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| Posted by Jerome Konen on 31/07/06 |
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| The West Fjords Experience |
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| Photo by Jerome Konen |
| Night drive on the rough but extraordinary scenic Svalvogavegur road. |
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28-29 July 2006 - 'Whow', the word I have been saying most these days. Impressed by the magnificient landscape I was looking at, shaped by enormous ancient glaciers, resulting in deep fjords between high mountains, a pure pristine region. Here and there I could make out from a distance small farms. Being closer, it turned out, most were left as ghost houses, still defying strong winds and bad weather.
What surprised me the most was that the West Fjords show a totally different landscape, a scenery not similar to anything else in Iceland, making this region so unique and like being in a different country.
The dimensions of this scenery is simply so big, it's almost impossible to frame it on film, even the panoramic format is too small to catch the whole scenery.
By the end of the day, I still couldn't get enough of those scenic impressions, I climbed up a steep mountain hill to get closer to the Dynjandi falls, a cascade falling down a long series of rock strata before the water reaches the Arnarfjördur fjord. A tiny and nicely secluded camping site below the falls, but I decided, despite the late hour, to go for a more quiet place, avoiding such a loud rush of an enormous waterfall like this one.
Further then, the next campsite. Although I had to drive quite far to Þingeyri, however it immediately turned out to be contrary to all my expectations, hundreds of Icelanders crowded loudly the place. How calming the rush of a waterfall could have been!
So, midnight hour, no place to rest yet. I had a crazy idea, driving the difficult and rough Svalvogavegur road outside the fjords Dýrafjördur and Arnafjördur. Built into the steep almost vertical slope of the mountains surrounding the fjords, a dim blue light over the sea. It doesn't still really get fully dark these days here.
This turned out to be an unforgetable experience, one of the most exciting driving experiences I ever had here in Iceland. A must do, especially during the night. It took me a few hours to drive the full circle, but when the orange light of the rising sun revealed the real pristine beauty of this fjord region, I forgot I had no sleep that night, a night full of emotions.
'Whow', what a day out!
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