One Word: Eyjafjallajokull

These are particularly dark days in the land of fire and ice, as the people of Iceland, or at least the travel agents among them, like to refer to their country.

First, the global financial crisis brought down 85 percent of Iceland’s banking sector. Then a rescue package of more than $2 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund was put on hold after more than 90 percent of the population voted this month to reject the terms of a deal to reimburse more than 300,000 Dutch and British customers of Icesave, a failed Internet branch of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, with $5.3 billion of taxpayers’ money.

Then, last weekend, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, located near a glacier of the same name (that’s AYA-feeyapla-yurkul, apparently) in southern Iceland, erupted for the first time in nearly 200 years. At first that seemed like it might turn dangerous. Icelandair flights were grounded. Hundreds of people were told to leave their homes in Fimmvorduhals, and scientists held their breath, worried that Eyjafjallajokull could set off a much more powerful volcano nearby, as it had three times in the past.

Then, after spectacular images of the volcano started to appear — shot at first from a distance and then, from closer up — and it appeared that it would not turn into a disaster, the tourists started to come.

As Svanborg Sigmarsdottir reported for Agence France-Presse:

With lava still gushing Friday, a small Icelandic volcano that initially sent hundreds fleeing from their homes is turning into a boon for the island nation’s tourism industry, as visitors flock to catch a glimpse of the eruption. “I hope the eruption continues for a while because it is very good for business,” said Ingi Thor Jakobsson, the manager of the Hotel Ranga located near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier where the Fimmvorduhals volcano erupted.

“We have the eruption just next door and the view is just amazing. There aren’t a lot of four-star restaurants that can offer dinner and a view of a volcanic eruption,” he told AFP, adding that his hotel had begun offering helicopter rides over the volcano. “We have three helicopters ready, and there has been a lot of interest both from Icelanders and foreigners,” he said.

That hotelier might be glad to know that, as The Associated Press reported, the last time there was an eruption at Eyjafjallajokull, in 1821, it went on for two years.

The travel company Nordic Visitor, which said that it was “reacting to this unraveling of nature,” started offering “customized tours to experience Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption.” A three-day, two-night visit “to experience this amazing natural wonder” will set you back about $650.

The travel companies might want to keep their customers away from the Iceland Review’s Web site, though, since it published an article on Friday that began like this:

The search-and-rescue association Landsbjörg (ICE-SAR) has issued a warning that dangerous toxic fumes are in the air in the immediate surroundings of the volcanic crater on Fimmvörduháls, which can cause permanent damages to the lungs if inhaled. The chemicals being released into the atmosphere are sulfur, fluorine, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which is odorless and deadly, ruv.is reports.

People are therefore asked not to enter the Hrunagil canyon where the lava flow is. The canyon is very narrow and so toxic fumes are likely to accumulate there. They are heavier than air and flow close to the ground. Travelers on the Fimmvörduháls mountain pass where the crater is located are asked to avoid depressions in clear weather, remain on top of hills and hillocks and don’t face the wind if it’s blowing fumes from the eruption their way.

Plans to open the road into the valley of Thórsmörk where the lava flow is headed were aborted this morning because the flow in the river Hvanná suddenly increased. The road will therefore remain closed and police will keep watch at all times.

Britain’s Channel 4 News reported on Thursday that the eruption has caused no damage to the sparsely populated region so far, noting, “Almost all the 600 people who were moved from their homes early on Sunday morning have been allowed to return, although inhabitants of 14 farms were still ordered to stay away.”