Today is Tuesday, Sept 11been working on my steps for what seems like days nowI can't believe I took that job onbut they were so temptingI noticed these steps on this big cabin and it appeared that the first two were not attached and likely to cause a major spillso I decided to fix themshould be no big deal but of course, I start taking them apart and the whole set of steps is rottennow I have to build new stepsno one else wants to go near the job because, of course, making steps is totally annoying and very difficult to do correctlyesp lacking the correct toolsso not only do I have the ordinary challenges of step making, but there is a motley and minimal collection of wood for me to use and the tools need to be locatedit's one of those jobs where you inventory your tools and supplies and then create from therenot like this is a lengthy stairwell or anything, but I barely know how to do stepshowever, I'm acting like of course I can do itand Oddur and Omar are very supportive and don't question my abilities, which is so surprising but very much appreciated
the riders leave
So I've been fabricating this stairwayslightly obsessed with itI go to bed thinking about how on earth I'm going to put the materials together to make a stairwayI'm sincerely enjoying doing it for the most part but often pretty frustrated because it's taking so long with these atypical constraintsplus it's cold out and rainy on and offminor impediments out hereand we thought we were going to leave the camp tomorrow to go back to Reykjavik but I know I for one can't leave because I've got to finish my steps
Speaking of leaving, we learn today that a huge storm is expected and the river is going to rise and the busses won't be able to pass tomorrow anywayso a few volunteers had to leave earlier than planned so they could make their planesand we're leaving later than planned (lucky for the steps)
There were all these horse women here for a few days lots of beautiful horsesthey have to ford the rivers and get downstream before the floodingan amazing sight all these horses crossing this river that's up beyond their bellies (check out the photos)I think they must have been freezing cause that water is soooo coldanyway tomorrow, more rain, looking forward to another expression of extremity around here
horses ready to go
Wednesdaythe day of the rains Sleep late listening to the rain and windcan't work in thisbut I've still got to finish those steps so by afternoon I'm out there working in the rainit's letting up a bit anywayI enlist Lisa to help cut the wedgesand for moral supportfinally by 8pm it's done!! And I think they look greatas Edwan says"les marches de la gloire"anyway Oddur and Omar like themand they're in charge of the campthe steps will never go anywhere cause I totally overbuilt themthey'll probably hold up thru the next eruptionor glaciationwhatever comes first
Big celebratory dinner of salmon and lamb and other good stuffOmar and Oddur pull out the beer for everybodyit's a nice gathering even though I think we're starting to get on each other's nerveswell maybe not everybodyand maybe it's more a product of the delayed departureI guess for me there are a number of people I'd like to remain friends withthey are a pleasure to talk to and then there are others that I'm sure will drift from consciousness even though they were integral to our time together in this land
Have an enlightening talk with Jacob and Helga about geneticsHelga is Icelandic through and throughand she has her family tree mapped to 36 generations ago!!!which is pretty amazing to me since I don't even know anything about my great grandparentsshe's blown away by the fact that I don't know my family tree and that my parents are of two radically different ethnicitiesapparently in Iceland they can take the names of two people, pop them into a computer and find out how long ago they were directly relatedand Helga says its usually to a max of 6 generationsit's a pretty closed gene pool when you think about it that wayand it's so well documented since they've got everyone's DNA mapped and recordedthey say that's one reason the crime rate is so lowfirst off, everybody's basically related and if you leave a cell or two at the scene of the crime, they've got you with the DNA evidence
they're off
Tonight, a bonfire to celebrate the end of work campof course everything is soaked through to it's core so there's no way it's going to lightkeeps fizzling outso Omar goes and gets like a 5 gal container of gasoline and throws it onit torches up out of controlthe heat is intenseyou just know that black smoke has filled the crystal clean night airso much for carbon-neutralfunny in a country that prides itself on not burning fossil fuels and producing no emissionsjust for a bonfire I guess it's ok
And then there's the northern lightsit's been too cloudy to see them but tonight is partly clear and there are green streaks moving up the skymesmerizinguntil a cloud bank notices the clarity and puts a stop to it
On Thursday it's time to gothe river's down - still high but downtime to pack up and start crossing rivers Pretty excited about the rideand it completely lives up to my expectations
Back to Reykjavik, the most expensive city in the worldseriously, they have fed us really well at Thorsmorck but I'm not going to eat anymorecrazily expensivea beer is $10we went to a food store and tried to buy something to make for dinnerall too expensivewhich is a shift as a traveling American, the dollar being worth so littleI really don't get why the costit's out of reachwe looked at chicken breasts in the store$7 eachfor a single breastand they were small1/4 pound of salami for about $6
led by two riders
a pint of Ben and Jerry's which was on sale for 30% off and it was still $12 And then there's the youth hostel in Reykjavikthe most expensive hostel I've ever stayed in was in Paris-$40 for two peoplewell Reykjavik is $40 for one personand it doesn't include breakfast!! That's another $12for a hostel breakfast I could go on quoting pricesbut believe me it's just shockinganyway we camped outside in a tent - and it was pretty chilly but cozyhad to quadruple stake the tent down cause the wind was so severe - but it was $44 for two people instead of $80 for inside We slept well, rented a car (at $90 a day I might add, but as I said the busses aren't running anymore) and are headed out tomorrow to drive around the countrytaking the ring road, the road that loops around the countrythere's not too much in the interior and certainly no roads we could drive unless we want to cross rocky fields and ford riversand maybe drive over a glacier or two
By the way, if you've never tried rotten shark you might want to It's perhaps the nastiest thing I've ever tastedbeyond nastyit's caught and then buried in the ground for 2 weeks to rotand it doesyou start to chew it and it chokes you cause it's so strong with ammoniaand you're supposed to wash it down with Brennevin (the name is something like that), anyway it's a hard liquor that tastes almost as bad as the sharkit's some sort of Icelandic traditional foodeating it made me feel like I was on Fear Factorbut I had to stop at one piece
It's great to be able to read my email and hear from all you people!! I thoroughly enjoyed catching up a bit, and feeling back in the loop after two weeks out therealthough tomorrow we start driving around the island and I don't think there'll be reception for another 5-6 days But you keep writing cause I'll get your thoughts eventually
the riders leave
So I've been fabricating this stairwayslightly obsessed with itI go to bed thinking about how on earth I'm going to put the materials together to make a stairwayI'm sincerely enjoying doing it for the most part but often pretty frustrated because it's taking so long with these atypical constraintsplus it's cold out and rainy on and offminor impediments out hereand we thought we were going to leave the camp tomorrow to go back to Reykjavik but I know I for one can't leave because I've got to finish my steps
Speaking of leaving, we learn today that a huge storm is expected and the river is going to rise and the busses won't be able to pass tomorrow anywayso a few volunteers had to leave earlier than planned so they could make their planesand we're leaving later than planned (lucky for the steps)
There were all these horse women here for a few days lots of beautiful horsesthey have to ford the rivers and get downstream before the floodingan amazing sight all these horses crossing this river that's up beyond their bellies (check out the photos)I think they must have been freezing cause that water is soooo coldanyway tomorrow, more rain, looking forward to another expression of extremity around here
horses ready to go
Wednesdaythe day of the rains Sleep late listening to the rain and windcan't work in thisbut I've still got to finish those steps so by afternoon I'm out there working in the rainit's letting up a bit anywayI enlist Lisa to help cut the wedgesand for moral supportfinally by 8pm it's done!! And I think they look greatas Edwan says"les marches de la gloire"anyway Oddur and Omar like themand they're in charge of the campthe steps will never go anywhere cause I totally overbuilt themthey'll probably hold up thru the next eruptionor glaciationwhatever comes first
Big celebratory dinner of salmon and lamb and other good stuffOmar and Oddur pull out the beer for everybodyit's a nice gathering even though I think we're starting to get on each other's nerveswell maybe not everybodyand maybe it's more a product of the delayed departureI guess for me there are a number of people I'd like to remain friends withthey are a pleasure to talk to and then there are others that I'm sure will drift from consciousness even though they were integral to our time together in this land
Have an enlightening talk with Jacob and Helga about geneticsHelga is Icelandic through and throughand she has her family tree mapped to 36 generations ago!!!which is pretty amazing to me since I don't even know anything about my great grandparentsshe's blown away by the fact that I don't know my family tree and that my parents are of two radically different ethnicitiesapparently in Iceland they can take the names of two people, pop them into a computer and find out how long ago they were directly relatedand Helga says its usually to a max of 6 generationsit's a pretty closed gene pool when you think about it that wayand it's so well documented since they've got everyone's DNA mapped and recordedthey say that's one reason the crime rate is so lowfirst off, everybody's basically related and if you leave a cell or two at the scene of the crime, they've got you with the DNA evidence
they're off
Tonight, a bonfire to celebrate the end of work campof course everything is soaked through to it's core so there's no way it's going to lightkeeps fizzling outso Omar goes and gets like a 5 gal container of gasoline and throws it onit torches up out of controlthe heat is intenseyou just know that black smoke has filled the crystal clean night airso much for carbon-neutralfunny in a country that prides itself on not burning fossil fuels and producing no emissionsjust for a bonfire I guess it's ok
And then there's the northern lightsit's been too cloudy to see them but tonight is partly clear and there are green streaks moving up the skymesmerizinguntil a cloud bank notices the clarity and puts a stop to it
On Thursday it's time to gothe river's down - still high but downtime to pack up and start crossing rivers Pretty excited about the rideand it completely lives up to my expectations
Back to Reykjavik, the most expensive city in the worldseriously, they have fed us really well at Thorsmorck but I'm not going to eat anymorecrazily expensivea beer is $10we went to a food store and tried to buy something to make for dinnerall too expensivewhich is a shift as a traveling American, the dollar being worth so littleI really don't get why the costit's out of reachwe looked at chicken breasts in the store$7 eachfor a single breastand they were small1/4 pound of salami for about $6
led by two riders
a pint of Ben and Jerry's which was on sale for 30% off and it was still $12 And then there's the youth hostel in Reykjavikthe most expensive hostel I've ever stayed in was in Paris-$40 for two peoplewell Reykjavik is $40 for one personand it doesn't include breakfast!! That's another $12for a hostel breakfast I could go on quoting pricesbut believe me it's just shockinganyway we camped outside in a tent - and it was pretty chilly but cozyhad to quadruple stake the tent down cause the wind was so severe - but it was $44 for two people instead of $80 for inside We slept well, rented a car (at $90 a day I might add, but as I said the busses aren't running anymore) and are headed out tomorrow to drive around the countrytaking the ring road, the road that loops around the countrythere's not too much in the interior and certainly no roads we could drive unless we want to cross rocky fields and ford riversand maybe drive over a glacier or two
By the way, if you've never tried rotten shark you might want to It's perhaps the nastiest thing I've ever tastedbeyond nastyit's caught and then buried in the ground for 2 weeks to rotand it doesyou start to chew it and it chokes you cause it's so strong with ammoniaand you're supposed to wash it down with Brennevin (the name is something like that), anyway it's a hard liquor that tastes almost as bad as the sharkit's some sort of Icelandic traditional foodeating it made me feel like I was on Fear Factorbut I had to stop at one piece
It's great to be able to read my email and hear from all you people!! I thoroughly enjoyed catching up a bit, and feeling back in the loop after two weeks out therealthough tomorrow we start driving around the island and I don't think there'll be reception for another 5-6 days But you keep writing cause I'll get your thoughts eventually
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