Part-III
The next day promised to be exciting and long. We drove to Dalvik, from where we had to take the ferry to Grimsey Island. The drive was stressful. It was a race against time and we were the last ones to board the ferry. Huffing and puffing we settled, bracing ourselves for the rough sea. Grimsey Island is located in the Arctic Circle. It took us three hours by ferry to reach there. The Island has a population of around 80 people but is home to millions of sea birds, including the puffins. A quaint island, with one shop and a cafeteria. Throughout the journey, we were searching for whales, but unfortunately, we didn’t spot any.
At Grimsey, we trekked up to the Arctic Monument Ball. It is a 9-ton concrete sphere that marks the boundary of the Arctic Circle on Grimsey.
The bright-coloured puffins were a definite show stealer. My first impression of Puffins was, they are like mini penguins. Bright, chatty, and sweet. Gagan and the kids put the camera to good use, while I enjoyed just being there. The diversity and beauty of the place and the calmness broken by the cacophony of puffins was profound. It was calming.There was so much to soak in. It felt like being on top of the world, quite literally. We returned to Dalvik by 7 p.m. and then a three-hour drive to the next location Hvammstangi. That day I observed we were all talking less. It was a long and satisfying day.
The next morning we headed to Snæfellsnes and stopped at Vatnshellir Cave. This cave is a result of an eruption which happened around 8000 years ago, but it was discovered around 60 years back. The rocks are brightly coloured due to iron and sulphur. At one point in the tour, the guide asked us to switch off our torches, I hadn’t seen anything this dark in my life. We couldn’t see our hands even if we waved them before our eyes; it was that dark. We continued to marvel at the wonders of nature. Throughout our drive, we had seen countless sheep and horses on the farms. Finally, we had the opportunity to pull over at a farm and stop to admire the horses. To our delight, they came to the fence to be petted. It was a joy to pet them, and even more satisfying to see my kids squeal with delight at the opportunity to pet them. I don’t know what made me smile more, the horses or my kids petting them. They surely looked majestic.
After spending the night in Snæfellsnes, we headed to Reykjavik where we were excited to experience typical tourist activities. We enjoyed shopping for souvenirs, visiting a church, and walking along the main street of Reykjavik. Our interactions with the locals were heartwarming. While we were in a shop buying postcards, we had to wait a little longer in the queue because the shopkeeper was engaged in a passionate discussion with the customer ahead of us. To our surprise, when it was our turn to pay, the shopkeeper didn’t charge us for the postcards because he felt bad for making us wait. Despite our insistence, he refused to accept any payment. We were truly touched by his gesture.
After a dreamy vacation, it was time to send the milkman a message “Bhaiya, please start supplying milk from tomorrow.” We landed in Bengaluru at 1:30 a.m. in the darkness of the sky.
Anecdote of Part 3: The lady in the Ceramic ware shop in Reykjavik was excited to learn that we were from India. She narrated her tale of visiting India, where she drove a “TUK TUK” from Jodhpur to Bangalore. A distance of roughly 2000km. She was quite excited to share her experience. We were amused and in awe of her adventurous spirit. We Indians might shy away from an experience like this.
