The Iceland Golden Tour
I have to admit, this Iceland vacation has been fun, but has been missing a key component: activity. Going somewhere else to relax seems like a waste of time to me. If I visit somewhere else, I want to be doing something. With my trip to Cambodia, I woke up early every morning, biked to temples, and probably biked over 40 km a day. So far, I’ve done a load of drinking and dancing and a lot of sleeping. I’ve also been eating richly, including more junk food then I eat in a six month period. Consequently, I feel sluggish, gross, and completely and totally useless.
Until today, that is: The Golden Circle Tour. 2009 Personal Friend Remix edition.
Our Icelandic friend Steini offered to show us some key Icelandic cultural sites, including the Geysers, Þingvellir, and Gullfoss. Personally, I was thrilled that we were finally “doing” something. We started off on our trek, heading out to the beach and the Pearl, which had a man-made geyser. It also has an awesome observation deck, which allowed us a panoramic view of the city. While Steini, Patrick, and Jeff headed to the left, I headed to the right, which provided a view of the ocean. While viewing the grey vista of the sea, slightly misted through haze of rain, I felt a tug on my heart that I recognized. I continued to stare at the vista, trying to listen to this feeling from my heart. It remained elusive, and I could not go deeper into there.
From the Pearl, we headed off. The Icelandic countryside is so vast and windswept. Desolate is a word that comes to mind, but I think that sounds very negative. Instead, it seems rich—deep and full of memory. We drove through the countryside, and finally stopped near Nesjalaugar. It was beautiful set of walking paths with faerie rocks all around. The moss that covered the rocks was incredibly soft and spongey, and it felt like I was stepping on a trampoline. It was very cool. As I walked around, I found several amazing rock formations, and interesting patches of grass and flowers. Like with many sites that we visited today, it would have been great to stay there a little bit longer.
From Nesjalaugar, we headed to Þingvellir, the site of the original Viking Parliament. When Patrick asked Steini where the building was, Steini drolly replied, “We’re Vikings; we met outside.” We wandered around the park. I found this cool rock formation that a had a cleft in it. When I looked at the surrounding rocks, it looked like there was a face in the rocks. I loved it. Took a few pictures here, and read about the Viking Parliament. There was also a tourist site, where we stopped in. They had quote s from various Viking personages. After a short stop inside, we headed onto the other side of Þingvellir, which had a beautiful view of a small stream and a waterfall. We took some pictures, and were promised some additional views of waterfalls.
We piled into the car, and headed off to the geysers. I have to admit, I was expecting this to be an amazing and exquisite natural phenomenon. While it was cool to see water come shooting out the ground, it was kind of a large burst of water, and then some silence. I wanted to catch a picture of it. Unfortunately, the timing of this was difficult, as it would just happen and subside. I think it was either Patrick or I (or both) who compared it to sex. A lot of foreplay and then a quick explosion which leaves everyone feeling less than satisfied. Plus it burns when it gets in your eyes. Lots of similarities!
From here, we headed to the waterfall. This was EXQUISITE. Totally awesome and amazing. It was pure, pure roaring energy and force. The pictures tell a much better story than my words could. We took quite a few pictures, and I had Patrick film me doing some awkwardly improvisational yoga poses. I wish that I could shoot a whole yoga video there.
After the waterfall, we came back to Reykjavik. Patrick immediately began making a dinner of butter chicken and Masaman curry. It was delicious. We had some naan bread as a side and a strongly tannic Merlot. It was very tasty. After dinner, we settled into uploading and reviewing our pictures. I started to feel a little antsy, and decided to take a walk.
Unlike in Cambodia, I have had a lot of free time on this trip, and I’ve subsequently been able to check my email from work. I know this is a bad idea, but it helps to pass the time. Unfortunately, there’s quite a few things going on at work that have me a little less than thrilled. During my walk, I had some time to think about it. After listening to one of Pema Chodron’s CDs, I have really begun to notice the way that I spin narratives about situations, images of situations and possible outcomes. For example, for one particular work issue, I visualized myself coming in all hell fire and brimstone, telling everybody to do their work (with various expletives), chewing out the students, and then being unceremoniously fired after confronting everyone. It definitely smacked of the dramatic.
I played out quite a few other scenarios before realizing that I was engaging in some serious wheel spinning. I had to laugh at myself. How useless the mind is in actually solving problems! At the same time, our wisdom can be right while our ego refuses to act. I think I’m currently in the middle of that reality. I need to act consciously from what is in front of me, not in the realities my mind is spinning to justify action or inaction. Once again, the yoga teacher is incapable of implementing his own teaching. However, I don’t think I’m in bad company—it once again just proves that I’m human. That’s a good place to be.