South by Southeast

Before I continue detailing my adventures in Iceland, allow me to make two small corrections to my previous post.

1. It was the sight of the snow-capped volcano Eyjafjallajokull that nearly caused me to drive if the road, not a glacier.
2. That same volcano (don't make me spell it again) erupted in 2010, not 2011.

Now that that's over, let's continue...

I was so proud of myself for quickly adapting to the time zone in Iceland. That is until I woke up this morning at 4:00 am without being able to get back to sleep. (John Green's novel, The Fault in our Stars is also partly to blame). By 8:00, I have up and backtracked a bit too Skogafoss.

I saw Skogafoss from the road the day before but was too hungry to stop. Now with more time, I climbed the stairs adjacent to the falls and then after reading the viewing platform, devices to confine ibn for a bit. Apparently there are 22 fosses along the river and the trail parallels the river the entire way. However, given that my water was in the car and I had only eaten a single banana at 6:00 am, I decided to cut the hike short and had back to town in search of coffee and food.

Coffee, I found, but the food options weren't great so I snacked on pistachios on my way to Solheimajikull for my first real glacier sighting and trek. After donning crampons, we headed up the glacier. I expected the ice to be smooth and clear. 

Instead it felt like waking on a sno-cone (not that I've ever done this, mind you, but you get the picture). The glacier was covered with black cones. These apparently wetter large masses of ice protected from melting by their coating of ash from various volcanic eruptions. From a distance, the glacier resembled marble but up close, spots look more like the dirty snow on the side of the road after the snow plow comes.

Given my early rise, I decided to take it easy the ready of the day with a nap followed by dinner.

In the morning I drove to Skaftafell national park. From there I hiked to yet another waterfall, Svartifoss and then to Sjonarsker for a 360° view of my surroundings before contributing further east.

My plan was to head, leisurely, tothe pick up spot for my 2:00 jeep tour of the Vatnajokull ice cap, but when I saw a parking sign off to the left, I stopped, thinking there might be a bathroom. After following the path for about a minute or two I found myself looking or at a lagoon filed with ice bergs.  I completely forgot my hope for a bathroom or the fact that I left my jacket in the car because I was completely entranced with beauty that floated before me. After striking for a bit, I found a comfy rock and sat and enjoyed the view for a while.

Eventually I tore myself away to meet my jeep tour only to learn, when I arrived that it wasn't going to happen. They have a two person minimum and since no one else signed up, they cancelled the trip. I wish they'd have let me know earlier so I could have spent more time at the lagoon. I considered heading back, but decided to continue on to my next destination, Hofn.

As far as I could tell, Hofn is best known for fishing and cooking langoustine (something between a small lobster and large shrimp). After walking around a bit, I decided to check out the delicacy. 

Tomorrow... East Fjords

Iceland, at last

It seems like I've been wanting to go to Iceland for years but other destinations have got in the way. But this year I really needed a vacation that didn't involve museums and ancient relics. I needed a true break where I could move at my own pace and really enjoy the breathtaking beauty that I'd only seen in photos.

I haven't seen much of Iceland yet but I can say it had not disappointed. Immediately upon picking up my rental car, I made my way to the Blue Lagoon. Guidebooks describe it as the Disneyland or Las Vegas of hot springs. While I don't have another springs to compared it to yet, I will say that if either Disneyland or Las Vegas was this spectacular I would go way more often. It is only a short drive from the airport so if you're ever find yourself on a trip to or even a layover in Reykjavik, it is a great, if pricy way, to relieve jet lag.

After dragging myself away (needing to drive while still alert), I made my way to Reykjavik.  I checked in to my hostel for the night but decided that I really needed to stay awake until at least 8:00 in order to force myself to adapt to the time zone. After finding my head bobbing while reading at the bar, I decided it was time for a walk. I spent an hour wandering around Reykjavik in search of authentic Icelandic food. However after reading several menus, I decided to start say with Nepalese food instead. I enjoyed a glass of wine with a gentleman named Jerome from Switzerland but after he insisted on smelling my hands, I decided it was time to head back to my hostel to go to bed.

In the morning, I shared a pleasant breakfast with my bunk mate (dorm room) before we parted ways. She was off to ride a bike to the West Fjords (making me feel extremely lazy) while I was driving my car to the Golden Circle. My first stop (and first foss) was Pingvellir. While this was the location of the first parliament in Iceland, the real attraction is the sheer beauty caused by separating North America and Eurasian tectonic plates. (This got me wondering if Iceland is part of North America or Europe out both. I always thought Turkey was the only county that spanned two continents). I wandered around the area for a couple hours but my growling tummy reminded me that I needed to eat and had more to see.

After a quick lunch of lamb soup (very salty and a bit gamy even for me) I headed to Geysir. I was a little disappointed on arrival to discovery that Geysir (from which all geysers got their name) has been clogged since the 1950s. Fortunately, it's neighboring geyser, Strokkur, while not as powerful, congress to erupt every few minutes. After two failed attempts to capture it on film and not really seeing it, I decided to just watch and enjoy the third eruption.

Next I headed to the third and final stop off the Golden Circle (no idea where the name came from, it more like the Golden straight line), Gullfoss. Gullfoss is said to be the most famous foss (waterfall) in Iceland, but that is just because I haven't yet made my mark. Nevertheless, it really was spectacular. After enjoying the road off the falls, I started the long drive to Vik in the south. It was during this drive that I wished I had a traveling companion so I could just sit back and enjoy the beauty. So many times I wished I could just pull over to take pictures, a few times I even did, on the drive. I almost five of the road completely when I spotted the Eyjafjallajokull ice cap (also the sight of the volcanic eruption that bright air travel in Europe to a complete standstill in 2011). A few more pictures before finally arriving at my home for the next two nights.