That's right! Iceland! My first journey going to Europe. It may seem ridiculous that someone who can't stand the cold would go to such a cold place for winter but at least I could say my experience was authentic. The nights were long and dark. The sun wouldn't even begin to rise until 9 am and then would be setting by 5 pm. It never really made a full track around the sky, kind of just hovering in the horizon then lazily setting again.
Geysir
Our first stop was to see the Geothermal geysers the area was known for. The hot water made the area pretty warm. The water is too hot to touch and has a good likelihood of burning you. Let's not be like that one man whose body cannot be found because he wanted to skinny dip in a geothermal hot spring. The whole area smelled of sulfur and the steam was super thick in some parts. Yet the ice on the ground stayed put and it was a bit dangerous getting to some parts.
Gullfoss
This is one of the more well known waterfalls in Iceland. The path would lead to some viewing decks far above it. None of the paths that came close to the falls were open due to the snow and ice. Still marvelous to look at, nonetheless.
KeriðWe saw cars pull over to park in this small parking lot on the side of the road so we decided to take a look too. We then got to see this amazing crater with a lake at the bottom covered in ice. Climbing up and around the crater gave us a wonderful view of the surrounding area. Climbing the steps to the bottom of the crater was another story. All the stairs were covered in ice. It was probably the scariest set of stairs I've ever had to go on. The view at the bottom was worth it though.
Ice Cave
This ice cave is part of a larger glacier called Vatnajökull. Don't even ask me to pronounce anything remotely Icelandic. It was really cool getting to go underneath a glacier. Although getting to the glacier itself was probably the most intense off-roading experience I've ever had. The surrounding area was all black sand dunes and it felt like were were roving on the surface of Mars.
Glacier Lagoon
I've been told the real name of the place is Jökulsárlón but since none of us foreigners can pronounce Icelandic correctly, everyone just refers to the area as the Glacier Lagoon. It was definitely one of my favorite places. Between the lake full of floating icebergs to the river going under what I will call the bridge we all almost died (you know who you are and you know why) with large pieces of ice slowly making its way to the ocean, to the black sand beach littered with icebergs that make it look like some ice sculpture garden. Definitely the place to get some fun photos. Sadly, my outfits looked sad and it was so cold, so my photos also look kinda sad.
Another well known waterfall, though not as large as Gullfoss. You can climb up the stairs to the top of the waterfall to get a good view. I was too tired by that time to even attempt it so instead I walked along the semi frozen river to get closer to the base of the waterfall. The sunset painted the waterfall in such a pretty light.
Sólheimajökull
This is the name of the glacier where we did our glacier hike and my poor attempt at ice climbing. The whole thing was almost five hours. I'd never been so physically drained and I think it showed on my face by the end. Still, it is so exhilarating to get to stand on top of a glacier and to look around you and see nothing but ice.
Reykjavik
Capital of Iceland where we stayed. Any of the places we mentioned above are by no means close. The Glacier Lagoon was our farthest destination and that was about a five hour drive one way. The whole place was still decorated for Christmas and it just gave everything such a happy feel. I also got to try puffin, which was gross, horse, which tasted like salami, and whale, which reminded me of beef.
Blue Lagoon
For our last night, we decided to pamper ourselves in the Blue Lagoon. Of course, the day we wanted to do it, it begins to snow heavily. It was kind of a nice contrast though between the warmth of the lagoon and the hard ice pelting me in the face. I have no pictures because we went at night and none of us wanted to risk getting our phones wet.
The five days we spent in Iceland was enough. The landscape was beautiful and everyone was quite friendly. The drives were never that bad because staring out into the landscape was distracting enough. We even saw some shooting stars. My only regret is we never got to see the northern lights. Oh well, on another trip then.
