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Published: August 6th 2012
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7 nights in Iceland is not enough. It is impossible to loop the entire country, taking in the sites and photographing everything in 7 nights. It is impossible because drive in any direction and 10 minutes later there is something else that blows all expectations that you must stop for. This is why Iceland has 24 hours of daylight in June, so that ill prepared tourists like me can actually accomplish the impossible.
I'd quickly arranged a layover in Reykjevik a few weeks before, 7 nights seemed like the perfect amount of time for this bite-sized country. I'd keep the car rental costs down, loop the country on highway 1, take in the highlights and return one day in the distant future when I have more time to tour. This is my current travel strategy, I miss my days of slow travel very very much.
Up at dawn. The center of Reykjevik, take photos of huge Cathedral, read inscription on impressive statue, forget details, drive out of city, stop for stunning scenery, drive 10 minutes, stop for more stunning scenery, get out tripod, make a mess of bracketing, drive 10 mins, stop, repeat, repeat, find guesthouse, more scenery, repeat.
Bed at 1am rise at 5am, repeat. New town, new day.
I've left the writing of this blog too long. The details and stories have already blurred. Go. It's as simple as that. Suck up the expense and enjoy. Iceland has a 3 month tourist season, a years wages and costs have to be made in that short time, hence guesthouses are expensive compared to most of Europe. Iceland is an island nation, with a harsh climate, most food is imported, hence food is expensive in Iceland. Water is free though, the best mineral water in the world is put to shame by Icelandic tap water.
Highlights
Waterfalls - everywhere. Stunning, powerful, majestic. If it ends with "foss" it's a waterfall. The photos in this blog are exactly as I saw them, I'm probably guilty of "over-cooking" on some of the HDR-ness, but really it's the only way to show the sense of awe I felt.
Glaciers - I'd read about Iceland being green, and Greenland being icy. Except that really icy bit that covers 10%!o(MISSING)f the entire country, the incredible Vatnajökull Glacier, the largest in Europe. I read somewhere and have since forgotten where that
"North of the Wall" (Game of Thrones) is filmed here.
Fresh seafood - wow - wow - really great, in every restaurant!
Amazing geothermal things - geysers and super-heated mud, and sulfurous smells and blue-lagoons.
Lowlights
Whale on the menu at every tourist establishment.
Why? the idiot tourists who buy it.
... prior to 1914 Icelanders did not hunt Minke whales. Superstition held that Minke whales were sent by God as protectors
Minke is the Whale Meat on the menu.
wikipedia.org on Whaling in Iceland.
Minke whale meat is sold in restaurants and markets within Iceland. However, a large percentage of the whale meat is actually eaten by tourists
Please spread the message to tourists you meet if you're in Iceland, without the demand the two whaling companies will go out of business.
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Jo Trouble
Jo McCarthy
Looks simply amazing. Would love to see the place one day - and hopefully the whaling companies will have been long out of business......