World Hitchhiking: Post #54 : Iceland

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Post #54 : Iceland - Mývatn and around

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15.05 - Back to Brussels after a fantastic human experience around the world.

Thank you for your appreciable support during the last 11 months, including the chapter in Iranian prison.

Any question about this adventure? Don't hesitate to contact me : diegomathieu@gmail.com

Pictures from other travels will be posted on a Flickr account : http://www.flickr.com/photos/bog79/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

03.05 - in Gullfoss after a cold and humid night in a tent set up at a distance from Langjökull impressive glacier. Here, nights never fall at that time of the year, or possibly turn days into something darker between 11PM to 3AM. Very little vegetation, lots of moss, sometimes 50cm thick layer on volcanic rocks; Wildlife is primarily made of birds, without considering the hundred thousands of horses and cheeps.

The tour of Iceland has begun! After few days spent in tiny Reykjavik, time has come to hike again. First destinations reached yesterday : Geysir and Gulfoss waterfall. Within a few minutes, I'll try to reach the road N1 to complete the circle clockwise in a bit more than 10 days. These are the last days of Hitchhiking; Iceland is probably the wildest place and a long time dream. Weather might not be at its best in this wild place; but that's something every Iceland lover know about such trip. Let's go for volcanoes, lava fields, glaciers, icebergs, birds, and plenty of other improvised stuffs.

30.04 - Meeting in Reykjavik with Vala who met Jeff (Albuquerque, NM USA) here in Iceland. Jeff and Vala called my parents so as to send them the last news about me when I was detained in Iran. This happened few weeks after Jeff and I were in Mashhad, Iran (see older blog posting about Iran). Thanks to both of you. I brought back the postcard from Albuquerque to Reykjavik as a symbol of renewed freedom. See 2/3 down of posting http://worldhitchhiking.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-04-13T11%3A58%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7 for info about Jeff and the message on the postcard.

29.04 - Visions of apocalypse near the volcano Eyjafjallajokull. Houses, mountains and grass covered with mud ashes. The volcano roared thunder from far away. Massive black clouds passed over our heads. We approached the scene from South and North; Unfortunately, too much cloudy and foggy to get direct views on the lava flows.

20.04 - 10 days with family in San Francisco. Special Thanks to Auriane, Sebastien and Tristan for this warm welcome.

13.04 - Arrival in Las Vegas with Clovis from Canada, great time in the casinos, with a total loss of only 15$, 20 bullets with a Springfield SPG PW9701LP GI HC 5IN 45PK at the Gun Store and a fantastic meeting with Bast & Béa, from Belgium. Time to leave the excess of Vegas and to head for San Francisco, the place where sister lives.

07.04 - Interview http://blog.freethehikers.org/1819/former-iranian-prison-detainee-hears-hiker-singing/ at the Daily Lobo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to promote a immediate release of the 3 hikers still in Iranian Prison. Please help them, both by visiting their dedicated website http://freethehikers.org/ and by joining their Facebook Group "Free The Hikers".

31.03 - Arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico on yesterday. Lots of fun with Jeff; I'm going to stay there till the 8th of April. Jeff is a good friend met in Iran (see older blog post, the guy with an American hat http://worldhitchhiking.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html ).

By accident, sister is going to join within a few days here in Albuquerque, before I leave the place and meet Mr Hachez & Bea in Vegas (?)

Besides that, we have a lot of work since Jeff in running for the county elections; there are already about 15 panels in front of his door, facing the streets. The battle in on; we already met a Democrat guy (enemy of a Republican enemy, thus friend of Jeff who's to fight hard during these primaries.. against Republicans from his own camp).

The days before, I crossed the Navajo Native Americans reservation, hiked down and up the Grand Canyons till Colorado river, met a Hopi Native indian called Moontee Sinquah who's both : dancer and singer. He even produced himself at the Danish festival of Roskilde (asides many famous worldwide rock stars) and won the 1st position at Phoenix world Native American traditional dancing contest. Please, watch by yourself his performance : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Lf_i8qHwQ

24.03 - On the way to Grand Canyon, South side, from Kayenta (Arizona). Great day at Monument Valley! Hitchhiking has never been so easy. The Navajo (Native American) reserve seems to be the best place ever for hitchhiking. There are very few cars, although 75% of these picked me up! I had to combine my own itinerary with part of improvisation; particularly when these people suggest to visit sites with them. It happened yesterday at Natural Bridges NM. Landscapes are just fantastic. Today, I mixed hiking with hitchhiking within the Monument Valley... best way to discover the surrounding nature. Thanks again to Ray and Tena who picked me up in the park and even further. I was so amazed to hear you spent few years of you life in Sterrebeek, Belgium. I spent last night in a Motel with a great grilled steak restaurant. The night before, it slept about 25m from the main road, in a Native American property, at Mexican Water. Don't forget to watch this out :

Tricky manner to cross the US (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsD3swUqVMk

21.03 - Bike Riding day in Utah, between Moab and Arches Nat Park (Video) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbPyffdFarM

Great experience; thanks again to Brad and family for the lift at the end! Tomorrow, I'm going to leave the area for Monument Valley. I'll try to hike from road 160 to 163. First, I'll have to meet local people, by hoping to find native Americans.

19.03 - Worst night ever in a tent (probably since Croatia 2002). It all started when I tried to head for a camp site near Grand Junction, Colorado. It took me hours to walk, in the night. As I didn't find the place, I resigned to set up my tent between roads, in a kind of semi-desert plain. Then, there was a storm, snowfall, wind blowing so strongly I had to hold the tent structure for hours without sleeping (I even get the video, ah ah). The next day, I woke up and realised the plain transformed into a mud field, adding extra kilos to my feet for the distance... but the worst ever happened exactly when I realised the camp site was located about 200m further; with naturally all the accommodations! After that kind of joke, I could finally reach the entrance of the interstate 70 to Utah. I left this place behin after a while, when Brad picked me up... and as from then, it seems the worst transformed into the very best! Brad drove to Moab, near Arches Nat Park, exactly where I planned to go, wow! Before dropping me on the nearest camp site, he offered me a tour of the surrounding valleys and even more : a Mexican restaurant. That was perfect. Thank you Brad! Thanks as well to the native American who allowed me to use his shower the day before. At this moment, I'm simply resting, before visiting Arches. The days after, there will probably be Monument Valleys before New Mexico. Weather is going to warm up, more and more, ah ah!

17.03 - on the way to Colorado, from Chicago. I just had time for a quick upload of pictures on Chicago. Wash. DC plus comments very soon.

13.03 - In Baltimore, dancing on the beat of the alternative music scene; very chilling experience till the early hours

Great memories of the 3 days spent in DC visiting museums, memorials, parks and official institutions. Weather, however, is not at its best. Very pleased to meet Alienor, sister of an ex-co-Belgian prisoner in Iran. Wonderful 2 hours spent in this cafe!

07.03 - lots of excitement in NYC ! Incredible city; I'm even considering staying few days more. The best : Central park, Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Building, China Town, Financial Center, the view from the South and the coasts (river & East channel). The people look so different from each others; jogging is definitively popular.. Nice mix of ties and sport shoes all around the Financial Center; Asian food is at its best as well! Yesterday, I tried the Indian food : for worth 7$, I got the "meal of the chef".
I wish you a pleasant day, Diego

01.03 - Happy Birthday to TRISTAN, my adorable godson! What am I going to do next? That's the question; it's quite cold here in Boston; I may cheat in the "hitch hiking program" to join more rapidly the center of the country. mmm...

28.02 - Nice walk in Cambridge around Harvard, great collections at the Art Museum and finally a good time with 2 Germans and a local lady.

27.02 - just arrived in New England, Boston. Cold weather comparing with the Atlantic islands. Friendly people guided me across the city. Let's go for a tour tomorrow, before calling the parents of Joe (his video message, in Portuguese : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGoQ3df6x2k )

Afterwards and depending on the weather, I may go for the state of Maine up to the north.

In case of, my very basic mobile doesn't work in the country... that was predicted :)

24.02 - resting on the island of San Miguel, after an extremely exhausting day : more than 25km from the North-West of the island, then passing the massive caldera Sete Citades at about 600m high; finally back to Ponte Delgada. Unfortunately, no time to visit other sights than Sete Citades (post #37). I really enjoyed the view at the top of the caldera on both, the Ocean and this local lake. When the sky is clear, the scenery looks like any landscape from Western Ireland... and when it's sunny, it's comparable with a tropical island.

22.02 - simply amazed by volcanoes and lava fields! The Capelinhos started its submarine activity in 1957. Few months later, it gave birth to a new territory. Since then, under the huge erosion from the sea, part of its cliffs collapsed into the ocean. It's currently possible to walk on it; it looks like a moon landscape. Mario, a local guy told me the sea is really hot at a specific location. Great for swimming during the winter was I thinking; not exactly, since sharks apparently also appreciate the warm water; Better to avoid that!
More details about this unique eruption, observed from beginning to the end :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capelinhos

Thank you Mario and Yannick for the great time at Peter's Café! Also for the lift the day before.

18.02 - Video of the Pico volcano from its crater at 2300m: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB2yQQIrY6I

Look at this view of volcano Pico during winter ! Impressive views over the Atlantic ocean, isn't it? I'm not going to forget that. Yannick, another hiker, took a picture of me with his tele lens from the other side of the crater. I'm looking forward to see the result. Yannick walked from a distance; although we stayed connected by mobile phones during the whole climbing. Not so comfortable to walk on a mix of basalt rocks and snow. I'm sorry for the Italian accent in the video.. something related to both : the cold and the emotion :)
Last words : go go go for the Azores!

13.02 - Video of Joe from Terceira, Azores : "All you need is faith and a lot of hope!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK8GLj9NsX4

Joe has lost contact with his family, still living near Boston. After spending 31 years of his life there, he's been deported, back to the Azores. I've got a mission : providing his family with another video message telling them to come here ! Let's call them once in the US to see what It looks like...
Thank you Joe for your lift and incredible stories.

World Hitchhiking