Seyoisfjorour is a picturesque town of about 700 inhabitants that is connected to the rest of Iceland by a road over Fjaroarheioi mountain pass. Driving here from Reykjavik would be about 8 1/2 hours straight driving time, coast to coast as it were. There is documentation of this area being settled by the Vikings as early as the 8th century, but little remains from that era.
Today, Jan and I headed off in different directions. I joined a tour to that was a bit of an aggressive hike to the Hengifoss Waterfall. This waterfall is amongst the highest in Iceland, the lake-fed water here cascades down from the height of around 420 feet into a spectacular gorge surrounded by reddish-hued cliffs layered with black basalt rock and fossils. The dramatic multicoloured gorge and the falls themselves are known as among the most picturesque in all of Europe. This was an hour up and then hour down hike along wooden planks and mostly loose dirt/gravel. This hike was nicely broken up with several other waterfalls to stop at along the way. The bonus today was that we avoided the rain and the temperature was perfect for hiking, about 8 degrees Celsius.
Jan’s tour was a bit further afield and took in some more details of life here in the Eastern Iceland. This included a short walk through the woods which included about 5 different species. All these trees are “new” growth as way back in the day when the Vikings were here they decimated the forest to build huts and keep warm. One of the reasons and probably the main one that most traces of this settlement has disappeared is they ran out of fuel forcing them to either return to Europe or continue to Greenland and then North America. We are on quite an interesting little adventure here.
Bonus portion of the day… While in isolation for our six days we watched the movie, The Secret life of Walter Mitty, with Ben Stiller. Well, a good part of this movie was filmed here in Iceland (even the Greenland and Himalayan parts), and the portion where he rides the skateboard down the highway was right on this same highway that Jan and I were on today, just outside Seyoisfjorour. So had we not been in isolation we probably would not have seen this movie and thereby missed this whole discussion around this highway. If you have not seen this movie, check it out, it’s cute and takes in where we are now.
Late lunch coming back to the ship late, so late dinner tonight in the Pinnacle specialty restaurant. It’s so wonderful to explore such remote and amazing places and come back to this five star dining experience. Not looking forward to the 3am stomach tosses and turning though. I know, first world problems.
Some pics of the day, probably in a few parts, just so incredible, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day, “Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport”. - Saber Ben Hassen
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