Till date, all of our travels have been to countries/cities that have been nice and warm; where one can enjoy a chilled beer soaking in the warm rays of the sun whilst sporting the aviators and latest spring/summer apparels (even during peak winter!)....Then, there was Iceland! A place we fell in love with at first sight..well actually second considering we landed in the middle of the night and could not see much...no, I stand corrected..first, considering we (think we) saw the Northern Lights activity on our way to hotel from the airport! :-)
We took 2 days off work and got ready to spend 4 freezing cold days in a country which is filled with out of the world natural wonders. Our flight was from London Heathrow on Wednesday night and the day just could not go fast enough! Finally it was 5 pm and time to shut down everything at work and make our way to the airport. At the Icelandair check-in counter at the airport, we were served by a female who was either new to the job or had never had to do deal with Indian passport holders with a Schengen visa travelling to Iceland before. Come to think about it - the latter seemed more possible. The flow of Indian tourists to Iceland though would surely have increased from this year after the release of Dilwale and the song Gerua being shot in the country.
Anyways, to cut a long story short, check-in done...security done...and we were off. Our overall experience of Icelandair was really good - very comfortable flights and the northern lights light effect in the night flight was really cool. Our flight landed at Reykjavik airport at 11:30pm and considering the time of the night we had booked ourselves a private shuttle from & to the airport with Snaeland Grimsson. I have to say that was one of the best decisions as firstly we were a group of 6 and it was relatively cost effective, secondly, there was no waiting around for the bus transfers which as per other friends/colleagues experiences may not be quite reliable on timing and lastly, after a full day of work and then travel, none of us wanted to be running around looking for a cab and then explaining to the driver where we wanted to go (especially when none of us could pronounce any of the road names in Iceland!). Snaeland Grimsson provided us with a very comfortable ride from/to the airport with extremely polite and friendly drivers. Would surely recommend their private shuttle to anyone travelling in group.
By the time we checked in we were all ready to crash and get some zzz's to start our Icelandic adventure fresh the next day. The one thing that we did notice and which became a topic of conversation and google search the next morning was the awful smell of the water in the hotel bathroom. Turns out the hot water across Iceland comes straight from the geothermal springs, hence is high in sulphur and smells of rotten eggs.
Anyways, to cut a long story short, check-in done...security done...and we were off. Our overall experience of Icelandair was really good - very comfortable flights and the northern lights light effect in the night flight was really cool. Our flight landed at Reykjavik airport at 11:30pm and considering the time of the night we had booked ourselves a private shuttle from & to the airport with Snaeland Grimsson. I have to say that was one of the best decisions as firstly we were a group of 6 and it was relatively cost effective, secondly, there was no waiting around for the bus transfers which as per other friends/colleagues experiences may not be quite reliable on timing and lastly, after a full day of work and then travel, none of us wanted to be running around looking for a cab and then explaining to the driver where we wanted to go (especially when none of us could pronounce any of the road names in Iceland!). Snaeland Grimsson provided us with a very comfortable ride from/to the airport with extremely polite and friendly drivers. Would surely recommend their private shuttle to anyone travelling in group.
By the time we checked in we were all ready to crash and get some zzz's to start our Icelandic adventure fresh the next day. The one thing that we did notice and which became a topic of conversation and google search the next morning was the awful smell of the water in the hotel bathroom. Turns out the hot water across Iceland comes straight from the geothermal springs, hence is high in sulphur and smells of rotten eggs.
Day 1 - Feb 11th,2016
We started our first day in Iceland with a trip to the Blue Lagoon. Have to say the Blue Lagoon was quite an experience. We didn't get any decent photos of the lagoon considering all our phones and cameras were stuffed in our lockers. But, what a delight it was to spend hours in this pool of warm water whilst it's freezing as soon as one steps out of the pool! The swim up bar was an absolute delight as well as the face masks given by the pool. All in all a wonderful and must do experience!
The Blue Lagoon (to my disappointment) is a man made spa - the water in which comes from a nearby geothermal plant. The water used is very rich in minerals especially silica due to the underground geological layers; because of the hot temperature of the water, the minerals are pushed to the surface giving the blue lagoon a gorgeous milky-blue hue.
New water ponds have to be continuously dug over the years as these minerals after a length of time make the ground impermeable, hence stagnating the water
The areas outside the current spa where the older ponds used to be is also very lovely. With the white snowy background and the steam coming from the nearby geothermal plant, there's a mystical beauty in the surroundings.
New water ponds have to be continuously dug over the years as these minerals after a length of time make the ground impermeable, hence stagnating the water
The areas outside the current spa where the older ponds used to be is also very lovely. With the white snowy background and the steam coming from the nearby geothermal plant, there's a mystical beauty in the surroundings.
Considering we spent well over 4 hours here we noticed that the lagoon went thru peaks and troughs of crowded-ness. Guess this was because the Blue Lagoon is en route the airport & Reykjavik city which in turn results in people visiting it either to or from their airport travel - no wonder most of the tour operators provided the option of airport transfer with Blue Lagoon included. Didn't really work for us as we were landing in the middle of the night and didn't want to rush our visit on the way back.
There are shuttles every 15-20 mins from the Blue Lagoon back to Reykjavik - ours got us back to the hotel with just enough time to spare for dinner. We hurriedly finished our dinner and got ready for one of the most exciting tour of this trip - the Northern Lights hunt in a 4x4.
I have ridden in 4x4's earlier from my uncles Lincoln Navigator to Ford Endevour...but what came to pick us up that night was unimaginable! The wheels of this car were over a ft wide and more than half as tall as me; and I don't consider myself short standing at 165cm! One needed a stool to get into this car - and what a beauty it was!
There are shuttles every 15-20 mins from the Blue Lagoon back to Reykjavik - ours got us back to the hotel with just enough time to spare for dinner. We hurriedly finished our dinner and got ready for one of the most exciting tour of this trip - the Northern Lights hunt in a 4x4.
I have ridden in 4x4's earlier from my uncles Lincoln Navigator to Ford Endevour...but what came to pick us up that night was unimaginable! The wheels of this car were over a ft wide and more than half as tall as me; and I don't consider myself short standing at 165cm! One needed a stool to get into this car - and what a beauty it was!
Our tour was booked via Discover Iceland which needless to say contracts these trips to local companies - and they are absolutely brilliant. Ivar our tour guide not only does these tours but is also a professional photographer; and, thank god for that! He not only took us off road on to a most brilliant spot with absolutely nothing around, but also had a tripod for our camera and helped to set it up. Most of us, he was an optimist and had enough stories to tell to pass time till the Northern Light activities started - which as luck would have it started only 10-15 mins after us landing at the spot.
As they say...Aurora Borealis likes it best when the weather is cold and dry...and thank god for the perfectly clear sky and crisp winter air and of course the solar activity cos....what a sight it was! Though one can't really see the green (as in the photos) with the naked eye with the right camera setting it was amazing to see the glow come up as green in the photo...
The Aurora started off as a glow that came in waves and then slowly turned into curtains that just danced above our heads. What a spectacular show it put up (even though the activity rating for that night was only a 3 out of 8) and we stood there watching for an hour.
(Picture credit - Achyut Patil and his patience to set up the camera in the freezing cold!)
As they say...Aurora Borealis likes it best when the weather is cold and dry...and thank god for the perfectly clear sky and crisp winter air and of course the solar activity cos....what a sight it was! Though one can't really see the green (as in the photos) with the naked eye with the right camera setting it was amazing to see the glow come up as green in the photo...
The Aurora started off as a glow that came in waves and then slowly turned into curtains that just danced above our heads. What a spectacular show it put up (even though the activity rating for that night was only a 3 out of 8) and we stood there watching for an hour.
(Picture credit - Achyut Patil and his patience to set up the camera in the freezing cold!)
After an hour all of us were frozen to our bone! Ivar made some hot chocolates for us and though it tasted super...we all wished for something stronger & warmer and could not wait to get back into the car and back into the hotel. It was already quite late and we had an early start the next day so we all got back and just crashed.
Day 2 - Feb 12th, 2016
Day 2 saw us going down the South Coast and having most of our Gerua moments :-)) All of our tours in Iceland were booked thru small local companies and they all were absolutely fabulous. The tours to the South Coast as well as Golden Circle was booked thru GeoIceland where they did the tours in minibuses having no more than 14-15 people and a driver who was also acted as the guide.
The pick up for our South Coast tour was around 8:30am from our hotel from where we travelled south out of Reykjavik to the southern most village in Iceland called Vik.
The pick up for our South Coast tour was around 8:30am from our hotel from where we travelled south out of Reykjavik to the southern most village in Iceland called Vik.
We were to do the waterfalls first followed by the glacier and then the black beach but as the sun was not really being too kind to us in the morning, Oscar, our guide took us straight to the village of Vik first. En route we stopped at the site of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption which last erupted in April 2010 disrupting air traffic for weeks!
The Eyjafjallajökull is completely covered by an ice cap. During the 2010 eruption it was not just volcanic ash that spewed up several kilometres into the air but there was also major meltway flooding that happened. We visited the farm behind which the flooding had started.
One would notice while driving around in Iceland that all the river bridges are 3 times their required length - this is because of the meltway flooding that occurs during a volcanic eruption. The Icelandic people are really in harmony with nature. Oscar, our guide for the day, mentioned that when there is volcanic eruption, most people would run away from it...but people in Iceland get excited and go visit the site in order to see how they can survive with nature.
The Eyjafjallajökull is completely covered by an ice cap. During the 2010 eruption it was not just volcanic ash that spewed up several kilometres into the air but there was also major meltway flooding that happened. We visited the farm behind which the flooding had started.
One would notice while driving around in Iceland that all the river bridges are 3 times their required length - this is because of the meltway flooding that occurs during a volcanic eruption. The Icelandic people are really in harmony with nature. Oscar, our guide for the day, mentioned that when there is volcanic eruption, most people would run away from it...but people in Iceland get excited and go visit the site in order to see how they can survive with nature.
We reached the village of Vik which is the southernmost village in Iceland. It's a very small village with a population of only about 300 people. Vik lies just south of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier which is on top of the Katla volcano said to be fiercest in Iceland.
Katla has recorded eruptions at intervals of 13-95 years but has not erupted violently since 1918. Historically, in the last 1000 years, an eruption of Katla has always followed one at Eyjafjallajökull (which last erupted in 2010). Increased earthquake activity has been noticed at Katla which is now under constant monitoring by scientist.
An eruption of Katla could melt enough ice to trigger an enormous flash flood, potentially large enough to obliterate the entire village of Vik. The village's church, located high on a hill, is believed to be the only building that would survive such a flood. The inhabitants of Vik have periodic training drills to rush to the church in order to prepare for an eruption of Katla which is believed to be imminent.
Katla has recorded eruptions at intervals of 13-95 years but has not erupted violently since 1918. Historically, in the last 1000 years, an eruption of Katla has always followed one at Eyjafjallajökull (which last erupted in 2010). Increased earthquake activity has been noticed at Katla which is now under constant monitoring by scientist.
An eruption of Katla could melt enough ice to trigger an enormous flash flood, potentially large enough to obliterate the entire village of Vik. The village's church, located high on a hill, is believed to be the only building that would survive such a flood. The inhabitants of Vik have periodic training drills to rush to the church in order to prepare for an eruption of Katla which is believed to be imminent.
We had lunch at the village and then went to the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach which lies very close to the village. Reynisfjara is a black pebble beach and features an amazing cliff of regular basalt columns resembling a rocky step pyramid. Out in the sea are the spectacularly shaped basalt sea stacks Reynisdrangar. Legend says that the stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.
The waves at this beach can be ferocious and we were advised by Oscar to be on a look out and not go too near to the water. He told us that just a few days ago a tourist climbing the basalt rock was pulled in by a wave and could not be saved. This was, I think, the one and only time we saw police in Iceland. They were constantly guarding the beach and shouting at tourists who got a bit over enthusiastic. Considering it was freezing, none of us were going anywhere near the water. We stuck to the rocks and what beautiful formations they were. We were at the beach for 30 mins and could feel the ocean getting rougher by the minute.
From the Reynisfjara beach we headed to the glacier Sólheimajökull, one of the outlet tongues of the ice cap Myrdalsjökull which lies on top of the Katla volcano. We had opted out of the glacier walk, but our tour did consist of a hike up to the glaciers edge.
The Sólheimajökull glacier has been used recently by various world leaders to highlight the action needed on climate change as the glacier has shrinked and retreated almost a kilometer in the last decade.
The Sólheimajökull glacier has been used recently by various world leaders to highlight the action needed on climate change as the glacier has shrinked and retreated almost a kilometer in the last decade.
The walk up to the glacier tongue have lots of icy patches and we ended up having an incident with Manish almost slipping off the cliff edge into the lake/lagoon below!
The glacial ice is a beautiful blue almost turquoise in places. The blue colour of the ice is due to extreme compression and air bubbles being squeezed out of the ice and the ice crystals getting enlarged. This dense ice of the glacier absorbs every colour of the spectrum except blue.
We were fortunate to see the ice cave next to the glacier tongue point and see the amazing blue colour.
We were fortunate to see the ice cave next to the glacier tongue point and see the amazing blue colour.
After exploring the ice cave we started our walk back to our minibus - the Sólheimajökull glacier was one of my favourite places of the trip and I think the next time we will definitely attempt the glacier walk as well. Our walk back was dotted with amazing landscape and breath taking scenery.
From the Solheimajökull glacier we made our way to Skogafoss waterfall. This again ticked one of our Gerua moments. The Skogafoss is one of the biggest waterfall in Iceland and with the amount of spray the waterfall produces there is normally a single or double rainbow which can be seen and we could not wait to get there.
Skogafoss is spectacular to say the least. The parking lot is hardly 100m from the fall and one can walk straight up to the fall but from the minibus we could make out that the walk up was not going to be easy as it was completely icy. There is also a path that leads up to the top of the waterfall and though it looked rather exciting we were completely dissuaded when Oscar told us that there are close to 400 steps to climbs and at this time of the year most are icy!
We knew the walk up to the fall was going to be fun when Oscar asked us to wait in the bus till he fetched some sand so that we did not slip when we stepped off the bus! :-P Well...we got off without any incidences and then made our way up.....and man, what a walk that was! Super slippery....super windy....and as one reached closer to the falls one could feel sheets of ice hitting the face with each wind gust....but what a beauty of a fall this was.
Skogafoss is spectacular to say the least. The parking lot is hardly 100m from the fall and one can walk straight up to the fall but from the minibus we could make out that the walk up was not going to be easy as it was completely icy. There is also a path that leads up to the top of the waterfall and though it looked rather exciting we were completely dissuaded when Oscar told us that there are close to 400 steps to climbs and at this time of the year most are icy!
We knew the walk up to the fall was going to be fun when Oscar asked us to wait in the bus till he fetched some sand so that we did not slip when we stepped off the bus! :-P Well...we got off without any incidences and then made our way up.....and man, what a walk that was! Super slippery....super windy....and as one reached closer to the falls one could feel sheets of ice hitting the face with each wind gust....but what a beauty of a fall this was.
We were at the fall for about 30-40 minutes most of which was spent clamouring from and to the parking. But, have to say Skogafoss made my dream come thru. Though we had reached the fall at the tail end of our tour and only had the setting sun for light....just as we were about to turn around and head back to the bus....a beautiful rainbow came to light. Skogafoss....rainbow...dream come true...and worth every blast of icy spray hitting us!
From Skogafoss we headed further north back to Reykjavik to Seljalandsfoss. Seljalandsfoss is supposed to be one of the best waterfalls in Iceland with a 60m drop. The best bit is that there is a path that leads to the back of the fall which makes it super cool!
Unfortunately, the path was closed due to it being too icy so we could only see the fall from up front. Another reason why we have to go back to Iceland during summer!!!
Unfortunately, the path was closed due to it being too icy so we could only see the fall from up front. Another reason why we have to go back to Iceland during summer!!!
From Seljalandsfoss we made our way back to Reykjavik only to be treated to a beautiful sunset right before we got into the bus.....
Day 3 - Feb 13th, 2016
After the first 2 action packed days - day 3 was slightly easier with a tour of the Golden Circle with Elias from GeoIceland. Elias was new to GeoIceland and not as entertaining as Oscar from the previous day but the places on the Golden Circle were amazing. There's no place in Iceland which is not breathtaking - everything is picture perfect!
Our first stop was to Hveragerdir which is a popular tourist destination as the entire town is built on top of a hot spring field. One can see plumes of steam all around the place. There are plenty of greenhouses to grow vegetables and flowers, and the hot water from the hot springs is used to heat up houses as well.
The town's shopping centre is also very popular. During the laying of the foundation a large fissure was discovered which can now be seen thru illuminated glass flooring clearly showing the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate. This town was also hit by a massive earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale in 2008. There are exhibitions in the centre showing the impact of the 2008 earthquake to residents, buildings as well the environments.
Last but not the least the centre has an earthquake simulator which was super cool and super scary at the same time. It's literally a box (possibly on springs) which can fit no more than 3 people standing side by side. Once you're in and the door is shut you can feel the effect of an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale. It's scary to say the least and when it's over and you walk out of the box your legs feel as if they're made of rubber!
From Hveragerdir we made our way to the Faxi waterfall. The Faxi waterfall on the Tungufljót river is a wide but not so tall waterfall. One can see it clearly from the parking lot and there is a short path that leads down closer to the fall.
Our first stop was to Hveragerdir which is a popular tourist destination as the entire town is built on top of a hot spring field. One can see plumes of steam all around the place. There are plenty of greenhouses to grow vegetables and flowers, and the hot water from the hot springs is used to heat up houses as well.
The town's shopping centre is also very popular. During the laying of the foundation a large fissure was discovered which can now be seen thru illuminated glass flooring clearly showing the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate. This town was also hit by a massive earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale in 2008. There are exhibitions in the centre showing the impact of the 2008 earthquake to residents, buildings as well the environments.
Last but not the least the centre has an earthquake simulator which was super cool and super scary at the same time. It's literally a box (possibly on springs) which can fit no more than 3 people standing side by side. Once you're in and the door is shut you can feel the effect of an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale. It's scary to say the least and when it's over and you walk out of the box your legs feel as if they're made of rubber!
From Hveragerdir we made our way to the Faxi waterfall. The Faxi waterfall on the Tungufljót river is a wide but not so tall waterfall. One can see it clearly from the parking lot and there is a short path that leads down closer to the fall.
From Faxi falls we then travelled to (in my opinion) the coolest attraction in Iceland - the Haukadalur geothermal area where we saw the geysers in action!
The Great Geysir lies dormant now but Strokkur gave us a real show every few minutes. With geysers all around and hot water flowing from all of them at over 100 degrees, this was one place where we did not feel too cold!
From the Haukadalur thermal area we headed towards Gullfoss waterfall though on the way we stopped to say hello to the beautiful Icelandic horses who are very friendly. Icelandic horses definitely look different from regular horses - they're much smaller but also sturdier. Iceland has very few diseases and because of that Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return.
We reached Gullfoss and had some lunch before we headed to see the falls. The Gullfoss waterfall is not the tallest or the largest but its meant to be the prettiest waterfall in Iceland which is a country full of waterfalls.
It was surely a spectacular sight - the Hvítá river coming down various steps before plunging into the deep crevice. Gullfoss has to be seen in the summer to take in its breathtaking beauty in entirety because in the peak winter when we went, I had a very difficult time differentiating between the snow, ice and water!!!
It was surely a spectacular sight - the Hvítá river coming down various steps before plunging into the deep crevice. Gullfoss has to be seen in the summer to take in its breathtaking beauty in entirety because in the peak winter when we went, I had a very difficult time differentiating between the snow, ice and water!!!
From Gullfoss we made our way to the Thingvellir National Park. This is another popular tourist destination as its not just a site of historical/cultural importance (the Icelandic Parliament was established here), but also of geological importance as one can clearly see the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates here.
2From the Thingvellir National Park we stopped at a farm for some home made ice cream which was delicious and extremely heavy (one could barely finish a single scoop serving) before heading back to Reykjavik.
We had a Northern Lights by boat tour planned for the night and I have to say this can surely be avoided. Firstly, it was freezing cold and no matter how many layers one wore within an hour one was frozen to the bone! And, secondly, the boat tour hardly goes out of the Reykjavik harbour so it's never really pitch dark as one needs to experience the lights. Lastly, we didn't see anything which made matters worse (though we did end up with free tickets valid for 2 years) and a 4x4 experience is much cooler and more fun!
We had a Northern Lights by boat tour planned for the night and I have to say this can surely be avoided. Firstly, it was freezing cold and no matter how many layers one wore within an hour one was frozen to the bone! And, secondly, the boat tour hardly goes out of the Reykjavik harbour so it's never really pitch dark as one needs to experience the lights. Lastly, we didn't see anything which made matters worse (though we did end up with free tickets valid for 2 years) and a 4x4 experience is much cooler and more fun!
Day 4 - 14th February, 2016
It was our last day in Iceland and as we had an early evening flight we had nothing planned for the day. It was Achyut's birthday and we had celebrated the night before so we slept in till check out time.
After check out we explored the area around Reykjavik Harbour and got some amazing NY style pizza before heading to the airport.
After check out we explored the area around Reykjavik Harbour and got some amazing NY style pizza before heading to the airport.
All in all an amazing trip to a fabulous country with super friends. A country which is spectacular in the winter and I just can't imagine how amazing it would be in the summer. Can't wait to go back to Iceland again in the summer!