Seeing Iceland for the first time from the air just before landing and also while driving from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik, you get the feeling that you might as well be landing on the moon! The landscape is very dramatic and the open tundra is windswept and barren - in some places there literally is a lot of nothing. Reykjavik is a lovely little city with a warm atmosphere and a population of only about 200,000 people. The streets are clean, the people friendly, the air fresh and the houses brightly clad in a bizarre mixture of colours. The streets are lined with cosy little coffee shops and restaurants, and it is in one of these where myself and Gillian settled in for our first meal. I tried one of the local dishes - "Plotfiscur" which is a kind of fish stew consisting of mashed fish (of course) which is mixed with rye bread and potatoes, and spiced with a hint of curry. This fish stew was absolutely delicious and even more so washed down with a local "Viking" beer. Gillian had the pan-fried flounder with shrimp and caviar which was just as tasty. She also couldn't resist the local desert, Skyr, which is a delicious concoction made from soured milk, sweetened with a little sugar and berries. With such a lovely meal for our first evening in Reykjavik we had a lot to look forward to. There are a few more interesting dishes on my list which include: Svio - singed sheep's head; Slatur - sheep's leftovers stuffed into it's stomach and cooked; Lundi - (puffin) yeah, those cute little birds which the locals find more interesting cooked and on a plate; hervabred - rich dark rye bread baked underground using geothermal heat; and hakarl - putrefied shark's meat which is buried underground for up to 6 months! It is best to swallow this down with a local shot of brevvinin - schnapps made from potatoes and flavoured with caraway seeds.If you ever thought that there is nothing to do in Iceland - you couldn't be more wrong! Other than the bustling night life and coffee shops, Iceland is a mecca for the outdoor enthusiast, with activities like glacier hiking, ice climbing, whale and puffin watching, fishing, sea kayaking, self-drive jeep and quad tours, horse riding, caving and diving, to name but a few. The landscape is also very unusual with an array of geysers, active volcanoes, thermal pools and majestic waterfalls (the biggest in Europe!). You can seriously lose yourself here for months although that would drain your pockets pretty fast as this place is definitely not cheap! Another thing that is also very bizarre about Iceland is the midnight sun. It is the first time that I've experienced it and it can interfere a bit with your sleeping patterns but that is something that can easily be cured by having some "medicine" from the local bar just before bedtime...
The trip was aptly called Fjord Serenity and it did exactly what it said on the tin: kayaking in a beautiful fjord with majestic mountains towering over us. After the first leg of our trip we stopped in a little bay where we had some lunch - a nice ham and cheese roll followed by a chewy chocolate cookie for dessert. After that we paddled back via a hot spring which was way too hot for any of us to climb in, although we did dip our toes in the overflow pool which was lovely and warming. The whale watching trip was also pretty exiting. First of all we stopped right next to a puffin colony on a little island. The puffins are really cute and almost comical when they take off with their angled legs awkwardly stuck out behind them and a frantic flapping of wings. 
The whale watching itself was absolute mayhem and I felt like such a tourist running around like a lunatic on the deck of the boat trying to capture the whale on camera every time it surfaced for a mere moment. Our whale watching guide would shout out over the microphone "whale at 3 o'clock!" and suddenly the whole boatload of over exited tourists would rush to that side of the boat to snap at anything that dared to move, only to hear "another whale even closer at 9 o'clock" causing yet another stampede in the other direction! I did manage to get a few nice pictures and all in all it was a really nice day out. 
Today is Tuesday and we just finished the "Black and Blue" trip which consisted of Black: caving in a 365m long volcanic lava tube and Blue: Snorkelling in the Silfra ravine in the heart of Pingvellir National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the caving we had to don helmets fitted with headlamps. The footing was fairly treacherous with a lot of loose rocks but we all made it out alive, including Gillian who wasn‘t too keen on the idea of caving to begin with! At one point our guide had us all switch off our headlamps (you seriously couldn't see your hand in front of your face!) for a little story about the trolls...mwahahahahah! 
What was really interesting is how all your other senses are suddenly heightened in the pitch black. The snorkelling was also great fun. First we struggled to get into the dry suits which was a mission in itself but boy were they necessary! The water temperature was around 2-4C so it was a bit of a shock when your hands and head got wet - the only parts not covered by the dry suit. The dry suit made you feel like you were vacuum packed as you had to squeeze as much air out as possible so you weren't bobbing around like a cork on the surface! The ravine looked like a massive crack in the earth’s surface, filled with water which was crystal clear because it is filtered through rock for 30 years. You could see all the way to the bottom, which was about 45m deep in places and the rocks at the bottom were covered with a type of seaweed that looked like someone had gone mad with a can of lime green silly string! The snorkelling trip ended with a leap off the ravine edge into the icy water below. I’m sure these two activities will be highlights for me in Iceland. That evening Gillian took me out to a fancy restaurant called The Fish Market - one of Reykjavik's best restaurants. We literally bit off more than we could chew by opting for the tasting menu which consisted of 8 generous courses to share. I filled up by eating too much bread beforehand not realising the ludicrous scale of food still to come. First up was spicy mussels followed by barbeque ribs, beef carpaccio salad, sushi, salmon, cod, lamb and a platter of mini puddings. The highlights were the spicy mussels and the Icelandic lamb which were truly delicious. We both rolled out of the restaurant with seriously fat bellies - we were so full we didn't know what to do with ourselves, but we certainly got our monies worth!
On Wednesday we trekked up into the mountains on a "Hot springs hunt". The whole of Iceland gets its hot water from the underground thermal springs which is why most of the hot water in Reykjavik has a sulphurous twang to it - not the most pleasant smell in the shower of a morning! The water is so hot when it comes out of the ground that it is pumped through a network of long pipes to cool down. The geothermal power plants are also located in this area, using the steam from the hot springs to generate electricity for the island. It was pretty cool hiking through the rocky hills seeing the steam snaking upwards in various random places. The earth almost seemed alive with a cacophony of hissing, gurgling and bubbling as the steam tried to escape. In most of these holes you would be cooked alive but fortunately there is one spot where a hot spring meets a cold one, creating the perfect temperature (around 40C) for a warming soak, so it was here that we donned our swimmers and lazed in the water after the long hike.
After the walk, we headed straight to an Icelandic pony farm where we went riding. These ponies are almost as round as they are high and very comical with their long tails, short legs and afros - they also have a lot of attitude! My feet almost touched the ground while sitting on mine. It promptly started raining heavily just after we left the stables and continued to do so until we got back. So much for the Icelandic scenery - all we could see was a misty, rainy blur! However, the riding was fun as we bounced along trying to work out the Icelandic "taft" which is somewhere between walking and trotting. We were all absolutely drenched by the end of the ride and slightly amused (or should I say pissed off) to discover loads of waterproof suits at the stables - they obviously read the weather wrong!
That evening we went to a Tapas Restaurant with some friends we met while on our excursions. We sampled the Icelandic Tapas menu which started with a shot of Brevvinin and was followed with puffin, sea trout, lobster, minke whale and lamb. For dessert we had chocolate cake and the whole meal was washed down with a nice bottle of red. The puffin tasted like a mix between pidgeon and fish and the whale very much looked and tasted like beef.
Thursday was a relaxed day, with the planned hike up Mount Esja aborted due to wet shoes from the riding the day before, and sheer laziness if I'm honest! A spot more fishing in the harbour in the sunshine, where I caught a massive mackerel as well as a few pollock, while Gillian was busy wandering around Reykjavik taking photos. Lunch consisted of 2 of the best hot dogs in Europe - yes they really were the best hot dogs ever, with fried onions, crispy onions, a sweet mustard sauce, some kind of tomato sauce and a third mystery sauce. After an afternoon nap (I said it was a lazy day!) we headed off to the blue lagoon for a long relaxing soak. The Blue Lagoon was magical to say the least. It is located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by moss covered volcanic rocks which looks a bit like the surface of the moon. The perfectly warm water was a milky blue colour 
and there was a swim up bar right in the middle of the lagoon. It was nice just lying back, sipping on a cold beer (or a Blue Lagoon cocktail in Gillian's case). After we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the water in order to get the last bus back to Reykjavik, we sampled some more weird Icelandic dishes for dinner. I finally tried the rotten shark which was pretty disgusting but not as bad as I'd thought! After that I was on a roll and had to try a horse kebab which I have to admit was pretty tasty! 
Friday we did a trip called the "Golden Grand Slam": which included visiting Pingvillir, Geysir, and the Gullfoss waterfall before white water rafting on the Hvita river in the afternoon. Pingvillir is located in the Pingvellir National Park and is where the American and European tectonic plates meet. The whole landscape is riddled with crevices and ravines and the plates move apart by about 1mm each year. It is a beautiful spot which unfortunately is spoilt by the bus loads of tourists who seem to be synchronised with your camera shutter and move in front of you just as you are about to take a nice picture. 
Next stop was Geysir which explodes every few minutes, and our first sight was of an unsuspecting tourist who had stood down wind of it and had been soaked to the skin! We therefore chose a safer spot to wait for the perfect shot, which took a while because Geyser only seemed to explode every time you looked away or lowered the camera because your arms got tired. Just before it explodes the water starts bubbling and swelling up, then a big "p*of" followed by "ooh's" and "aah's" from the surprised crowd. Next up was the Gullfoss waterfall which is a wide, fast flowing river falling down into a deep gorge. I expected the water to be crystal clear but it was in fact the colour of dish water - an impressive sight all the same. There we finally managed to leave the crowds behind and travel down stream for the white water rafting. This was definitely 
one of the highlights of our visit in Iceland! After squeezing ourselves into yet another wet suit, topped off with a fleece, splash jacket, booties, life vest and helmet, we headed off to the river. The fast flowing glacial water was very cold but it was great fun smashing into the waves and getting soaked to the skin. At one point we docked the rafts and did some cliff jumping from the edge of the gorge (although some people chickened out - I shall name no names...). She got a dunking later though when I unceremoniously tipped her out of the boat, while she was trying to rescue someone else from the water! All in all a great day.
On Saturday we rented a car and headed out of Reykjavik towards the infamous (or much
hated!) volcano and the largest glacier in Iceland (and Europe!). The scenery during the lengthy journey across the island was every changing and fascinating, with beautiful mountains, waterfalls and the volcano giving way to black lava sand flats (Sandur) as far as the eye can see - an incredible sight. The unexpected highlight of the day was arriving at our hostel to find the most amazing view across the sand flats - totally awesome as the Americans would say!
Today is Sunday and our last day in Iceland. I'm starting to feel like a stuck record using words like dramatic, beautiful and picturesque but that can't be helped because yet again we saw some
spectacular sights today. Our Glacier Grand Slam" tour started with a drive to the Fjallsjokull of the glacier was very different from what I'd expected and instead of smooth ice it was rather more crunchy and a dull white. It was really cool walking up the glacier seeing all the crevices and waterfalls which drained down the random holes in the ice surface. Our destination was toward the foot of a glacier "waterfall" - majestic ice peaks protruding from the glacier in a mixed array of various blues. At one point we tried our luck with doing some ice climbing and I managed to lose both my shoes (to the delight of everyone in our group!) because the laces wasn't done up properly. After overloading our cameras with copious amounts of pictures we crunched our way back again to our bright yellow "school bus". From there we drove to Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon which is a lagoon filled with 
icebergs breaking away from the Vatnajokull glacier. We hopped on an amphibious vehicle and soon we were floating between the icebergs which made for some nice pictures with the towering mountains and white glaciers in the background. There were also a number of inflatable boats which kept an eye out for any dumb tourists falling overboard and also clearing the way of wandering icebergs. Apparently you can only see about 10% of each iceberg as the rest is hidden below the surface of the icy cold water which ranges between -5C and +4 C. Usually the water doesn't freeze but we were told that the river mouth had been blocked up so that no sea water could enter the lagoon causing the surface to freeze and then the film makers used the frozen lagoon to shoot the 
opening scene of the movie "Die Another Day"! From there we drove over to the river mouth for our last stop of the day. Many of the icebergs find their way out of the lagoon and drift down the river and into the sea. It was very surreal seeing the stranded white icebergs lying on the black sand beach with the big glacier covered mountains in the background. I know I've said this before but this was probably the best part of the trip so far and it was great to end it on such a high note.
Some extra notes:
Ÿ I can definitely recommend Reykjavik backpackers (located in the centre of the city) - the staff were extremely friendly and the facility was nice and clean.
Ÿ Watch out for the "suicide sheep" which seem to favour grazing right next to the roads and who will fling themselves right in front of any unsuspecting vehicle at the last minute. Apparently 75 sheep have chosen to end their lives already this summer!
Ÿ I was struck by the shear size of some of their vehicles which look more like something which should belong on the moon (which parts of Iceland very much resembles!). These monster trucks have oversized wheels and they dwarf all the toy cars next to them. You don't really have to keep an eye out for them as you can't miss them towering over you in the road!
Ÿ On Fridays and Saturday nights it seems like the whole of Iceland congregates in Reykjavik to get absolutely wasted in a pub crawl which last most of the night and into the early hours of the morning. These militant drinkers really are out to drink as much alcohol as humanly possible and it is not unknown for some to party till 8 o' clock the next morning! This does seem odd though given the crazy price for alcohol although this might have been overcome by drinking beer through a straw by some of the local girls.
Ÿ Don't forget to bring some bug repellent and/or bug net for walks in the countryside as an army of midges seem to magically appear every time you open your car door.
Ÿ Be sure to take a pony ride but be warned that they feel and handle differently than anything else than you will ever have ridden before. They are lovely animals and they have the cutest way of nibbling each other affectionately.
If I can summarise Iceland in three words it would be raw, dramatic and beautiful. The ever changing landscape ranges from vast open plains which seems to be devoid of any life to volcanoes, geysers, thermal pools, waterfalls and beautiful large mountains capped with glaciers or covered in vivid green grass. I can highly recommend to anyone a visit to this lovely country. We had some amazing experiences here and it is a must for any outdoor enthusiast!
one of the highlights of our visit in Iceland! After squeezing ourselves into yet another wet suit, topped off with a fleece, splash jacket, booties, life vest and helmet, we headed off to the river. The fast flowing glacial water was very cold but it was great fun smashing into the waves and getting soaked to the skin. At one point we docked the rafts and did some cliff jumping from the edge of the gorge (although some people chickened out - I shall name no names...). She got a dunking later though when I unceremoniously tipped her out of the boat, while she was trying to rescue someone else from the water! All in all a great day.On Saturday we rented a car and headed out of Reykjavik towards the infamous (or much
hated!) volcano and the largest glacier in Iceland (and Europe!). The scenery during the lengthy journey across the island was every changing and fascinating, with beautiful mountains, waterfalls and the volcano giving way to black lava sand flats (Sandur) as far as the eye can see - an incredible sight. The unexpected highlight of the day was arriving at our hostel to find the most amazing view across the sand flats - totally awesome as the Americans would say!Today is Sunday and our last day in Iceland. I'm starting to feel like a stuck record using words like dramatic, beautiful and picturesque but that can't be helped because yet again we saw some
spectacular sights today. Our Glacier Grand Slam" tour started with a drive to the Fjallsjokull of the glacier was very different from what I'd expected and instead of smooth ice it was rather more crunchy and a dull white. It was really cool walking up the glacier seeing all the crevices and waterfalls which drained down the random holes in the ice surface. Our destination was toward the foot of a glacier "waterfall" - majestic ice peaks protruding from the glacier in a mixed array of various blues. At one point we tried our luck with doing some ice climbing and I managed to lose both my shoes (to the delight of everyone in our group!) because the laces wasn't done up properly. After overloading our cameras with copious amounts of pictures we crunched our way back again to our bright yellow "school bus". From there we drove to Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon which is a lagoon filled with 
icebergs breaking away from the Vatnajokull glacier. We hopped on an amphibious vehicle and soon we were floating between the icebergs which made for some nice pictures with the towering mountains and white glaciers in the background. There were also a number of inflatable boats which kept an eye out for any dumb tourists falling overboard and also clearing the way of wandering icebergs. Apparently you can only see about 10% of each iceberg as the rest is hidden below the surface of the icy cold water which ranges between -5C and +4 C. Usually the water doesn't freeze but we were told that the river mouth had been blocked up so that no sea water could enter the lagoon causing the surface to freeze and then the film makers used the frozen lagoon to shoot the 
opening scene of the movie "Die Another Day"! From there we drove over to the river mouth for our last stop of the day. Many of the icebergs find their way out of the lagoon and drift down the river and into the sea. It was very surreal seeing the stranded white icebergs lying on the black sand beach with the big glacier covered mountains in the background. I know I've said this before but this was probably the best part of the trip so far and it was great to end it on such a high note.Some extra notes:
Ÿ I can definitely recommend Reykjavik backpackers (located in the centre of the city) - the staff were extremely friendly and the facility was nice and clean.
Ÿ Watch out for the "suicide sheep" which seem to favour grazing right next to the roads and who will fling themselves right in front of any unsuspecting vehicle at the last minute. Apparently 75 sheep have chosen to end their lives already this summer!
Ÿ I was struck by the shear size of some of their vehicles which look more like something which should belong on the moon (which parts of Iceland very much resembles!). These monster trucks have oversized wheels and they dwarf all the toy cars next to them. You don't really have to keep an eye out for them as you can't miss them towering over you in the road!
Ÿ On Fridays and Saturday nights it seems like the whole of Iceland congregates in Reykjavik to get absolutely wasted in a pub crawl which last most of the night and into the early hours of the morning. These militant drinkers really are out to drink as much alcohol as humanly possible and it is not unknown for some to party till 8 o' clock the next morning! This does seem odd though given the crazy price for alcohol although this might have been overcome by drinking beer through a straw by some of the local girls.
Ÿ Don't forget to bring some bug repellent and/or bug net for walks in the countryside as an army of midges seem to magically appear every time you open your car door.
Ÿ Be sure to take a pony ride but be warned that they feel and handle differently than anything else than you will ever have ridden before. They are lovely animals and they have the cutest way of nibbling each other affectionately.
If I can summarise Iceland in three words it would be raw, dramatic and beautiful. The ever changing landscape ranges from vast open plains which seems to be devoid of any life to volcanoes, geysers, thermal pools, waterfalls and beautiful large mountains capped with glaciers or covered in vivid green grass. I can highly recommend to anyone a visit to this lovely country. We had some amazing experiences here and it is a must for any outdoor enthusiast! 
No comments:
Post a Comment