, and they kindly agreed to feed the tour waffles, coffee and tea (for a small donation). After our surprise snack, the tour guide decided to try another location, as ours was clouding up. A thin veil of Northern Lights could possibly be seen, but as we were staring into the sky for so long, it could have been our eyes playing tricks on us. We tried one last location, and the sky was not cooperating. So, we headed back to Reykjavik, while our tour guide told us many stories, about his experiences as a guide, both in the southern part of Iceland, and the rugged Icelandic North. What I most remember is his tale about last February, when a man proposed to his girlfriend under the brightest showing of northern lights that was ever seen in Iceland.
Oh well! Maybe the weather will cooperate so I can have another chance of seeing the northern lights. (Although I heard they can be seen in northern Ontario, too...)
No comments:
Post a Comment