The beginning
I've heard a lot about the unpredictability of weather in Iceland but to experience it even before boarding the flight is… quite shocking. Our flight was delayed by 8 hours due to a storm and we had to move around our reservations and make last minute amends to our plans. So I guess, a warm welcome to Iceland! The only respites were the beautiful early morning sunlit peaks of mountains in Olympic national park and the not-so-bad view of Mt. Rainier. Seattle is, after all, a beautiful place.
Icelandair was kind enough to provide us accommodation for few hours, enough to get a bath and quick sleep. But the flight was horrendous, for a good part I couldn't figure out if I'm flying an international airline or a 10-seater from San Jose to Santa Barbara. But anyways after crossing the beautiful icy waters of the Atlantic, we touchdown in Iceland. Everything was swift, from immigration check to baggage claim to rental car pickup everything moved fast. Impressive so far. Oh did I mention the airport restroom? It’s the most beautiful and cleanest restroom I've ever seen in any airport I visited so far. Sixt car rental is probably the cheapest you'll find in Europe and they didn't waste any time in getting us our car. It’s past 5pm already, we quickly jumped into our Chevy Spark, grabbed a couple of sandwiches and snacks and headed straight to Seljalandsfoss.
The journey
Day 1: Within 10 minutes into our drive, Iceland welcomed us with our first hail storm accompanied by strong winds which turned out to be the start of our unique weather experience in Iceland. While on our way to see our first waterfall we just whisked past Reykjavik and we could already feel the rush of the city, the fast paced vehicles, traffic lights, honking of horns etc. We knew we’re not yet ready for the Icelandic big city experience, the mountains are calling us.
After crossing a million roundabouts we got onto the straight roads of Route 1 flanked by beautiful mountains and greenish blue colored ponds. By the time we reached Seljalandsfoss there was just enough light to get a peek of the falls. We were awed by the beauty of it and the 2 smaller waterfalls to it’s left and 1 on the right only added beauty to the already beautiful foss (meaning waterfall in Icelandic).
It was 11pm by the time we reached our guesthouse and we weren't surprised that everything (in Vellir, rural Iceland) was closed. Everything outside big cities close at around 9pm and not finding food early was one mistake we repeated almost everyday. The owner of the guesthouse was probably one of the nicest people we met in our trip. Looking at how worn out and starving we were, she opened the kitchen just for us and made us some sandwiches. We went to bed at around 1am and finding hard to catch some sleep ‘cause of the jet lag, I moved the curtain in disinterest and looked outside the window — “Is that a pale green cloud in the sky?”. “Holy sh*t, that’s the AURORA”. We were so excited to see such a pale green light, little did we know we were in for a treat in 4 days.
Day 2: Skógafoss was majestic. The mist, the birds, the sheer power of the falls — it all makes it a surreal experience. But the cherry on the topping was our breakfast: mustard herring with skyr. Welcome to the taste of Iceland.
Misadventures and nature
No roadtrip is complete without a misadventure. Soon after we passed by Reynisfjara (Iceland's famous black sand beach), our car gave up on us. Poor little Chevy Spark. That was the only time this tiny beast broke - it withstood a lot of snow and ice across the country. It showed us some beautiful sights. While we were struggling to replace a broken nut on a completely bruised tire, a lovely Icelandic couple offered to help us. Did I mention that Icelanders are super nice?
After driving for a couple of hours we touch down at Svinafellsjokull glacier for a blue ice glacier walk. It stands out as one of the top 3 experiences of our vacation. I started off with a feeling that this touristy activity is going to be boring with so many people around me cracking jokes I don't want to hear. But after 2.5 hours when the walk came to an end, I asked my guide “We're done already? I'm just getting warmed up”. It’s a fun filled experience and should make it a must try for anyone who visits (unless you are into that big ice climbing sport)
We left the glacier for Jokulsarlon and since this part of Route 1 is just beside Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajokull, we could see it oozing out of the mountains everywhere.
The unpredictability of the weather started hitting us. Within a span of 3 minutes everything around us turned white with an unexpected snowstorm. And people at Jokulsarlon were stuck and rescue vehicles had to come to clear the road for them. Without any second thoughts, we continued to drive to our night stay at Hofn and driving on those icy roads (literally 2–3 inches of ice not snow) in a city car is one of the scariest experiences. And as like the previous day we were late in grabbing food. Sigh! The struggle!
Day 3: Surprisingly all the snow cleared up and it looked as if there was no snow storm last night. White is all gone and black is all back, the earth looked welcoming again. So headed straight to Jokulsarlon and Ice beach
If you're a lover of mountains, the drive around the country won't bore you at all. The east fjords are beautiful.
Day 4: You will hardly find any attraction along the eastern/southeastern rim of Route 1 until you come across Road 862 which leads you to Europe’s most powerful waterfall, Dettifoss.
And only a few miles away is Goðafoss (waterfall of the gods).
With pseudocraters, Hverfjall (a tephra cone) and natural hot springs around, Lake Myvatn makes a good stop for some clicks.
Day 5: Our carefully crafted plan to see the aurora paid off really well with vedur.is forecasting this, thanks to the G4 ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm caused by a powerful solar flare couple days ago. And we were at the right place at the right time. Hvammstangi.
At around 8:45pm we saw the first streak in the sky and she was as excited as a small baby having her favorite chocolate after pleading for hours. It was the best experience of our vacation and something we'll cherish forever. The light slowly opened up to such intensity that it literally lit up the ground. You could clearly take a stroll in that light. The movement of the solar wind was so clear that it looked like a green silk curtain dancing to a gentle evening breeze. The way it formed like an umbrella above us is a view I can never forget. It’s the first time I screamed in excitement in the middle of the road, in the dead of the night.
Day 6: The unpredictable weather played spoilsport to our plans to visit Westfjords and even gave us jolts in our journey to Grundarfjörður to see the famous Kirkjufell mountain. After driving thru yet another snow storm and icy roads we made it to the mountain.
Golden Circle
Day 7: Our first stop, Silfra, is unique in its own sense. The fissure lies in the mid-atlantic ridge between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and a perfect place to snorkel the deep blue and 99.99% pure waters of Þingvellir National Park.
Stop 2: On the way to Gullfoss, somewhere on the road you'll see a zillion photographers with tripods eagerly waiting for something to happen, yeah that’s where you'll see the geysers of Haukadalur valley: Strokkur and The Great Geysir (this is where the word geyser comes from) are the 4th and 2nd largest geysers in the world respectively. Sadly Geysir last erupted almost 15 years ago and Strokkur erupts every 10 minutes or so.
Stop 3: When you reach Gullfoss take your camera with you, I regretted not taking mine, I underestimated it and it turned out to be the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland and longest waterfall in Europe.
Stop 4: The last stop on the Golden Circle is Kerið, a volcanic crater lake. It's actually huge, lets see if you can find humans in this image
Day 8: Capital of Iceland, Reykjavík. I read a lot about it as a party city and I'm not surprised how much the city is influenced by American culture. Every pub and bar has burgers and pizzas as specials and the same beer I see in ‘Murican bars. Chuck Norris bar! To keep things simple we just bought some traditional sweaters at the national handloom store, drove to the Blue Lagoon and soaked ourselves in the comfort of hot spring water, algae and silica. We strongly recommend Blue Lagoon towards the end of your vacation so you can spoil yourself in some comfort after whatever activities you do during your vacation.
Land of fire and ice
Apart from the beauty of nature, we saw a whole lot of natural phenomena like solar eclipse, solar halo and anticrepuscular rays. We walked on glaciers, walked on frozen water, had winds almost blew the car off the road, drove on icy roads — literally thru ice on roads, struggled to find food at 9pm, ate a lot of herring, even ate fermented Icelandic shark — that disgusting smell!!, played with ponies, saw galloping reindeer, saw smoke coming out of Earth, saw 2 tectonic plates, snorkeled thru tectonic ridges, changed a flat tire for the first time, saw green, blue and pink colors in the sky and met some really nice people. It’s a known fact that more than 50% of the country’s population believe in elves and trolls. With such beauty around us, for a moment we did too. And I'm sure we'll be visiting this beautiful country again.
Last but not least, you remember that thing that blew up in 2010? It’s pronounced like this