The toughest man.

Imagine you live on one of the most remote spots in Europe. You tend your sheep farm, as your parents before you. Then, one slippery winter day you slide off the steep road leading away from the wind blown bay where you manage to make a living.

You are paralysed waist down, after a miraculous survival. Your insurance company refuse to pay up. Everybody expect you to succumb, move to town, get the social services and benefits where the system wants you. So that is what you do, 'cause your name is not Ástþór Skúlason. He is a stayer. The toughest man I have ever met.

The farm Melanes has the exceptional view of Europes longest bird cliff, towards Latrabjarg.

Àsthor slaugthering a ram.

Fresh testicles.

No wonder it is called Raudisandir - Red Sands. 

Be safe.

Iceland's Wild West

It was late in the season, but I pushed on and reached Làtrabjarg, which is the end of the road in Europe when you go west. Few people inhabit this part of Iceland and I got to know a fine selection of them. They brought me to search for stray sheep before they were sent off to the slaughterhouse. I can't imagine you get better meat than this.

Panoramic view of Làtrabjarg, an amazing bird cliff and Europe's westernmost point.

Be warned, this could easily be a literally DEAD END. Well, the road surely is. 

Eyvi and Jacob took me sheep spotting.

The ocean is 300 meters below.

Borgar, a most peculiar guy in an isolated farm introduced me to some of his skills and interests. Making window frames from driftwood, restoring tractors and bulldozers, making the finest hangikjøt you can dream of. This is sheep meat hung in the smoke of sheep shit. Yes, you heard me. And it tastes like heaven. Check it out in this episode of Paul i Vesterled - Pauls heads Westwards.

Borgar lives here, opposite Patreksfjord town. As he says; "Maybe it is not worse than anywhere else".

Hangikjøt made by Borgar. Meat does not get any better than this.

Enjoy!

Riding across Iceland

My stuff and Strokkur

Most tourists spend far to little time on Iceland, barely allowing time to visit the "The Golden Triangle" of Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. These are all well worth seeing, but please show this island of sagas more respect, and venture further and stay longer. Let my series be an introduction, even if my three months there only allowed me to explore the western half of Iceland.

The bike

I chose the bike, with a trailer as main mean of transport. A Trek / Gary Fisher Genesis 29" was the perfect bike for the job, along with my Bike Bob trailer, with suspension on the wheel. They did a great job on the long stretches of rough gravel and wet dirt.

The powerful falls at Gullfoss.

Paul Olai-Olssen and a "teddy-horse".

A beautiful multitude of colours.

The Horses

Riding an Icelandic horse is one of the most Icelandic experiences you can have. This cosy creature reminds of a crossing between a teddy bear and a camel. For hundreds of years, it has been bread towards reliability and sturdiness. It should "tölt" (the typical Icelandic gait) well and generally behave as a nice horse. If it fails in this, it will be eaten, as horse meat is among the best I have eaten. The result is a wonderful race of multicoloured, hard working horses that has been kept isolated from all other horses ever since the viking-era.

Samúel Örn Erlingsson became a good friend.

Crossing one of several rivers.

Àsa and her dog.

The trip

Arranging a ride in Iceland is very easy. I contacted Ishestar, but you can find several alternatives. What seemed a good alternative to me, was to join the trip from Kjóastaðir, situated near the southern end of the Kjölur trail. You should of course choose route according you your riding skill, in order to complete and enjoy the adventure. This I did not, but my background as a kayaker (balance) and long distance biker (endurance) did to some extent compensate for my total lack of horsemanship.

Hot pool and women - and cold bjór!

Undertaking a somewhat tough journey with 25 people you never knew before is a fascinating social experiment. The participants differed greatly in age and background, but ...

... a pleasant and surprising bonus for a single male traveller, was to realise that the majority of horse-tourists consist of charming women from all over Europe. This definitely boosted my spirit in times of hardship and pain...  ;)

Àsa, Hjalti and their bunch.

The nature

Landscapes of Iceland are something else. From the plane it seems that the lava flows have just frozen, and on the ground you will many places se steam and hot springs, escape routes in case of volcanic eruptions or other signs of thermic activities. The Island (referred to as "The Rock" among locals) are alive, in multiple meanings of the word...

No place is like Iceland, go explore, and make sure to enjoy the following episodes that will be presented her on Pauls Planet Blog!

Paul i Vesterled!

Finally! What else can I say. Years have passed without this series, that I am so proud of, could be shared here on my blog. It has been a long struggle with broadcasters and newspapers. To put it short, they seem not to find it "commercially interesting", so I hope you will judge for yourself and any opinion will be most welcome below. As I write, the programs are shown every week on TV8, thanks to the enthusiastic support of "Japan Photo", a great photoshop chain which is most inspiring to cooperate with. Do check them out, if you live in Scandinavia.

"Paul i Vesterled" translates "Paul goes west" or "Paul takes the western trails", which to a Norwegian would mean crossing the ocean towards the islands in the North Atlantic. These are closely related to us, both in the original language, which they have kept more of, and many other customs. This is one of the reasons why I want to shed a light on this cultural treasure.

And then there's nature. Nature like you would not imagine. Awesome is the perfect word for it, as I have time and time paused, in awe, just sucking in the splendour surrounding me on the trip.

Action has been a great part of the adventure. To be very honest, I am lucky to be here today. And somewhat skilful, as a couple of the challenges I met on this trip belongs to my top five list of experiences that could have been my last one.

Much more to come!

What more can I say. Here you have the promo for the series. I do have to admit that my later projects (you will find them on the bar to the right) have improved my skills in editing, sound and colour adjustment, but my guess is that you will not be disappointed and the stories are nonetheless powerful  enough to make the episodes more than worth viewing. Please do share your favourite with your pals on the web and help me reach out, as I think both the programs themselves and the exceptional characters in them deserve it!

IMPORTANT: Everything is high resolution, so choose HD! And I have taken the pain to subtitle everything, so choose English or Norwegian text as you like, on the right side of the bar just below the image.

This post offers the promo for the series. Tomorrow I'll give you the first episode, and every Thursday after that, for 13 more weeks, I will open up the world of the Faroe Islands and Iceland to you, with background stories and the odd cut away scene. You have something to look forward to!

... and a belated Happy New Year to all. Make it one to remember for something good.