We journeyed with Ashley to Iceland, the land of fire and ice and the midnight sun this last week. Or should it be the land of HUGE 4WDs and madly expensive beer! Our journey began in the capital, Reykjavik. A small city of less than 300,000 people, making the 'centre' pretty compact. Ash and I sampled the nightlife (Em's had an early night). It seems that in Iceland, you walk your dog at 1am and go out to the pub at 3am! As we were heading back to our hostel (at 3am) we noticed that the pub we were in was just filling! Perhaps it is the fact it never really gets dark. As you walk home in the light you do get the sense that you have had a much bigger night than you actually have.We hired a car and headed out of the city. Within 10 km you have highway 1 (the main highway that goes around the entire country) and the occasional before mentioned 4WD and a lot of scenery. Towering mountains sit by the road. We stopped to look at Geysir, an area of geothermal activity that leads to a huge surge of water flying up into the air. We checked out some amazing waterfalls, looked at the iceburg filled lagoon of Jokulsarlon, where some Bond movie was filled. We got close and personal with the world's 3rd largest icecap, Vatnajokull, and Ash and I grabbed our iceaxes and crampons and did some glacial walking. All amazing stuff.
Oh, in naming these places, I would hate you to think we mastered the language. In fact, the reality was that our navigation revolved around. " Oh, lets go to the V place" or "It's the B place, but with the double k?" Fortunately, along with being a very friendly bunch of people, Icelanders command of the English language is flawless.
A stop off at the Blue Lagoon, a thermal pool which was actually green when we went, for a relaxing dip, and then off to the airport. A great few days, and believe it or not, we headed back with a tan! Must be the sun, ice and midnight sun!
The above was taken at 11.30pm!
