Michael Powell's Blog, page 106

The Road to Ísafjörður

As the puffin flies, Ísafjörður was a scant 40 kilometers away, but we were looking forward to a three-hour journey of 172 kilometers. The road leading to the Westfjords’ biggest city hems tight to the coastline, tracing six fjords deep inland and then straight back out to sea. You can drive for an hour and end up two kilometers away from where you were before. Luckily, the incredible nature kept us distracted during what would have otherwise been an infuriating drive.

We had set out from Norð...

Norðurfjörður and the Pool at Krossnelaug

By evening on our first day in the Westfjords, we had reached the end of Route 647 and arrived at Norðurfjörður, a tiny settlement underneath the imposing Krossnesfjall mountain. After setting up our tent at its beach-side campsite, Urðartindur, we took a short excursion into Krossnelaug.

Krossnelaug is a pool fed by natural hot springs trickling down off the mountain, positioned right along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and soaking our bones here was a pleasure after the long day of drivin...

After One Month in Iceland

After our first month in Iceland, we feel as though we’ve barely scratched the surface. We know Reykjavík fairly well, and have spent time on the South Coast, the Golden Circle, the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and the Westfjords… but there’s so much more to see. And with all the hopping from one sight to the next, we’ve barely had the chance to relax, and sync ourselves with the country’s rhythm.

So our relationship with Iceland after a month feels a bit superficial. We’re still obsessed by its biza...

Djúpavík

The first two things you see when approaching Djúpavík are a defunct herring factory, and a shipwrecked boat just offshore; two rusting old shells which set a mournful tone in this tiny, end-of-the-road town. We made a short pit-stop here, and were entranced by Djúpavík’s melancholic beauty.

Djúpavík was founded as a herring salting station in 1917, and achieved fame in 1934 with the opening of a grandherring factory, which was the most technologically advanced in the world… and among the larg...

Hólmavík and the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft

The first stop during our week-long tour of the Westfjords was in the tiny eastern village of Hólmavík, where we visited the unsettling Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft.

Although Hólmavík is the largest town on the Strandir peninsula, that doesn’t mean much. It’s home to about 300 people, and “downtown” consists of a single road curving toward the port. But despite its small size, Hólmavík enjoys a surprisingly lively atmosphere. I couldn’t believe the number of cars cruising around, and there...

A Week in the Westfjords

Bumpy gravel roads, killer avalanches, and jagged mountains carved out by glaciers are just some of the defining characteristics of the Westfjords: the giant peninsula which makes up the northwest of the country. We rented a jeep, packed our tent, and spent six days exploring one of the wildest and most remote regions in Iceland.

Only about 7000 people live in the Westfjords today, scattered around a few towns on the coast, but the region wasn’t always so sparsely populated. A century ago, the...

Underground, Underwater: Lava Caves and Hot Springs

Driving around Iceland with a guidebook and a map can be rewarding, but even the most astute and adventurous tourists won’t find everything on their own. There are certain places which you’ll have to enlist the help of experts to uncover. That’s what we did, to explore a secret lava cave and an amazing (though not-so-secret) hot spring.

Our trip was run by Icelandic Mountain Guides: a tour company operating out of the capital. Shortly after our pick-up, we already had helmets strapped on and w...

Modern Art at the Hafnarhus

With three venues spread across the city, each dedicated to a different discipline, the Listasafn Reykjavíkur is the largest art museum in Iceland. One ticket will get you into all three, and we choose to start our tour at the Hafnarhus (Harbor House), which focuses on modern Icelandic art.

Iceland is the country which gave us Björk. It’s an isolated island in the middle of the North Atlantic which gets about thirteen seconds of sun during the winter. Icelanders have embraced the absurd in eve...

The Best Party and Jón Gnarr

“Stop corruption: We promise to stop corruption. We’ll accomplish this by participating in it openly.” Now that’s a political promise I can get behind! And this just one of the excellent items in the platform of The Best Party, led by Reykjavík’s current mayor Jón Gnarr.

Jón Gnarr at the 2011 naming of the Reykjavík Tree… possibly yawning. [Photo by Helgi Halldórsson]

For most of his career, Jón Gnarr was an Icelandic comedian and writer. He went by the name of “Jónsi Punk” when he played bass...

Hengill Death Hike

The three of us laced up our boots and started off in high spirits, excited for a day-long hike through the Hengill volcano range. A few hours later, I was alone on the top of a mountain, terrified and shouting until my throat was raw. This had been supposed to be an easy day out. Where had it all gone wrong? Where the hell was Brandt?

We had been prepared! I had carefully studied our route and plotted the exact path we’d be taking on my GPS device. We had a map, snacks and plenty of water. No...