After Pingeyri, I rode another few kilometres to a town called Isafjordur, the biggest in the Westfjords Region. Here I met a guy from couchsurfing, Patrick, a student from China who has been studying here for almost a year. Im kinda surprised to hear from Patrick that the education here is cheap compared to anywhere else. Maybe its cheap for him, as I guess he must come from a very rich family in China. He travel a lot around the world while still a student at the age of 25, so I guess he must be a lucky kid. I really took a rest here, eat all I can and get all the good sleep in a proper bed inside a warm room after been struggling with the cold Arctic wind that was constantly blowing directly to my face. It has the population of about 2000 people and a very picturesque town. It looks empty most of the time, the centre of this town is very quiet even during office hour and almost look like a ghost town after 10pm.

capturing the arctic light during the midnight sun

This town is at the seaside and is surrounded by lush and long fjords. I took the opportunity to hike to one of the fjords during the night (its very bright at night here anyway) to capture the beautiful image of this town from above and also the Midnight Sun. I was lucky, when the sun was at the horizon, the color of the sky really turned blue mixed with pink, making the environment turned purple color, looks like fantasy! It was an easy hike, the fjord isn’t so steep and I was climbing with very light luggage. It was cold during the night but I was wearing enough clothes so I felt very pleasant.

view of Isafjordur from the fjord

the color is magical! macam dalam game!

I was introduced with Patrick’s classmates, all foreigners studying here in a local university in Isafjordur. Theyre from all over the world and I was surprised to see some Asians here too, Thai and Filipinos mostly who are married to Icelanders and settle down here. I even see a Thai restaurant here but it is very expensive. This town is really at the north point in the Westfjords and the whole of Iceland, only a few kilometres away from touching the Arctic Circle. So its very cold here because of the high latitude even on summer. It is fine when the sun is shining brightly but when the sun is covered by thick clouds, it feels like winter here.

few km after that snowy hill, is the Arctic Circle!

reflection and balance!

After this town, I will ride out of the Westfjords, getting back to the main highway in the centre of Iceland. Riding out of the lonely remote fjords here will take me more than 300km. So I need to carry a lot of food with me and make sure my bicycle is really in good condition because there is nothing in this 300km road along the winding long fjords. Isafjordur is a town in middle of nowhere! Just like an oasis in the middle of a desert!

the harbor of Isafjordur on daytime