Where time is frozen in Iceland 2
Helga Jonsdottir still remembers the day of the volcanic disaster that erupted and almost swallowed her home island in January 1973.
`When our boat left the harbor, flames erupted in the sky, cracks in the mountain opened and a stream of red-hot lava flowed down into the water,` recalled Helga, then 18 years old.
Most people returned to the island to continue living after the volcanic disaster.
Heimaey is a small island located 151 km offshore from the capital Reykjavik.
On that fateful night, the island’s 5,300 residents were warned by authorities of impending disaster.
The museum about the volcanic eruption disaster opened in May 2014 and attracts many visitors.
Some islanders migrated to other places after the disaster, but most people still returned to their birthplace to continue their lives.
When archaeologists began excavating the houses closest to the volcano in 2006, they discovered that underneath the ash and lava had frozen and time had stopped.
The Icelandic government built a museum called Eldheimar (world of fire) and opened in May 2014.
In addition to visiting the museum, visitors can also take a boat trip around the island.
Although heavily devastated by the volcano, Heimaey is still a beautiful land in the eyes of the people here.
In 1973, there was an idea to extinguish the erupting volcano threatening the Heimaey island harbor by pumping seawater through a pipeline to freeze the lava flowing out on the spot.
Scientists also consider using explosives to break the relatively cool outer layer of the lava flow, allowing sea water to cool the temperature of the red-hot lava inside and thereby control the progression.
Directions to visit Heimaey:
From the airport in Reykjavik, visitors only need to take a 25-minute flight to land in Heimaey.
Mr. Minh
