Westfjords-1

September 2016

 
 

The ferry docked on the south side of a fjord. We drove along a flat road, then on a hair-raising, twisty road along cliffs, past trout-farming enclosures, and ultimately to Patreksfjörður, where we spent the night at the West Hotel, with tiny, but very efficient rooms. The only place for dinner in town was Stúkuhúsið café, with very good, fresh fish and desserts. In the morning, we watched fishermen dump their fish on the dock; we then set out, first on a paved road and then on gravel, working our way around fjord inlets and over mountains to see the spectacular Dynjandi Falls. We climbed up past the series of smaller falls to the upper, wide and thunderous falls. After a picnic lunch, we drove along dirt roads, over the Westfjord “alps” and finally through a very long, one-lane tunnel (with pullouts for cars going in one direction) to Ísafjörður, where we visited the Historic Heritage Museum, with a very good film about the traditional life of Icelandic fishermen.