Early in the morning I got great view of the spectacular north coasts of the Faroe Islands. I also saw we were heading for a fog bank further south. As we dove into the fog and the ship sounded its fog horn every two minutes, the fog got denser and denser.
First View of the Faroe Islands (by Arjan Post)
Around the time we were supposed to arrive in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands (part of Denmark), and the ship gradually slowed down more and more, all of a sudden the ghostly appearance of a big tower came up out of the fog very close to the ship! At first I thought it was a lighthouse, but it was a huge crane on our dock. We were almost docked and we still had not seen anything! Good navigating!
Norwegian Royal Yacht in Tórshavn Harbor (by Arjan Post)
P.J and I split up again today. She did a boat excursion to the Vestmanna Seacliffs. She really enjoyed that and gave you her own account. She may have made the better choice.
I chose a guided mountain hike on Streymoy Island. It was labeled “for the physically fit”, so when I saw a few fellow passengers on the bus that looked like they might not be, I was a bit concerned.
View from the Top of the Hike (by Arjan Post)
There was a young girl in her twenties who was dressed for a dating bar, not a hike. It turns out she had twisted her ankle a few days earlier. The guide advised her not to do the hike, but she was with family and insisted. All the older participants were real troopers and did just fine.
Hikers Returning (by Arjan Post)
But we all had to wait endlessly for this girl, who was limping and in agony the whole walk and had to be helped by a family and staff member. She also acted resentful that she was put through this ordeal, instead of being grateful to the people that helped her. I do not know her side of the story. I did not talk to her, because my only possible question would have been, “What the hell are you doing here?”, and that would have been rude.
Otherwise the hike was wonderful. We were not as blessed with gorgeous weather as on our day in East Iceland. Because of mountain fog, our guide had to scrap the original hike he intended for us. But he knew the island and the weather like the back of his hand and made the bus drive around until he saw a trail that looked like it was free of fog.
Back Country Lake (by Arjan Post)
As the day wore on, the fog burned off and lifted in most places. We were able to enjoy the beautiful vistas the Faroe Islands have to offer.
Kollafjørður Inlet on Streymoy Island (by Arjan Post)
I was hiking mostly with the Faroe guide and two other guys because we had a similar pace. Where were the other two guys from? One was from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the other from Jamaica Plain, a Boston city neighborhood. Remarkable, since I had not met other people from greater Boston before.
P.J and I agree: This is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. It has joined my top two (now top three): Alaska and the South Island of New Zealand. P.J and I have more or less decided we want to come back here on our own somehow.
Photos © 2014 Arjan Post. All rights reserved.