Due to a road collapse and a landslide, the Quilotoa Loop is currently subject to a significant and perilous detour just north of Lago Quilotoa – and is completely blocked to traffic north of Chugchilán. Road Collapse near Lago Quilotoa Approximately 1km north of Lago Quilotoa the first road closure has a detour that, after…
Under the partial shade of a tree there sat an old plastic garden chair. Many years ago, the yellowish chair had probably been white and, more likely than not, each of its legs had connected to the ground in a reassuringly simultaneous and sturdy manner. On this day, those properties were lost to time. The…
I have travelled this road thousands of times. I know all of its many and varied potholes, simultaneously acknowledging their growth and avoiding contact with them in the manner of a disinterested parent. I know the intersection where the traffic always slows to a crawl and where, fifty yards later, it accelerates again as…
Yesterday’s battle against the elements seemed as if it were months ago. The sun was struggling into the clear morning sky of an Icelandic winter, as if straining against the horizon’s short leash. Our car, essentially alone, was weaving in and out of the splayed fingers of the spectacular eastern fjords, stopping frequently as each…
When you drive in Iceland, it doesn’t take too long before you stop noticing the yellow poles marking the sides of rural roads. Spaced 25 to 50 metres apart and arranged in pairs, one on each side of the road, a driver could be excused for thinking their purpose is mainly decorative. Surely one glance…
Suddenly, there were headlights coming straight towards us. They swayed erratically as they accelerated out of the exit lane. We were no more than 200 yards apart – and the gap between us was closing at a rate of 50 yards each second. Adrenalin pumped furiously; white knuckles glowed in the dark; we could feel…
Journeys And 