Westfjords!

For my next trip to Iceland, we will be driving around the Westfjords. This is a part of Iceland that most people skip out due to lack of time, or maybe because it doesn’t have any of the “big name” attractions found in other parts of Iceland. For whatever reason it remains even more unspoilt than the rest of Iceland. Although there are a few months to go yet before my visit it’s never too early to start making a Westfjords bucket list! Aside from the amazing fjord scenery, rough roads and hardly any people, here are the things I’m most looking forward to seeing:

Ísafjörður– I love the setting of this place including its scary airport. It will really feel like civilisation after a few days in the car too.

From Wikipedia

Arctic Fox Center – the closest thing to a zoo here! A great place to see these animals which have such a hard life.

From melrakki.is

The Sorcery Museum – who doesn’t love an eccentric museum? Small but full of everything Icelandic-witchcraft related! I must read Last Rituals by Yrsa S (which references this museum often) again before going.
Bird cliffs of Látrabjarg – just hope it’s not windy! OK, it’s always windy.

from westfjords.is

Rauðasandur, or “red sands” – you’ll never guess why! This looks more like the desert to me than Iceland!

from westfjords.is

The weird world of Samuel Jonsson. This is the kind of “artwork” that freaks me out really but I like the thought of this being in the middle of nowhere.

from islandsbloggen.com

General abandonment – old ships, old factories, as life has moved on there are some fascinating relics left in this area.

from iceland.nordicvisitor.com

OK, I meant to only have 5 things but I got carried away…

Any recommendations of other things to do (or avoid!) in this region are welcome as always as I know many of you have been.

10 things to put you off living in Iceland

Generally, I try to write positive things about Iceland, but by popular demand I am going to cover what I think are the downsides of living there. As I’ve done two lists of good things it’s only fair.

I’m going to stay away from “controversial”  issues such as tourist numbers, that thing with the economy and why the same President has been in power for almost 20 years in the hope of not incurring a ban for life…

1.    Small population – everyone knows you. Now, this can also be a good thing in that it instills a sense of responsibility towards your neighbours, you can’t get away with things, and people are likely to help you out if only because everyone will know about it if they don’t. The disadvantage is that particularly outside of Reykavík it is hard to meet anyone “new”, they all know everything about you, etc. Even *I* recognise everyone in the shops. Imagine having to do business with people who remember everything stupid you did when you were a child. This would drive me mad.

I know all your secrets…
From “The Twins” film

2.    Lack of “career” options. This is a problem if you are a corporate person who wants to move around between companies and up the corporate ladder. There are only so many big companies in Iceland and many people have to work in tourism, which may not be their choice, due to lack of other opportunities. Sadly a lot of bright people emigrate to where there are more jobs.
3.    The weather. I know, I’m always telling you that the weather isn’t anywhere near as bad as people think it is. What I do think is hard about it is the stretch between winter and summer – there really isn’t a spring, the weather is usually winter-like right up until April/May.

4.    Lack of choice. High import costs dictate that there will only ever be so much fresh food available, especially out of season. Local greenhouses do what they can, but many foods that Europeans and North Americans take for granted can be hard to find, or if you do find them, are poor quality or too expensive. Many global shopping brands don’t exist in Iceland either, but you won’t save any money, because what there is isn’t cheap.
5.    Big, scary nature. Most people don’t come from somewhere with all the exciting natural features that Iceland offers and worryingly tourists often underestimate them. Let’s think – how should you behave around volcanoes, glaciers, cliff edges, hot springs and rocky coastlines? As usual, people leave their brains behind when they go on holiday. This point is only a “negative” for tourists. Icelanders are perfectly capable of living amongst all of this without needing rescue.

Go on! Jump in! It’s only boiling hot mud.

6.    Running is hard. This is a purely personal issue, but in Iceland you either have to run outside in usually mega-windy conditions or inside on a treadmill (ugh). Obviously, it can be done and you see superfit people everywhere but I like my running outside and preferably without being bent horizontally. It’s no wonder Icelanders do well in international sporting competitions. (Yes, I am going to do the Reykjavik race one year – I’ll be putting in a request for sunny skies and a slight tailwind).

Built for Icelandic running!
from travel.nationalgeographic.com

7.    Junk food is taking over. I love junk food as much as anyone but even I feel ill after a few days in Iceland. Some of the best things to be found there are the crazy pizza toppings (peanuts, bananas, cream cheese, need I go on), jam burgers and fun chocolate. I suppose this is another problem with being dependent on imports – you import everyone else’s bad ideas and long-term health problems and obesity.

And it was good.

8.    They’re all night owls. Another problem for me as an early bird – nothing opens at the time I’d like it to and everyone stays up all night. You’d need to learn adapt to this or do shift work!

I’m up at 6:00! Why aren’t you?
From bonus.is

9.    No crowds. If you live in Iceland you’ve got to leave the country to see things other people take for granted. There’s never going to be stadium concerts, F1 races, world film premieres, the Olympics, Eurovision (well, ok, maybe Eurovision). There just isn’t a big enough physical audience to put anything big on – and although I hate crowds, I do like the luxury of being able to go to “big” things sometimes without a huge amount of travel.

You’ll never see Sebastian Vettel and Placido Domingo in one place in Iceland

10.    TV is crap. This is perhaps even more disappointing as there have been some brilliant TV series and they show brilliant handball matches as a main sporting event – so why is it that 95% of the time when you put the TV on it is those 10 second ads, or the news, or some kids show….

Some of these are quite personal issues – I appreciate that if you like to stay up late, aren’t a runner and hate F1 you’ll be wondering what the problem is. So why don’t you share some of your frustrations about Iceland or somewhere else you like to travel?

Review: Goða Ferð

Goða Ferð (Good Trip) is a documentary aimed at travellers in Iceland made by Frank Nagel.

Beautifully shot,  this film would serve as good inspiration for a trip to Iceland both for first-time travellers who may not know what to expect, and for seasoned veterans who may not have captured some of their favourite places on film as well as this. The basic premise is that we are following a girl named Annie on a journey around the Ring Road made by public bus. We see some of the places she stays in, watch her doing things like buying food and of course see some of the beauty of Iceland along with her. You are able to choose either English or German commentary.

I found myself keen to keep watching to see what part of Iceland we’d be going to next! Particular highlights in the film for me: the scenes at Jokulsarlon and Myvatn area, watching people ride the Icelandic horse, some of the birds featured and gorgeous looking ice cream in Reykjavík! Frank is an excellent filmmaker who has captured the essence of travelling in Iceland, and anyone who has been previously will also have particular moments that appeal to them.

Interestingly, I think this film could have become two separate films used for different purposes. If you are a first time tourist, this film gives you some information, but not enough to completely help you with planning a trip. This could be remedied by more narration and more subtitling.  Sometimes we are watching Annie arrive somewhere or doing something with no commentary for quite a while, when an explanation earlier on in the narration would be helpful. As Icelandic words can sound strange to those not familiar with them, it would be useful to have more subtitling of place and people names.

On the other hand, if you are watching this film just because you love Iceland, sometimes there could be too much of the travelling rather than  the scenery.  Again, I think this could be remedied with a different cut of the same footage.

Annie as main subject has an obvious interest in the country, but I think the flow may have been easier for her at times if she had a travelling companion to interact with – Frank was obviously there but is very much a silent partner behind the camera.

These minor criticisms aside, this is a very good documentary film. It is actually helpful that it is shot from an outsider’s perspective, as sometimes it is harder for someone in their own country to know what is different or interesting about it to visitors.  If you need a reminder of why you should make a return visit, or are trying to convert a first-time visitor, this film will do the trick!

You can view the trailer below and order the film from http://www.iceland-dvd.com

Colourful buildings, Reykjavík

Would you like petrol with your burger?

There is something to be said about Iceland that some of the best places to visit are the gas stations.

Anyone driving for any length of time will probably end up eating at one and when you’re driving for several hours with nothing else to stop at, they really become a welcome haven for both tourists and natives.

The Iceland Road Atlas helpfully indicates where all the gas stations are located. This is only semi-helpful in reality because a station could be an all-singing, all-dancing beauty with an ice cream bar, pizza, hot dogs, burgers, garden implements, knitting materials, full grocery store, etc. This is because in some places the gas station is really the only store for a very long way and so has expanded to sell just about anything.

Super-fancy big city one with brands and everything

OR, they can be a tragic pump with nothing else by the side of the road. I’ll let you guess which type I prefer.

Anyhow, the decision of where and what to eat through the day is quite often dictated by where these stations are and what each one has on the menu, so getting to know them is pretty crucial.  This probably sounds bizarre, but it is very rare to find a stand-alone restaurant on the Ring Road in Iceland and if you do it’s probably expensive. I wish I had marked the atlas so as not to have to go through the anticipation of “does this one have food or not” ever again. There are some unexpectedly good finds (really good pizza and reindeer burgers if you’re feeling adventurous at Shell in Egilsstaðir) and disappointments.(anything anywhere near the “Golden Circle” area sells overpriced crap)

Oh, yes.

We actually went without food one night when the only station near us was closed for a private function, and there was nowhere else within an hour’s drive, and having spent the day in the car we couldn’t be bothered to go that far. This was a low point – it was tempting to crash the private function. Or beg for a takeaway pizza.

Generally, although few and far between, Shell seems to have the best food and are worth holding out for. But N1 often had the biggest and most spectacular “extras” shop.

When I first discovered the hilarious TV series Næturvaktin, I was really excited that it was set in a gas station. I imagined it to be one of the big countryside ones which would have all kinds of potential for mayhem (you know, lost tourists, bumbling farmers wondering when their fertiliser was going to arrive, that kind of thing) and was surprised that it was set in a Shell on the main street of Reykjavík. Trust me, it is still hilarious, but I think they missed a trick. Just sit in one of the more remote ones for a while and you will see every facet of life unfold in front of you.

On a practical note, here is some Icelandic gas station etiquette that isn’t particularly obvious as a tourist:

Bigger stations have washing equipment to get the mud/lava/bugs off your car. If you are using the equipment on the left side of the wall you essentially have right of way over the person on the right side of the wall. I’m not sure why this – feel free to comment and enlighten me if you know!

Most stations are self-service (you pay at the pump with a credit card or pre-paid station card, hence why some stations can be unmanned). BUT, beware, some also have full-service pumps, where you will pay extra because someone is going to come out and pump it for you.

Do other remote places in the world have gas stations as their central hub, or is this uniquely Icelandic? Have you bought anything weird at one? Share your funny/horror stories…