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For a detailed map of the West Fjords - Click here

After a lazy morning and a nice breakfast it was time to take off again. The weather was not as brilliant as it had been the day before, the clouds that hung low along the mountainsides. They had taken the advice of the other travelers they’d met at the hotel the night before to drive to Látrabjarg, Iceland’s western most point and Europe's largest bird cliff, 14km long and up to 440m high.  It was supposed to be an up to two hour’s drive, so they took some advice from the guidebook and stopped on the way at a folk museum located at the farm Hnjótur.

At the museum, they were gradually led through the daily life of the typical old-time Icelanders: how they sailed boats and how grass was harvested and collected as well as a multimedia show about a rescue mission when a trawler stranded in a bad storm in the area in 1948.  They also saw a unique collection of random old items from the Westfjords that were on display. To name a few; old hats and shoes, a prosthetic leg, teaspoons, an organ and a viking ship, old cars, boats and clothing, strange looking household items. Also the first computer to come to the area and many generations of telephones.  The biggest treasures in the museum were not Icelandic but an old Douglas C-117D US Navy plane which the guests were allowed to enter. That, amongst many other items of the museum, was possibly set up with children in mind, but Justin insisted that both he and Brian visit the cockpit of the plane. “You know I like cocks and I still have a soft spot for the Pitts… so… please...” he begged Brian theatrically and of course he could not resist.  Soon Justin was sitting in the pilot seat babbling some made up pilot quotes … although Brian commented he sounded like a porn film he once saw.

“Brian… “ Justin said dead seriously looking at his lover, whose initial thought was that he was about to be reprimanded for his bad joke but of course the little vixen was already steps ahead of him. “We can not leave this old Navy plane until we’ve had sex right here in the c-o-c-k-pit…” he whispered so that some children who were in the plane at the same time would not understand.

“Ummm…. we are definitely used to public demonstrations… but… don’t you think this bunch is a bit short to start their sexual education? Brian whispered back.

“I guess, but… how about if we politely ask them to leave?” Justin asked impishly, licking his lower lip in that sexy way and Brian got caught in his deep blue eyes. He was about to respond when a loud clap of thunder tore through the sky and reverberated through the metallic structure. The children screamed and ran out of the plane to the safety of their parents.  Brian’s right eyebrow rose as he stared right at Justin. “How did you do that?” he asked but Justin just shrugged and unbuttoned his top jean button. “Shut up and fuck me like we might get caught at any time.”

“Hah… I taught you well, I see…” Brian pulled Justin up by his jacket and pushed pushed against the only wall that was not covered with control buttons. He then undid the rest of his buttons and proceeded to jerk his young horny lover of, taking care to listen if anyone was coming into to the plane.  “Such a naughty boy, I’m gonna have to spank you tonight…”  Brian’s masterful stroking and promises of more to come, did it for Justin and it didn’t take long before he was ready to shoot his load.  It should not have surprised him and yet it did, he almost fell over when Brian almost as quick as a flash of lightning let go of him and squatted down and swallowed him whole and sucked every last drop out of him. In a similarly cat like move he then rose and kissed Justin deeply sharing his sweet taste with him.  

The rain was coming down in buckets now and a few minutes passed before there was a sound of someone walking up the steps leading into the plane.  “Hello? Hi! They said there were still guests in the plane. Won’t you come inside?  I have mmmm… umbrella”  It was the young girl who had sold them the tickets earlier was there to help them get inside without getting wet.

“Thank you, that’s really nice of you, we were gonna wait for the rain to stop” Brian lied quickly. Justin however just smiled.

“You don’t have to, grandma is making pancakes if you want, we sell them for the quire, they are going to make a new CD and go to Greenland when they have more money. She told me to go and get you.” the girl said in her less than perfect English. Both men followed her glad that she had not found them a few minutes earlier.  

Most of the other guests were already enjoying homemade pancakes and coffee and the payment was voluntary. There was a box on the table to place whatever amount into and Brian saw fit to donate a generous amount. When he was about to place a 5000 krona bill into the box the old woman stopped him. “No no no” she said “too much too much… this is almost 50 dollars!”

“Yes, we know, but we want to support the quire, it’s nice what you are doing for them” Justin explained.

The old lady who had thought they were making a mistake smiled politely and thanked them for the donation, she then whispered something to her granddaughter who quickly disappeared.  The woman then asked if they were going to visit Látrabjarg and when they replied yes, she told them to be careful. “Don’t try to get too close to the edge, the cliffs can be slippery after the rain, they have taken too many lives.” Her eyes turned sad, she had obviously lost someone dear to her on those cliffs.

As they were about to leave the young girl came out with a burned CD with one word written on it, ‘Fjallabræður’. “It means ‘Mountain brothers’ she explained. Grandma said it was ok to copy the CD. You already gave them so much money.”

In the car Justin put the CD on and although they had no idea what the songs were about it sounded a lot better than they had expected Brian even played the first song again when it was done and hummed with the chorus line.  The rain had stopped and the clouds were dissipating. The road was pretty bad though with large potholes filled with muddy water. As they drove over a hill and began to descend a steep hill Justin gasped. Brian was busy watching the road so he had not yet seen what had Justin so excited. “Please stop the car... wow will you look at this!“ A large rainbow hugged the entire fjord and they were heading right for the end of it.  Instead of the black sands they had normally seen on the coastline this shore was pale in color and the sun that filtered through the clouds sent thick curtains of rays down to the small creek.  There were a few cabins near the coast, people obviously had their summer houses out here and what a place to have a summer home.

Just a few minutes later they were at the end of the road, and the huge bird cliff, Látrabjarg came to view. It was clearly a popular destination, if the tour bus could be used as an indicator.  The two travelers made their way up the uneven steps leading to the cliff’s edge. The grass was freshly watered by the rain and the ground was still very wet so Brian and Justin were glad to be wearing their waterproof pants. As they got closer to the edge the overheard a man scolding a woman who was lying close to the edge to get her picture taken with some puffins in the background.

“Please get away from the edge mam,  the line is not there for decoration. What you are doing is very dangerous. Like I told you on the bus, the puffins build their nests in deep holes under the surface and the grassy top is just hanging there on top in many places. One wrong movement and you will plunge to you death! And you would NOT be the first one this summer!” The furious guide was also directing his words to the photographer and everyone else who might be willing to listen.   “I hope everyone is clear on that” he added.

“We have excellent zoom on our cameras” Brian said to try to lighten the mood and as a promise that he and Justin intended to be careful.  

The two ended up walking to the highest point of the cliffs and taking numerous pictures of the birds including the puffins. “They are so adorable, I saw they were on the menu at the Hotel last night. I guess I’d have to clear my mind completely if we ever order that” Justin said mostly to himself  “... then again lambs are pretty cute too…”  

“It comes with the territory to be on top of the food chain” Brian replied and then added mischievously staring straight at Justin “and you Sunshine, are the cutest of’em all and I eat you all the time.” That remark caused Justin to grab him and wrestle him down to the still wet grass where he straddled him and held him down.  “Hey Mister! you do not get to say that without getting punished with a kiss”  Brian did not fight back at all.

Leaving Látrabjarg it was already after 3 pm but they decided they could not skip what their advisors had told them last light was the most amazing place they had seen in Iceland so far, the bay at south end of the bird cliff, called Rauðasandur (the Red Sand), so named because of the characteristic red hue of the shore caused by catfish chewing on the extremely rich population of shellfish in the shallow bay and ocean currents preventing black volcanic sand from reaching the coast.

To reach it they had to drive back along the road for more than half an hour and take a, using the words of the Dutchmen, ‘probably the scariest road in Iceland’ across the mountain ridge of the peninsula down to the south shore.

As they started the descent towards the Rauðasandur, Justin was very happy Brian was driving.  He understood very well why the road signs called for a maximum speed of 20 km/h. This had got to be the worst road he had ever been on. Not only was it holier than the Pope, but it was really steep with no security bars and the turns were a full hair pin in several places. He was very glad they did not meet other cars on the way down. But it was all worth it.

The red color of the sand harmonized perfectly with the blue shades of the ocean and the sky and the last clouds from the recently passed weather front were sliding down the mountains like a thick duvet.

“Oh my God Brian, this is just utterly ridiculous. Every day - every new place we come to seems more beautiful than the last.  Will it ever end or am I going to pass out from scenery overdose one day?

“I don’t know, but I’ll make you pass out in bed if you like”  Brian couldn’t help teasing Justin on his comment about the scenery.  He did agree with him though. He had been feeling the effect of this Iceland drug rushing through his veins for the past few days. It felt nice in a live affirming way and it kind of surprised him he was allowing himself to feel good about it.  His normal modus operandi when on a vacation was to party hard, fuck hard and then go back to his life of demanding work staying on top no matter what. Now how ever… he was starting to think perhaps it was time to allow himself to slow down a bit and just enjoy life… yeah ok.. it was a bit scary. He needed to not think about that right now. ‘Just breath and relax and... yeah… just look at Justin. He knows how to do it’  he thought to himself.

They were feeling a bit hungry so they drove up to the only house they saw along the coast and as expected it turned out to be the little French coffeehouse the Norwegian couple had raved about. There they meet guests who had driven 5 hours just to eat the french chocolate cake. When Brian again asked Justin to order him a “just coffee” and then went to use the restroom, Justin ordered two slices and asked the waitress to give them two forks with the first one and bring the second one only when they were finished with the first one. Like he had predicted Brian kept stealing bites from his cake and when the second cake was brought over Justin smiled at him reassuringly  “It’s still mine, so don’t worry.  Calories don’t count when you eat someone elses food” he told him and of course Brian could not stand the temptation. This was by far the best cake he had tasted for a very long time, if ever. “Fuck the calories…” he mused and his younger partner immediately whispered back “yeah...”  and stole a quick chocolate kiss.

After leaving the café the two drove to the other end of the creek and walked along the sandy reef hoping to spot seals the area was famous for. The walk took them longer than they had anticipated since they had to make a bit of a round tour to avoid wet areas that the guidebook had warned them about might contain quicksand depending on how high the tides were. Not knowing the area and not wanting to take any chances they walked around the lower section but when they finally after an hours walk made it to the end they certainly found what they were looking for. More than 20 seals were basking happily fat and fully fed on the shore and many more swam in the lagoon outside of the shore.  It was definitely worth the extra hike.

Saying goodbye to Rauðasandur, and driving the winding mountain pass road back their next destination of the small fishing town of Patreksfjörður.  The cabin they would be spending the night was located two fjords away so they thought it was a good idea to find a restaurant. After asking for directions at the petrol station they found a little café which also served full dinner at night.  Justin asked if the served puffin because he was really curious about how it tasted, the waitress told him sadly no, they did not serve puffin but recommended for starters instead lightly smoked seabird with parmesan and arugula salad, while Brian ordered a duo of salmon smoked and cured. For main course they both had lamb fillet with vegetables and pepper sauce.  

The drive from Patreksfjöður to Bíldudalur where Edda’s cousin’s cabin was located only took half an hour since the road when over two mountain passes that were both with a nice build up asphalt road. They found the cabin easily with the directions they had received by email and the key was hidden in a flowerpot outside the cabin.

The cabin itself was much more than they had bargained for. It had 2 floors and 2 bedrooms a large living room, a small kitchen and a sun terrace from which the view over the fjords was priceless.

They men reconfirmed their notion that the Westfjords were truly magnificent and were glad to have started in the south and driven up to the north-west and not the other way around.  

“I would really like some cold beer right now” Justin said as they were drying off after sharing a refreshing hot (in more than one way) shower.  “Our beer is pretty warm don’t you think…. perhaps there is ice in the fridge… oh… “  when he went to look for ice he noticed a printed out note on the fridge that Edda’s cousin probably had put there.

They were now sitting on the terrace which was shielded from the wind enjoying the spectacular view over one of Iceland’s largest fjords, Eagle fjord or Arnarfjörður as it was called in Icelandic to side and it’s  four fingerlike sub fjords that seemed to grab on the the land to keep it in place. The azure blue waters and the steep mountains in every direction were almost hypnotising. It was very hard to imagine the fjord full of ice like Hrafnaflóki would have seen it. The sun was hiding behind the tall mountains so it was a bit cooler but they had found blankets in the cabin the used the wrap around themselves.

“I guess we’ll reach our destination tomorrow” Brian said and Justin was thought he could hear a hint of sadness in his voice.  “So what do you want to do tomorrow, it’s less than a hundred miles, we have plenty of time” he said studying the map. “Be careful what you wish for though, I’m starting to think the elves are listening to your wishes” Brian surprised himself for actually saying that out loud but actually thought that might be it. It was uncanny how everything they’d done on this trip apart from a few hours of rain had been so perfect.

It was as if Justin read his mind, “yes it’s been great, and those little rainstorms just made the colors shine brighter afterwards” he said sighed contently.  “Hmmm… I wish for a drop dead sexy, tall, dark and handsome man next to me” He snuggled closer to Brian.

“Well you are going to have to make do with me until that guy comes along” Brian replied softly, to which Justin replied to by kissing him leisurely, “mmmhmmm… you will do just perfectly”  he murmured.  

“There is a museum close to here, it’s supposed to be one of the most special in Iceland.” Justin reached for the small free Westfjords brochure he had gotten at the petrol station earlier that day. It was from the same series as the one Edda had given them about the Westland.  “Here it is, ‘The artist with child heart.  Samuel Jonsson. Apparently he lived there alone never had the means of an education but who created some interesting sculptures and other art on the farm where he lived…. But it’s a bit out of our way though” he added.

“Why don’t we see how soon we feel like starting out.” Brian did not mind a bit of an easier day tomorrow after the big adventure they’d this day. He was amazed how long it actually took to drive around such a relatively small area.  He was pretty beat, but that did not prevent him from wanting some action in bed.

“Let’s try the bed, we can play ‘the game of deep fjords’ ” Brian said suggestively and Justin who had nothing against the idea, eagerly followed his sexy boyfriend into the cabin.  

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