Iceland: Part 2

Here we go: more adventures in Iceland, as promised. These are the Dverghamrar, Dwarf Stones, which were formed when lava cooled in seawater. This place gave me a strong Labyrinth vibe for some reason.

Here's a glacier (Vatnajokull?) up close and personal. 

You have to respect the glacier. Here's what can happen if you don't. (Sorry about the bad pic.)

I think it looks like a huge block of liquorice ice cream. 

Loved the black sand. It's really something. 

You can't really see it in the pictures, but the sand sparkles in the sunlight like there's bits of gold mixed in it. 

Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon was amazing, too. 

You can see the glacier in the distance. That's where the icebergs come from.

Here are some of the beautiful Icelandic horses. I've only ridden a horse once, but I'd love to go horseback riding with these guys. They were so friendly. 

This is Dettifoss, the waterfall that appeared in the movie Prometheus. (The best thing about the movie, frankly.) They filmed it from the other side, so it looks quite different here.

This is Namaskard. I could only handle the stench for five minutes. Interesting, but you'd need a gas mask to enjoy it. 

A crater lake.

This was my very favourite place on the tour: the Dimmuborgir, "dark castles."

The lighting was bad that day, but these are really something. It looks like a natural citadel full of caves and crevices for nasty things to hide. I was half expecting orcs to come pouring out of the caves at any moment. 

I'll leave you with Godafoss, another beautiful waterfall. The name means "Waterfall of the Gods," and the story goes that when Iceland converted to Christianity, the people threw the statues of the old Norse gods in the waterfall to show their commitment to the new faith.

Iceland is a beautiful, magical country. If you like outdoorsy activities, you'll love it, but you can see it comfortably from a tour bus too. Just wear warm clothes and respect the environment, and you'll have the trip of a lifetime. 

Whale Watching

We also went whale watching on our trip to Iceland. I had never seen a whale before, so this was really special for me. 

We saw two humpback whales really close up; one was only about ten meters from the boat!

 Our tour was at Eyjafjord, where they had a 99 % success rate.  I'm not sure of the name of the company, but it's good to have an experienced captain, otherwise you can't get this close. They also made a point of not following a whale too long so it wouldn't get stressed out.

Iceland part 1

I just got back from a trip to Iceland, and it was amazing. Volcanoes, glaciers, hot springs; it's truly the land of ice and fire. 

We did the Iceland Complete circle tour because we were nervous about driving in a foreign country, but you can also rent a car and do the tour on your own instead of joining a tour group. Some of the roads were a bit rough but not too scary, so next time I think we'll rent a car. (Yes, next time. I'm already dreaming of going back...)  

This tour gives you a little bit of everything, which is nice, but a lot of the time you could have stayed at a place for a lot longer and not run out of things to do. 

At the start of our visit we took a special bus from Keflavik airport to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal bath and spa. It's very popular (for obvious reasons), so it's good to book ahead. They store your luggage while you bathe, and you can rent towels, bathrobes, flip-flops, and even a swimsuit there.

We lucked out with the weather, as you can see. The water is really warm, like a hot bath, but even in the summer, Icelandic weather is quite cold, so it wasn't a problem. When you're finished bathing, the same bus company has buses going to Reykjavik, so you don't have to go back to the airport. 

The surrounding area is quite barren, with lava fields all around. My friend said it looks like Mordor, and I think she's right. A lot of the scenery felt like it could have been straight out of The Lord of the Rings movies. Did you know they also filmed Game of Thrones in Iceland, the scenes that happened beyond the Wall, I think.

When our tour officially started, we got to see geysers at the Geysir geothermal field. The water's boiling, so you have to be very careful walking around. The guide said that the ground shifts and if you go off the path it can suddenly give way and you'll be up to your ankle in boiling water. Ouch!

So many beautiful waterfalls! This one is Gullfoss, the golden waterfall. 

Seljalandsfoss. 

You could walk behind the waterfall!

We stayed overnight at Vik. These are the Troll Stones. There's a legend that trolls were trying to drag a ship ashore, but then dawn came and they turned to stone, and that's how the stones were formed. (I don't know why the ship turned to stone, too, but you can't be nitpicky about mythology.)

Countryside around Vik. They had some nice hiking paths on the hills we'll definitely try next time. 

I have so many photos that they didn't fit into one post, so stay tuned for part 2 next week!