Faroe Islands 2018 (#1)

Part 1: August 19th – 22th

By Watracz Is Traveling

March 9^th, 2020

When you’re a workaholic, it’s really hard to make time for a spontaneous getaway. There’s an unending list of urgent things to do, making the thought of taking a vacation seem like the least important thing ever.

That’s why I bought my tickets to the Faroe Islands in February, six months ahead of the trip. Why the Faroe Islands? Because the landscapes, the all-encompassing green, the sea, the fjords, and the waterfalls are not even everything. I wanted to go to a place where I wouldn’t be surrounded by tourists at every step. Where I’ll be able to have some solitude, peace, wide open spaces, to be alone and get away from the daily grind. Where I won’t be asked for directions or about where I’m from, what I’m doing there, if I can take a photo for someone, and which souvenir I’d like to buy.

This time, though, it’s not going to be a motorcycle trip. I only have a week, and to get to the Faroes on a motorbike, you need to put in quite a bit of effort and time. So my choice is to book a Ford C-Max at Vest Car Rent for 6 days. The price is 3,720 DKK. I pack my wetsuit, mask and fins — I’ll be diving in cold seawater. Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to spot some orcas. Days before the date I scour the web to find interesting places, and get my map and itinerary sorted out. As always, the maps.me app comes in handy.

Below you can see the map of the whole trip. You can also view it on Google Maps.

Day 1: Sørvágsvatn, Mulafossur Waterfall

August 19th, 2018

At 5:30, it’s time to get up. I fill myself up with spaghetti for breakfast, then leave for the airport. After checking my luggage and passing the security checkpoint, I board the plane. We take off at 8:35. I have a transfer in Copenhagen, and the round trip ticket cost me 1,534 PLN. I land in the Faroe Islands at 1:15 pm.

I meet the owner of the car rental company at Vágar airport, and we sign the contract. The owner’s pretty friendly, he shows me around the car, and gives me pointers on where I can do some shopping and get gas. A few minutes later, keys in hand, I set out. The views are breathtaking. A steep, rocky coast cut up with streams that fall directly into the sea, and lushly green slopes with sheep grazing on them. The weather is less luxurious: the sky is cloudy, and it looks like it can start raining at any moment. It’s about 10 °C.

I stop at a gas station in a small settlement east of the Leitisvatn lake. It’s a Sunday, so a gas station is the only place I can buy food. I get a loaf of bread, 2 small waters, some wafers, jam, and 3 croissants at a total of 120 DKK — meaning the food is fairly expensive. As I drive on, it turns out that the lighter port in the car is broken and I can’t charge my phone from it. I call the owner and arrange to meet him the next day to diagnose it, and preferably get it fixed.

Lake Sørvágsvatn

My first point of interest is just a few kilometers from the airport. Lake Sørvágsvatn is situated at 40 m a.s.l. and the 30-meter high Bøsdalafossur waterfall flows from it straight into the ocean. I stroll along the tens-of-meters-high cliffs, being very careful not to end this trip sooner than I’d like.

Photo by: https://www.instagram.com/movinmoe/

I start looking for a place to sleep around 7 pm. I reach a campsite near Sandavágur, but the owner is gone by then. I try to call him from the reception desk’s phone a couple of times, but there’s no answer. Two guys from the campsite tell me I should just set up my tent and try to call again in some time. I shower, charge my phone, and half an hour later try to call the owner again. No answer. Well then, time to go see the waterfall.

Múlafossur Waterfall

This is one of the most popular attractions in the Faroe Islands. The waterfall is by the village of Gásadalur in the western part of Vágar island. It’s 30 meters high, and all you need to reach it is a two minutes’ walk from the parking lot.

Coming here, I was hoping for a spectacular sunset, but there are thick clouds stretching all the way to the horizon.

After taking a few photos (which don’t do the place justice), I get back to the car, drive to a parking lot nearby, set down my back seats, roll out my sleeping bag, and go to sleep — maybe the weather will surprise me in the morning.

Day 2: Sørvágur, Tórshavn, Kirkjubøur

August 20th, 2018

It turns out that falling asleep in the car is harder than I thought! But after a few tries, I manage to find a comfortable position. The first thing I do in the morning is start the engine and the heating. Then it’s back to the waterfall. No one’s here at this hour.

I drive to the town of Sørvágur, where I meet the car rental guy, and we try to fix the lighter port. A quick look tells us that it’s a burnt-out fuse. We swap in a spare and the port is working again. I can use my GPS without stress. I buy some food (533 DKK) and make sandwiches for the day, then head east.

I take the undersea tunnel to Streymoy island and turn west a few kilometers south of the village of Oyrareingir. The steep, narrow road takes me to a parking lot with a view of the islands of Vágar on one side, and Nólsoy on the other, far off on the horizon. While I’m taking photos, a cab full of tourists pull up to the parking lot. I guess this is a popular viewpoint. Oh well, time to run.

On my way towards Tórshavn I stop by the power plant, with a dozen or so windmills on the hill.

Tórshavn

I stop on a hill before entering Tórshavn, with a panorama of the entire city. For now, I give the capital of the Faroe a wide berth and head south to Kirkjubøur, the southernmost village of the Streymoy island.

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur is one of the most important historical sites here — it’s home to the ruins of the Magnus cathedral. But I’m here to swim, not to get a history lesson. I park as close to the water as I can, pull on my wetsuit, fins, and jump into the sea.

The water is cold and it pours under the wetsuit, because my shoes and gloves are a bit too short. There are jellyfish underwater, big ones, about 40 cm in diameter. And they glow, thought not too bright, because it’s still daytime.

There’s just a handful of fish, but there are plenty of crabs and seaweed. One of the crabs is probably a few dozen centimeters big, and looks dangerous — each time I try to get closer, it stops moving and aims its pincers at me.

After two sessions (about 45 minutes each) I get out of the water and go to a campsite in Tórshavn. I get there around 8:20 pm, and the reception is empty by then, so I set up my tent, take a shower, make some sandwiches and go to bed.

Day 3: Mykines

August 21st, 2018

Early in the morning I start towards Sørvágur. I park at the pier and get in line for the ferry. Once our tickets are checked, everyone heads belowdecks to hide from the rain, which has been soaking everything since dawn.

The trip is about 30 minutes long. Mykines is the westernmost island of the Faroe archipelago. Its area is barely 10 square kilometers. Tourists come here mostly to see the puffin colonies.

There’s a small village on the island, with just a handful of residents. There’s one souvenir store and one cafe. After a short stroll through the streets there, I walk along a muddy up the tourist trail. To my surprise, there’s a ticket check before you enter the puffin area — and tickets should be bought in advance. Naturally, I didn’t do that, and you can’t buy them on the spot, you need to do it online. And my phone’s got no signal. In the end, the ticket clerk lends me his phone, I buy the tickets online (110 DKK), and I go through.

The puffins let you come real close, I guess they’re used to people. There are maybe a few thousand of them flying around, and every few seconds there’s one landing on the cliffs with its beak full of small fish.

Two hours in the rain leave me completely drenched. My 4F clothing with a 10,000 mm membrane is useless. I walk northwest along the cliffs, taking photos on the way, but the constant rain and cold wind take my mind off sightseeing and I quickly go back to the village.

At the cafe, I order fish soup and coffee (105 DKK). There are heating bulbs under the ceiling, generating a pleasant warmth. I’m hoping to warm up and dry out a bit.

One of the tourists pulls out a guitar and begins to sing. Two hours pass… and in the meantime I begin coughing and shivering. Looks like I might be getting sick.

The ferry comes around 5 pm; we get on and head back to Sørvágur. I drive back to the campsite in Tórshavn. I dry out my clothes and get into my sleeping bag to warm up. It stops raining in the evening and the sky gains colors. It’s just a shame I’m not watching this sunset from a more pleasant place.

On top of that, one of the buttons on my camera (the left arrow) is broken. I hope it’s temporary and not a sign of damage from all the rain.

Day 4: Saksun, Fugloy, Klaksvík, Tórshavn

August 22nd, 2018

Saksun

Saksun is a small village in the northwest part of the Streymoy island. There’s a lagoon sitting between the mountains (with the highest peak, Gívrufelli, at 701 m a.s.l.) and a few waterfalls. A wonderful road leads up to the village. It’s narrow, winding, and picturesque, as if designed for motorcyclists. I really regret I can’t swap out my four wheels for two right there and then.

Heljardalsa waterfall

I stop at a parking lot near the waterfall. There’s no one but me here, so I can take my time looking for interesting frames.

I leave the car at a different parking lot, a few hundred meters on, and start on the 3-kilometer trail towards the sea. I pass lake Saksunarvatn and reach the Pollurin lagoon.

By the sea, there are two fly fishers right where the lagoon’s freshwater reaches the sea. One of them tells me you need a paid licence to fish here, but not to fish in the sea. Supposedly they’ve already caught a half-meter trout! The fisherman says fishing is a huge passion for him, so much so that he often comes to Poland to fish in the Vistula in Bielsko-Biała.

Right around 12 pm I get back to the car and drive to Tórshavn. I reach the landing strip and wait for the helicopter that’s about to take me to the Fugloy island — stay tuned for that part of the story!