Frag Out! Magazine

Arrival my first impression after landing on this island – a country of contrasts, pure, fresh air, huge spaces and unfavourable weather. the interchanging cloudiness and rainfalls in the company of the freezing, blustery wind were the first visiting card of the artic climate of this land. A few hours spent in reykjavik enabled me to com- plete my equipment which i had taken for expedition. the emergency food rations, a special sweater pro- tecting against body heat loss which was local made of the icelandic sheep, gas cartridges and additional dried food were the last logistics element tying to- gether a preparation for my "hike of iceland". 8:00 p.m., on the horizon can be seen a slow sunset, begins twilight. departure to Akureyri, a several thou- sand town in the northern iceland. while flying a small, local plane i admired a changing landscape of western and central part of this country. underneath was de- veloping large spaces of endless volcanic deserts and huge, developed ice tongues drifting to the Atlantic ocean. it was a foretaste of the iceland interior which i was to overcome. i felt first symptoms of fear and inse- curity. i did not know what were the conditions under- neath, what was a natural topography, what waited for me after crossing a border of the highlands of iceland. 45 minutes later i landed in Akureyri. the town was surrounded by the green ords, above a picturesque bay, a neighbourhood was quite different from the bird's eye views. the landscape was magnificent, not unfriendly, it was felt maritime air and an atmosphere of the seaside, fishing locality. i spent a night in the hostel. i ate my last warm, real meal, i prepared a rucksack for an expedition and i checked up again a condition of the equipment and electrical devices (solar panel, gPs, camera, video camera, power packs) which were supposed to be helpful during hiking. in the morning i hit the road . After a few hours of catching a transport to rekjahlid, a small village located by lake myvtan, i reached my destination. first, i went to the place called namaall, where i watched a visualisation entitled "A breathing earth". the landscape resembled to me shots from a science fiction movie. the hills were hidden in the sulphur fumes spewing out from the crevices of the cracked earth's crust. the highlands and a surface on which i stood glittered with colours: beginning from yellow, until red or orange. everywhere could be smelt a foul odour of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulphide smells like that), but after some time i managed to get used to it. standing a few meters away from the fissure was the most impressive. i was in the middle of steam spewing out from the centre of the earth. i felt as it breathed! more or less two hours later i set out towards open spaces. A rucksack which weighted 28 kilograms, in- cluding 3 litres of water, caused many inconveniences. despite trainings which i had performed before a de- parture, at the beginning a weight of the equipment was like a thorn in my flesh causing many abrasions. i was moving to the lava fields called dimmuborgir. According to the icelanders it is just there where land- ed satan after as it was banished from heaven. the narrow paths, uneven terrain – i had to observe careful each meter of my way so that no to be expose yourself for unnecessary injuries. www.fragoutmag.com

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