Patreksfyordur, the town where we were based for two nights stretched, like most of the towns, along a curve in the fjord.

One of the draws of the Westfjords is the red sand beach at Raudisandur, the westernmost part of Iceland.

Actually, the color of the sand depends on the sky but we got a partially sunny day to see the sand appear orange.

And, of course, although there is very little around, there is the requisite church.

The other big draw for visitors to the Westfjords is the Latrabarg cliffs stretching over 14 km and home to millions of seabirds. In the 1800’s the locals made a living by rappelling down the cliffs and collecting the eggs. No longer a career option. We did not begin to walk the entire area, but walked long enough to spot a puffin peeking out of his burrow

Visitors walk on top of the cliffs.

The birds nesting beneath are fulmars, relatives of seagulls.

While we were on our way out of the area we indulged in an Icelandic ritual, a dip in a hot pool. These dot the country, depending on where natural hot springs surface. Last week we visited a more elaborate hot pool that charged for entry and was complete with an in pool bar. But while we were driving on one of the empty roads in the Westfjords we spotted a pool and decided to try it. No charge. It was terrific — the water much hotter than the fancier version we visited last week, and there was an immaculate locker room and hot shower to rinse both before and after the dip. We met a German couple, part of a caravan of an Icelandic version of RV’s spending 5 weeks touring around.