week eighteen: the Ring Road

buckle up

find a comfortable seat

and a small snack

maybe some of the beans

we took on a trip

around the island

this is a long one

•

so we went on vacation

for a whole week

taking a break

from living in one house

with 24 people

to driving, eating and sleeping

with 8 people

in one and a half vans

•

heading on the Ring Road

starting from the North

but changing direction

before getting out of Reykjavik

the second van realized

half way through

the South coast

•

I loved the black beach

with its sneaky waves

I could watch forever

the occasional tourist

regretting their decisions

ashamed to say

we were some of them

it’s still beautiful

after being wet and scared

apparently there’s also

a glacier lagoon

with icebergs and seals

floating around

we couldn’t confirm the glacier

only the cloud

•

spent our first night

illegally next to a tree

under Vatnajökull

it’s very hard

to hide two white vans

in the middle of nowhere

next to nothing

but we managed

to be woken up

at 4 AM

hearing the sound

of tyres on gravel

in a dead-end parking spot

nobody came to visit

•

the second day

was the first

of every second

day of rain

half of us got wet

from head to toe

on the totally worth it

walk as close as ever

to the glacier tongue

at least we had

the sunny days inbetween

to get our clothes

almost dry

•

the East will stay

as the place

with 1-ply toilet paper

anywhere we went

there was a rainbow

and next to one of them

a big ship

can take us to Denmark

if we want to save the planet

and find the money

after driving on fjord roads

that look the same

as the ones

on the sunset side

the Westfjords took the point

•

the North-East

had thousands of puffins

extraordinary mountains

the largest forest

or rather, disappointment

a perfect rectangle

of see through firs

the windiest waterfall

at the end of the town

where the airport

doesn’t have a fence

and cars are parked

in the middle of the street

•

visited our fellow volunteers

at the highest farm in Iceland

between the orca mountains

where turf houses looked like

the Earth was half way through

swallowing them whole

made our first successful split

half the crew was dropped

in the Blue Lagoon of the North

half of us headed towards the edge

where we found nothing

but the unfinished arctic henge

and a new spot for trash hunting

•

the North had more rain

a beautiful sunset

at the edge of the ocean

the horseshoe canyon

without mosquitoes

but with millions of flies

and salted peanuts

we deserved only halfway

our hometown, Húsavík

exceeded all expectations

regarding the smell of fish

beauty of the singing mountains

and electric whale watching boats

yes, we did blast the song

why haven’t you still watched it?

•

the aforementioned

16 cans of beans

were for this trip

we ate most of them

especially the vegans

eating a can of baked beans

for lunch, dinner and a snack

but still brought back

10 cans of chopped tomatoes

some miscalculations

could have been avoided

•

a major accomplishment

I never slept

while being the shotgun

or laying in the back of the van

but I did enjoy

some backseat driving

trying my best

to trust the driving skills

of the representatives

of southern Europe

•

all we saw

throughout the country

a million waterfalls

say the name

or show a picture

I can’t recall where it was

the last ones were skipped

it’s just water falling

I’d like to continue

chasing canyons, though

•

this trip taught me

to be more flexible

one ice cream a day

turned into

one bad joke a day

I hope our o will stay

even if the memories fade

I also know now

how to know

if you’re travelling

with too many people

you don’t count them by name

you count them by number

I would still go again

•

More pics, less talk!