Iceland was hands down one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited thus far. I know for my Scandinavia trip I`ll be going to 5 more countries but I have a gut feeling that this weel be the best!
Day 1, Thursday
First off, the landing in Iceland was a little freaky as when the seatbelt light goes on you normally would look out your window and see land as you presume you are nearing the airport (and ground level)... well apparently not in Iceland. As the plane is descending you are over the Atlantic Ocean and you feel mighty close to it as well.
Once we took the flybus to our hostel we settled in and met our first roommates: Martin (England), Frank (Germany) and Haig (New Zealand). Throughout the week these 3 gave us a lot of information on their previous travels as well as provided some good stories and moments. Once we took a brief nap, me and Amanda set out on the 2ish km walk into town along the shore. The view of the surrounding mountains was stunning. Reykjavik itself is not a huge city but how big can you expect when the entire population of the country is 300,000. We saw some buildings, took some pictures and attempted to eat at the Northern-most Indian restaurant in the world, Austere India Felagio. We ended up only getting naan as it was crazy expensive.
Day 2, Friday
Woke up today at what I thought was 7am but apparently it was 4am (and no my clocks were set right but maybe my eyes were just going wonky). None the less the sky at 4:30 was amazing. It was so bright and pink.
Today we went on the Golden Circle tour which is the most popular tour in Iceland. We went through Reykjavik excursions which was really nice (although had we waited and booked one once we were in Iceland there are several cheaper ones as well). The golden circle tour we went on consisted of visiting Skaholt (a famous church in Iceland where the first bishop came), Gullfoss (BREATHTAKING waterfall..see photo below), Geysir area (to see Strokkur erupt) and Pingvellir National Park (a UNESCO world heritage site as a place of the first parliament) as well as seeing the Rift valley where the European and American plates meet (how many people can say they visited 2 continents at the same time). Everything today was beautiful. I will go more in detail eventually but free internet is limited and I`m trying my best to fit in everything.
During the night we participated in ``runtur´´ which is their nation-wide pub crawl in Reykjavik. We predrank with the roommates at the hostel and then me, Amanda, Frank and Haig went downtown together. We went clubbing in Cafe Oliver which was a decent venue. I bought a drink there, NO IDEA what it was although I saw grenadine and some other glass alcohol bottle and it cost me 2000 ISK but it was huge and well worth it! The night got a little messy but we danced our asses off with the other Icelanders!
Day 3, Saturday
NO HANGOVER :) thank god haha. Although as was previously booked as our hangover remedy, me and Amanda headed to the Blue Lagoon to relax. The Blue Lagoon was about a 30 minute bus ride from the hostel but it was well worth it. The return bus fare and admission to the Lagoon was 5900 ISK and it was worth every Icelandic penny.
Upon arriving at the Lagoon, one can see smoke rising from random geothermal vents as well as a giant geothermal energy plant. The surrounding nature looked similar to that of the golden circle tour in that it was bumpy lava fields (I think) that had started to grow some moss on it. There are not too many trees in Iceland due to its extreme natural events but the moss covered ground is still pretty.
The Blue Lagoon itself is a very turqoisey blue that is opaque. It was not nearly as hot as I was expecting which was actually nice as I generally am not fond of really hot water. Europeans are really comfortable with their bodies as the changerooms were filled with naked old women and children haha. Once we were changed and had set foot in the water it was really relaxing. We both bought a Krap slushi (not crappy, Krap is the brand name), which was the same blue colour and it tasted delicious. We used the free silica masks and I applied it to my neck, arms and back although my skin didn`t feel any different after (maybe because I exfoliate on a regular basis?).
When we got home we decided to take it easy. Haig was still hungover, Frank had just woken up and we were fully relaxed. We just hung around the hostel as we knew the next day would be full of walking and activities.
Day 4, Sunday
BEST DAY EVER.
AMAZING.
BREATHTAKING.
REASON I WOULD RETURN!
Can you tell I really loved this day??
Today was the glacier tour. Originally Amanda was supposed to take the ``Take a walk on the ice side´´ tour with me with Icelandic Mountain Guides but she ended up switching to another tour with two girls but oh well, her loss, it was absolutely amazing.
The tour first started with us stopping by Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010 that caused all the European airline industry to be a mess. I collected some ash (normally you can buy a mini shampoo bottle size of it for 800 ISK which is ridiculous since I got it for free...see picture below). Also saw the typical view that was posted around the world where there would have been a cloud of smoke behind but it is now all clear.
We then headed on to the Sólheimajökull glacier which is the tongue of the mother glacier of Mýrdalsjökull. On my tour we ended up doing a 3.5 hour hike on the glacier. Suited up in crampons, gloves and ice axes we were ready to trek On this trip I met up with the same two NY sustainability consultants and they were really fun. Shyaam was really nice for taking pictures for me since I obviously did not have Amanda to ask but it turned out great since he needed photos taken too. I also met 2 Canadian guys from BC and the Yukon.
The glacier was gorgeous. We saw crevasses, cliffs, blue ice, white ice, and obviously ice covered in ash which Icelanders call monsters as they eventually build up and insulate the ice forming massive mounds on the glacier.Apparently if we go on Extreme Iceland Survey website our photos may be on it as a surrounding mountain cliff has a webcam on it. I`ll have to check that out later. By the time we reached the top I was in my tank top eating my sandwich and drinking water straight off the glacier (yes it is safe you may just get the odd ash particle which is safe to say I have not died from yet haha) and by the way it is the best tasting water I have ever had!
After reaching the bottom again we boarded the bus to head to Skógafoss to meet up with the other group that did the other tour (which Amanda had joined). Me and Shyaam decided to scale the stairs to the top of the waterfall. Holy hell what a workout on top of the almost 4 hour hike we had done on the glacier. Not going to lie, I definitely need to do stairs more often. We reached the top and it was spectacular. The falls were right behind us and we could even see the Atlantic Ocean from the height we were at. The falls itself were very beautiful.
After the group was altogether we headed to Seljalandsfos which is another waterfall nearby. For this one you are able to walk behind the waterfall which of course I had to do. Me and Shyaam walked together and I was definitely only wearing my tank top and no rain jacket... definitely needed a little waterfall mist after the hike and climb. The walk around was steep at some parts and definitely slippery and muddy but well worth it. I even climbed down to the base of the water and felt the massive wave of mist but it was so refreshing (see picture below). After having gone around it everyone boarded the bus and headed back. Unfortunately we had a mishap with the bus driver who then was bitchy and made a huff about it.
Once we got back we all took the night easy and went to bed early.
Day 5, Monday
Today Marty and Haig left. It was quite sad we leave on Tuesday so it was obviously going to be a bit sad to part ways.
So today was our chill day to explore Reykjavik. We left the hostel and walked downtown to the main street of Laugavaguer (sp?) to do some tourist shopping and sight seeing. While waiting for a funeral to be done, we ate at Cafe Laki and had traditional Icelandic treats. I had a rye crepe and Amanda had a ``bow´´ pastry which she enjoyed. After the funeral was done we went into the Hallgrimska Church and walked through the pews. It was really pretty and I loved how it is sculpted to look like Basalt columns from the outside.
After we went back to the hostel since Amanda had to exchange some stuff. I then set out on my own back downtown since Amanda did not want to join. I bought a bus pass and took the bus to the Perlan. On my way there I met a Belgium girl who got moved to Reykjavik for school on an exchange since she had been in Tunisia and the protests caused the program to move all students. Upon arriving at the Perlan I met a Parisien guy who had studied in Montreal and we both snuck in to the Perlan to go up to the top to have a view from the observatory. We talked about France a lot and how he had hitchhiked most of the way here. The view was gorgeous from here as the sun was starting to lower but had a nice glow on the city.
After the Perlan I went to the famous Indian Mango. Rated as the number 3 thing to do on Lonely Planet online forums (after the Eifle tower and the Louvre). Here I had theHvalur which is tandoori whale. It was absolutely delicious to be honest. My waitress and I had a nice conversation and she told me how she is Sami and eventually wants to see the migrations in Canada and then she will continue with her family as the head of a reindeer farm and she extended the invite for me to come and visit someday! I decided to walk back to the hostel and not bus to enjoy the scenery for the last time as tomorrow morning we head to Norway.
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