The land of ice and fire

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We were leaving New York and our 4 night stopover in Iceland was upon us. We flew Icelandair and were lucky enough to score exit row seats so we had plenty of room. I don't even remember the 5 hour flight from JFK to Keflavik in Iceland as I pretty much passed out lol. We lost about 4 hours during the flight so it was 6am when we flew in to Keflavik. We couldn't check in to our guesthouse until 2pm, so we just caught a Flybus from Keflavik to Reykjavik and then hung at the bus terminal. We were too tired to do much else. We bought an extremely expensive brekky at the terminal cafe and then took turns sleeping on the chairs like bogans until it was time to go. We walked to our guesthouse which was thankfully only about ten minutes away and were greeted by a friendly lady who showed us to our room. We immediately liked the guesthouse. We had our own TV, free laundry services, a kitchen and free coffee/tea. We were starving again by this stage so we wandered out to find some food. We ended up with a pizza, again very expensive. We had quickly gathered that this country was not ideal for budget-minded people! We found a grocery store and stocked up on bread, eggs and beans lol before making our way back to the guesthouse. We were absolutely buggered. The sun didn't go down completely until after 1130pm, so strange! And it started to rise again around 330am.



We slept so late the next day, 1pm lol. After food we ventured out to explore Reykjavik, which was the tiniest city I've ever seen. It was so cold and windy while we walked around, but so interesting. This country only has a population of 320 000 people! It was a remarkable country to visit for a few days. The hot water was difficult to get used to, it stunk of rotten eggs. This was normal though, most of Iceland's hot water is heated geothermally. The cold water, however, was the cleanest water I've tasted. The landscape in Iceland is fascinating. On the drive from Keflavik to Reykjavik we passed through barren lava fields, and once in Reykjavik we saw icy mountains looking over the city.



So there are some wild drivers in Iceland. I think the road signs and traffic lights are just there for decoration because car drivers don't seem to pay much attention to them lol. The locals are extremely friendly though we found, apart from a couple of rather abrupt ones. We had to ask people on the streets a few questions and they were more than happy to help us.



This country is the most expensive place I've ever been. Fuel is double the cost of Australia, food prices are off the hook and the tour prices made us go pale just looking at them. Nearly everything has to be imported into Iceland which sends the prices soaring, and with only 320 000 people to share the costs of infrastructure etc, it's easy to see why the expenses are killer. We decided, after much debate, to do something criminal and skip the Blue Lagoon. We were going to do it on the way to the airport on our last day. It would have been lovely to see the heated lagoon nestled in a field of lava formations, but we just couldn't justify spending the $100 or so (by the time we paid for bus fee, entry fee, luggage storage and towel hire) to only have an hour or two in the lagoon. And unfortunately the water isn't natural; its siphoned over from the geothermal plant next to the lagoon after the plant is finished with it. It's still rich in minerals, but it kinda took the pleasure out of it for us knowing the water wasn't heated naturally. Instead, we decided on the 6 hour Golden Circle tour to take the day before we were to leave. Again it was worth doing our research, because we found a company running the tour for 5600ISK instead of 9900ISK charged through the main companies. Which meant we were paying around $55 Australian instead of almost $100.



The tour was wonderful! We were picked up outside our guesthouse and driven East through active volcanic lava fields. There was heaps of ice everywhere too, it was just so cool. We got to stop to view some incredible waterfalls, including the Golden Waterfall which was more powerful than the American Niagra Falls. Sooo pretty. I think the highlight of the tour was getting to see the geyser explode in the geothermal Geysir fields. A huge jet of boiling water would shoot up into the air every 6 to 7 minutes. Incredible! Stunk of sulphur so bad lol. The last thing we got to see before heading back to Reykjavik was Þingvellir, right between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. 7km between the two plates, mountains on both sides and a huge valley in the middle. You could see the places where the plates had pulled and split the dried lava, so awesome. The best part was the huge jagged rock wall on the North American side, which was where the Rock of Law sat. The most historic site in Iceland, this was where the Vikings used to hold their parliament. We also saw the Drowning Pool, which was where people used to be executed. Eeek. Man such history. Absolutely loved the tour. I don't regret our decision to do the Golden Circle tour rather than the Blue Lagoon.

Seeing Iceland has been such an awesome experience! This place seriously messes with your body clock though, with the sun doing weird and wonderful things lol. We were bummed we didn't get to see the northern lights, we just missed the season. There's always next time!
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