Elves, dwarves, trolls, fairies have been inhabiting Iceland together with human fishermen and vikings. They are called the Huldufólk, the hidden people. According to recent surveys (2006), nearly a quarter of the Icelanders believe in their existence, and another third assume it possible. But in Iceland also are dragons lying under the lava and various sea-creatures or lake-creatures in the waters...
For our little journey looking for the Huldufólk we had a car - and even two! No hitchhiking this time. We could get the polo with which I do the airport transfers. But right after leaving Keflavik, we had a breakdown with the car (the 3rd I had with this car!). The trip started well! Not enough money to call anyone we had to walk back to the town. But luckily (and quite surprisingly) our boss gave us the key of another car so we could go on with our plans! Direction : Grindavik, once again. But only crossing this time. After passing the town we drove along the southern coast of Reykjanes peninsula. The southern coast is much more beautiful than the northest one, more mountainous. We would like to get to Krýsuvíkurberg, some cliffs famous for birdwatching. To approach the cliffs we need to go out of the road. Fortunatly we are driving a 4x4 kangoo so we don't have to walk until there. That's very funny to follow the rocky trail and cross some shallow waters with a kangoo. Cliffs are nice, with very dark stones. Perfect spot for a picnic. But no birds to watch, only sheeps around us.
Later we got to Krýsuvík, a geothermal area in the mountains. Grey, red, yellow, green, the hills offer a colourful frame behind the steam. Boiling mud around us bubbles and brings us aroma of bad eggs. The smoke, everywhere, runs out of craters as if Hell was opening under our feet. We climbed on the hill to have a look on the smoky land. Solstafar, the hill, is actually a vent, a chimney shaped by the steam. On our way we could see the hill smoking by its sides. We actually didn't know it while climbing. Now it seems to us like we were sitting on a giant pressure cooker! Climbing wasn't easy, because of the strong winds, but the view was worth it.
Further we drove along a lake on an impressive gravel road, going up and down the hills. Kleifarvatn is a large lake (about 10 km2) and is almost only "feeded" by ground water. Landscape was incredible. The blue water contrasts with the black sand. This huge lake seems like a small sea, with waves crushing on the beach. A monster, ressembling a huge serpent, is suppose to live in the depths but we didn't see it. Probably the highlight of our day was this ride by the lake.
And in the end we arrived in Hafnarfjörður, a viking town at the entrance of Reykjavik. We had a walk around the harbour and the center. The town is quite lovely, with nice houses and streets (for icelandic standards). A bit out of the center, we found Hellisgerði park, supposedly inhabited by the royal family of Elves. Hellisgerði is a garden in the shadow of trees and rocks. We didn't find any Elves, only some cute blonde kids with unpronounceable names who seemes interested in us. This must be the ideal place for children to play and teenagers to hide.
We didn't find any Huldufólk today, but we had a pretty nice day. We discovered some amazing things to sight that were actually very close to us.
For our little journey looking for the Huldufólk we had a car - and even two! No hitchhiking this time. We could get the polo with which I do the airport transfers. But right after leaving Keflavik, we had a breakdown with the car (the 3rd I had with this car!). The trip started well! Not enough money to call anyone we had to walk back to the town. But luckily (and quite surprisingly) our boss gave us the key of another car so we could go on with our plans! Direction : Grindavik, once again. But only crossing this time. After passing the town we drove along the southern coast of Reykjanes peninsula. The southern coast is much more beautiful than the northest one, more mountainous. We would like to get to Krýsuvíkurberg, some cliffs famous for birdwatching. To approach the cliffs we need to go out of the road. Fortunatly we are driving a 4x4 kangoo so we don't have to walk until there. That's very funny to follow the rocky trail and cross some shallow waters with a kangoo. Cliffs are nice, with very dark stones. Perfect spot for a picnic. But no birds to watch, only sheeps around us.
Later we got to Krýsuvík, a geothermal area in the mountains. Grey, red, yellow, green, the hills offer a colourful frame behind the steam. Boiling mud around us bubbles and brings us aroma of bad eggs. The smoke, everywhere, runs out of craters as if Hell was opening under our feet. We climbed on the hill to have a look on the smoky land. Solstafar, the hill, is actually a vent, a chimney shaped by the steam. On our way we could see the hill smoking by its sides. We actually didn't know it while climbing. Now it seems to us like we were sitting on a giant pressure cooker! Climbing wasn't easy, because of the strong winds, but the view was worth it.
And in the end we arrived in Hafnarfjörður, a viking town at the entrance of Reykjavik. We had a walk around the harbour and the center. The town is quite lovely, with nice houses and streets (for icelandic standards). A bit out of the center, we found Hellisgerði park, supposedly inhabited by the royal family of Elves. Hellisgerði is a garden in the shadow of trees and rocks. We didn't find any Elves, only some cute blonde kids with unpronounceable names who seemes interested in us. This must be the ideal place for children to play and teenagers to hide.
