Of glaciers, volcanoes and lagoons: Iceland

This summer in June, I spent a long weekend in Iceland as part of an office trip. I had heard so much about Iceland for so long, that I went there with a lot of expectations. And Iceland exceeded them all! Its an extremely pretty country, in a very rugged sort of way. Glaciers and volcanoes and waterfalls and springs and lakes and snow and the sea and the midnight sun: it’s got it all in quite a beautiful combination!

Of the 2.5 days we spent there, on the first day we did a 7 hour hike across a glacier and camped at night. The second day, we drove snowmobiles and visited the Blue Lagoon. And the last half day was again spent in relaxing at the Blue Lagoon. Each activity was different, each location unique, making it an action packed vacation.

When I was landing at Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, the first view I remember of the island is etched in my memory. The sudden land after miles and miles of water - a land completely barren of houses but green wherever the eyes can see! And lighted even at 11 at night! There was something of the view when we were landing, that made the earth feel spherical. Is it because the earth is flattish at the Poles? Or just my imagination?

Midnight sun

The drive to the city was long, the land on both sides flat and you could see till afar. The land was also full of lavender coloured flowers all around. Don’t know which flowers those were but they were pretty! Also, since it was the time of the midnight sun, the sky was still lighted in myriad colours even at 2am when I reached my hotel.

Reykjavik seemed very bare and simple city, with straight line buildings everywhere. Very nordic, isn't it? It was also very spaced out and did not feel that we had entered a capital city. Iceland has just about 300k people, with 100k staying in Reykjavik. Still given the amount of space, there isn’t really a need to have a crowded city.

Skogafoss

The next day, we did a trek around the Laugavegurinn/ Fimmvörðuháls pass trail. Given how tough Finnish names are, I actually don’t remember some of the places we visited, but just that it was around this area. First we drove in monster trucks from Reykjavik along the southern coast till a waterfall, Skógafoss, which is the starting point of the complete trail.

Green Iceland

The drive was pretty - light green everywhere you see, spotted with lavender fields of flowers. There were mountains and glaciers and waterfalls on one side, and the sea with islands on the other. There are no forests in Iceland though, just the light green grass and shrubs.

In those fields there were hundreds of horses running around, the ponies looking cute while running. Apparently, Iceland has 100k horses (thats about one for every 3 Icelanders). Also, I heard that all the horses on the island are all of one breed. No cross-breeding of horses is allowed at all. It also means that no one is allowed to import horses on to the island, or if a horse goes abroad for a horse show, it cannot come back to the island! Pretty strict eh?

Then we drove in those monster trucks on the glacier for some time before they dropped us off to start our trek from somewhere midway on the trail. The trucks had been modified to have big wheels so that they could drive on the snow. And still they got stuck a number of times on the glacier.

The drive up was tough and scary and the trucks were slipping a lot. The landscape from the top was very stark too - sharp igneous rocks with no softening of the edges.We drove 3 hours in single lane traffic with whIte snow and clouds all around. We could have been driving around in circles and wouldnt have known! It all looked the same all around.

Snowy trek

Anyways we finally managed to start the trek at 7pm! The first half of the trek was just over the glacier - white snow everywhere, the view not really changing while we walked. There was fog all around. Also surprisingly, sometimes the snow looked blue rather than white. Was it the eyes playing games or reality? This part of the trek felt a little boring as nothing really changed.

A small crater

We had to avoid crevices on the way (through which you could drop 50 mtrs!) and so we all walked in a single file. We saw the site of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (I think) which had erupted in 2010. There is even an opening in the ground where heat from the lava is still coming out and can be used to cook food:).

I think this trek goes around 2-3 volcanoes. These volcanoes erupt every 10 years. And some of them are so tame, that they are called ‘touristic volcanoes’. They erupt in such a way that tourists can come till very near and watch the magma go up and back down without being affected. People even camp out near such volcanoes when they erupt.

The slide

During the end of the trek on the glacier, we came to a place where it was a steep descent on the snow to go down. And we were so tired that someone had the bright idea to slide down to cover the 15 min trek in a minute. Once we realised that, all of us started sliding down and reach quickly the end of the snow.

It was dangerous and exhilarating to sit and slide extremely fast all the way down! But totally worth it. Though some people didn't make it down straight, and rolled over all around before they reached the bottom. It was the most memorable and exciting part of the trek for me. And if I hadn't been as tired as I was, I would definitely have gone up once and tried the slide again...

Views

And then the snow opened up - we could see trees and green and mountains and wild flowers and stones in various shapes. And what pretty views those were! Mountains in all shapes and forms, remnants of the volcanoes which formed Iceland. The trek at this part took us on top of plateaus, through weird looking forms, narrow pathways along ridges, climbing rocks holding chains and sometimes on all fours and a lot more. All I remember is that we just kept walking on. Just taking in all we could and moving on to the next scene.

It was a long trek, of about 12 kms and we reached the campsite at 1am when it was still light! (This was something that took time getting used to - anytime of the day and night, its still light).

Elfland?

Fairyland?

The campsite at the end was like the icing on the cake - located in the plains of the Krossa river, a valley surrounded by trees and mountains on all sides. There was a live Viking band already playing at the site when we arrived. We had dinner surrounded by this amazing view and the band playing in the background. The evening we spent there is one of my most favourites ever.

First dinner with the band. Then a bonfire at 2 am with light music and a lighted sky. And then the band playing again to a full house of dancing tired trekker till 4 am, in a wooden hut, till the sun begins to rise. After the trek, everyone was so tired, that they just kept on dancing till late. I again have no words to describe that evening, but you really can do a lot more when you are tired if the sun is out! And then at 4am, all of us went off to sleep in our tents. Surprisingly, everyone slept off even when it was broad daylight, so tired we were!

The next day we drove along the river bed to go back to the glacier and try our hand at snowmobiling. It was the same glacier as before except that the sun was out, so the whole area was visible and looked more inviting. Snowmobiling was fun, and easy to pick up. One tip though, its always more exciting (and faster) to snowmobile going down a mountain than going up!

Blue lagoon

In the evening, we went to the Blue Lagoon which is a hot water lagoon set amid lava rocks all around. The hot water is the waste from a geothermal plant nearby which extracts water from underground to generate electricity. After the water is used, it is supplied to the blue lagoon for its medicinal properties. The water is warm and has a funny blue colour. This water contains sulphur which is supposed to help the skin glow!

It is located in an area with lava rocks all around and is quite a picturesque place. We spent some time in the lagoon and then dinner in their restaurant.

After the lagoon, we went to Reykjavik city centre to check out the night life. It was quite happening as apparently, during summer is the time Icelanders live their whole life! They are out all night as the sun is out. It did feel funny seeing people out partying in the day!!

The next day we went back to the Blue Lagoon and then back to London. It had been quite an action packed weekend with barely any time to think. There is just so much to do in Iceland that I think its not the place to relax anyways.

And I think the sun being out all day does help to keep you more active. Even if you should be tired, your body in unwilling to go to sleep and so you carry on. Not sure how good it is in the long term, but for the three days I was happy to have covered so much.

A lot more remains uncovered though, so another trip to Iceland is definitely due...

Accommodation

We stayed in two hotels during this time, one in Reykjavik and the second in Keflavik and they seemed so bare - just like all the buildings in the city. The campsite was awesome though, but I have already talked about it a lot.

People

Funnily enough, I don’t think I spoke to any local people during the time I was there. We were a big group of about 200 people, so were busy just interacting with each other. I did learn some interesting things about the Icelandic people though - they believe in trolls and elves and fairies and ghosts! I am not kidding, the country still believes in all these creatures; there are university courses about them; authors write books about them; makes changes to their houses and other construction for them and so on. Giving the landscape of the country, I can imagine why people would believe in something beyond humans, but still I was surprised!

Weather

Since I was there in June it was quite warm. I hadn't expected it at all. Plus the daylight being there all throughout the day and night makes it feel even better. The glaciers were cold though and you need to be prepared for the extreme weather if you want to trek.