Iceland in Black & White

Iceland in Black & White

It's been a year since the trip and I'm not any good a writer, however, since I've worked on some of my images for a project of mine I've decided to extend it some more including additional images and write this report. Images are in black & white since the project was in b&w and I think it may give some interesting perspective to the hole report since there are so many fine report here.

I will not bore you with much text, this is primary a photo story :)

So, let's begin. The trip was like below, 6000km with ferries, 1500km with trains (Munich - Hamburg) and 6500km with the bike, the route from Patras, GR to Ancona, IT and all the way up to Hanstholm, DK.

The route

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Not much drama until DK, the usual Autostrada/Autobahn route and some stops for rest until Hanstholm.

Some stop before Denmark

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From there 2 days no Norrona to the next stop Seyðisfjörður. Having not the best of fortune we ran into a storm after - what we where told later - of almost a month of great sunshine! For 2 days it rained almost constantly and was freezing cold with the temperature gauge in the bike reading at some point 3.5*C ! Now that's a 10 fold decrease in temperature from the 35*C where we started in South Europe!

Eastfjords






Eastfjords (You loose counting of waterfalls after a while)






Eastfjords






Route 939






Route 939






Route 939







Djúpivogur (The sculpture)






Djúpivogur (The harbor - view from camping site)

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End of the day was in the town of Höfn, in the only hotel of the trip trying to dry our clothes and our selfs.

(to be continued... )

Wow, I really enjoy the black and white pics. I've been wanting to go there for quite some time, I will stay tuned for the rest of the trip.

nice pics . keep them coming.

very cool

With those great shots - who needs color?!

Vatnajökull - Jökulsárlón

The original plan was to make it around the island counter-clockwise going north at first, but as a newcomer will soon find out, they will be of no use since the weather has it's own mind and will change unpredictably. The weather forecast was better for the south/west of the island so that's where we where heading. Next stop the Vatnajökull glacier and the Jökulsárlón lagoon.

The names in Icelandic seem unpronounceable and complicated, but digging a little bit deeper they're usually combination of different words which makes it quite easier to decipher. For example Vatnajökull is a combination of vanta (water/lake) and jökull (glacier), so a name with jökull in it will most likely be a name of glacier or a place near it.


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Vatnajökull<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-2.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vatnajökull (Two Germans where lost falling in a crevasse in this place in 2007, their bodies never recovered. )<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-3.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vatnajökull (close up)<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-4.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vatnajökull<br>
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Ice pieces broken off the glacier flow down the river and end up in black sand beach creating a spectacular landscape of contrast.

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-5.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Icebergs in beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-6.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Icebergs in beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-7.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Icebergs in beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-8.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Icebergs in beach<br>
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<a href="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-9.jpg"> <img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-9.jpg" alt="" border="0" width="800px"></a><br>
Pieces of ice breaking up (click to enlarge)<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-2-10.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Camping next to Vatnajökull<br>
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&#924;&#960;&#961;&#945;&#946;&#959; &#947;&#953;&#945; &#964;&#951;&#957; &#960;&#949;&#961;&#953;&#960;&#949;&#964;&#949;&#953;&#945; &#954;&#945;&#953; &#964;&#951;&#957; &#945;&#957;&#964;&#959;&#967;&#951; &#957;&#945; &#960;&#945;&#962; &#956;&#949;&#967;&#961;&#953; &#949;&#954;&#949;&#953; &#960;&#945;&#957;&#969;....

Mate I wish you the best...always ride safe...

bravo re file ekanes pragmatikotita oneiro etwn ,.to apoluto taxidi se mia alli diastasi.panta kala xiliometra

Skógafoss - Skógar - Vik

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-1.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Off west to next stop, Vik<br>
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West, the waters of Eyjafjallajökull glacier feed the Skógafoss waterfall falling from a hight of 60m.

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-2.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Skógafoss<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-3.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Skógafoss (close up)<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-4.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Horses seems to be everywhere!<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-5.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
What a better place for camping?<br>
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With better weather we make it to the infamous black sand beaches of Vik. Vik it self is a small town on the southern tip of Iceland with a population of about 6000 people. With half the population of the country in the greater Reykjavik area, the rest of the country is sparse populated giving you a great sense of openness and freedom.

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-6.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vik beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-7.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vik beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-8.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vik beach<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-3-9.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Vik<br>
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There's nothing really that far out of reach, all it needs is to get on the saddle and ride it! We live in a small world.
Thank you all for the encouraging comments.
&#957;.

Route 35: Gullfoss - Geysir - Langjökull

This is the route going to the most popular places Gullfoss, Geysir and the surrounding area. First stop to a volcanic crater along the way before reaching Gullfoss & Geysir.

Volcanic crater






Gullfoss






Gullfos






Geysir ready to explode






Geysir






Route 35 (gravel starts)






Route 35 (towards Langjokull)






Langjokull






Langjokull

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Wow, the transparent iceberg shots are fantastic

Love how you converted the MapSource screenshot to B&W too

Route 26 & Icelandic horses

Route 26






Route 26






Route 26






Route 26






Icelandic horses






Icelandic horses






Icelandic horses






Icelandic horses

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Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

Putting this in B&W was fantastic, GREAT RR!

Wonderful Imagery!

Selfoss - Seljalandsfoss - Eyrarbakki

The day started in the camping site in Selfoss with rain and strong wind. Selfoss was a small farming village until 1891 when the bridge in the river Ölfusá was build reducing significant the distance from the capital Reykjavik. After that Selfoss grew from a village of 40 people to a town of 6000.

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-6-1.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Selfoss bridge on river Ölfusá<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-6-2.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Selfoss shop<br>
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Seljalandsfoss with a hight of 60m. During the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull the waters flowing down from the glacier with the same name destroyed part of Route 1 and the road leading to the waterfall. Reconstruction was fast though.

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-6-4.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Seljalandsfoss<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-6-5.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Seljalandsfoss<br>
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Than we headed south to Eyrarbakki where in 985 Bjarni Herjólfsson set sail towards Greenland reaching along the costs of North America. Later Leif Eriksson using the same ship set foot on the shores of today Newfoundland, than Vinland (Wine land).

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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-6-3.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Shores of Eyrarbakki<br>
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Þingvellir

Þingvellir is a place of historic, cultural and geological importance, the place where the tectonic plates of America and Europe unite. Þingvellir was the place of the Islandic parlament (Alþingi) since it's founding in 930 up to 1789! From 1930 it's a national park.

Þingvellir






Þingvellir






Öxarárfoss in Þingvellir






Þingvellir

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Reykjavik

Streetshots from Reykjavik

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Hallgrímskirkja<br>
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Reykjavik<br>
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Reykjavik<br>
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Reykjavik<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-8-5.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Reykjavik<br>
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<img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-8-6.jpg" alt="" border="0"><br>
Reykjavik<br>
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<a href="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-8-7.jpg"> <img src="http://io.ceid.upatras.gr/adv/island/island-8-7.jpg" alt="" border="0" width="800px"></a><br>
Reykjavik panorama (click to enlarge)<br>
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