East Fjords, Reindeer, and Glaciers

 The beauty of the eastern fjords of Iceland is impossible to capture in words or in photos. You round each bend for a better view than the moment before. We read that there are about 3000 reindeer in the eastern fjord area but that they are not often spotted. They stay in the highlands except in the winter. We were lucky to see several small herds along the way. They are not native to Iceland, but have lived here since the 18th century when they were imported from Norway in hopes that they could be domesticated after disease killed 60% of Iceland's sheep.

Several of the quirkier things we saw today were outdoor art installations. One was a set of 34 granite eggs along a wharf. Each one represents a different nesting bird in the area. Its called Eggin í Gleðivík, or the Eggs of Merry Bay. The artist is Sigurður Guðmundsson.

The other bit of quirky art was an oversized orange chair set on a rock by the road. Having seen a lot of trolls along the route today, I can only assume that this chair was put there as a wayside stop for the trolls or the little people of Iceland. I wanted Doug or Ron to sit on it for the photo, but there were too many other people doing the same thing and we didn’t want to wait. Lucky them.

Finally, we got to Jökulsárlón, the glacial lagoon running off the largest glacier in Iceland—Vatnajökull. A cold wind was blowing off the glacier, but it was worth getting a bit chilled. Four Hollywood movies were filmed here: A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Batman Begins.

Our hotel tonight is in the village of Hof, which is home to one of the six remaining sod churches in Iceland. We have now seen two of the six.