Day 10 Reflection

Today started with me waking up at four in the morning (8:00 Iceland time), and thinking how cool it would be to do a final Iceland reflection of the trip. So this blog post is going to have some reflection from me, and some great photos that never made it to the blog.

 This is Kirkjufell, it is one of the most classic Iceland photos that can be taken. On the Snæfellsnes peninsula, we almost missed it because of how wide and flat it looked from the front, it was sent until we saw a bus of people pull out of the parking lot that we realized what it was. 

We found this whale hip bone in the back alley of the whale museum in Husavik. We stopped in this little town on our way from the Myvatn Nature Baths, looking for some lunch, and excited to explore their whale museum. We were a bit disappointed when both the whale museum and all the restaurants were closed because it's the off-season. Our solution to this problem was go to N1 (a gas station) and get a hot dog lunch. The hot dogs are very different then American hot dogs, with five different sauces and two types of onions on each lamb hot dog. In my mind they were much better than American hot dogs, but I would not want them every day.





This photo of a cave ceiling was taken on the basalt column beach. This beach is one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen, and I am positive that Iceland is the only place on earth where you can find it, and it's just amazing.



One of the coolest things about Iceland, was the people. Even in small towns like this, the Icelandic people would speak English, and showed more friendliness and courtesy than they needed to; whereas in America no one would speak Icelandic.



I feel that this trip has changed me for the better. Not only have I explored one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but I did it while sick. Days one through four, I felt awful, sick from a previous cold that wasn't fully gone when we left, and came back stronger when we arrived in Iceland. My dad was terrified that it was bad and it was, but I didn't let it stop the adventure and exploration of the country.  Before this trip I wouldn't do that, I would stay in the car for the cool parts, and let it fly by. Because my dad was there, and because I didn't want it to take over, it didn't.





Iceland may be isolated from the rest of the world, but that doesn't mean that they are isolated within their communities. The public pools are the main meeting place for the Icelandic people, these amazing pools are what connect the geothermal energy that surrounds Iceland with the inhabitants.


There was a pool in every town we visited, and almost all of them had slides like this. People would come to the pools before work or school, during their lunch breaks, and after church on Sunday, to see and talk with the people in their tiny communities.



I am so glad we chose to do this for spring break. I really think everyone should get a chance to explore Iceland at some point in their life, it's so otherworldly, and beautiful. It is the best thing I have done so far in my life, and the fact is, my life just started.





Ben

Animals in Iceland

We have seen many animals throughout Iceland. This includes getting stampeded by a herd of sheep, reindeer who run away terrified when we come close to them, and horses that came running towards us.

We took this photo just out side of Lake Myvatn. We saw this herd of sheep as we were driving to our house in Akureyri, and we just had to stop and give them carrots.

They were hesitant at first, then stampeded straight for us, begging for carrots. As time went on, less started to come, and it was the same three eating the carrots.

This herd of horses was like many others, in that we stopped to feed them carrots. The unique thing about these guys was that they had no clue what carrots were, and ended up nibbling on my jackey whole ignoring the carrots. Other horses along the way definitely knew what carrots were, and ate them enthusiastically.

We saw this reindeer right outside of Hofn. Another car had partners to watch It, but it reacted differently to us. It was hilarious how scared it was of us. I got out of the car with a bag of carrots and it screamed at me, running away, looking back over its shoulder in terror. The phrase that popped into both my dad's head and mine was "stranger danger".

It was remarkable how many beasts we found in Iceland, and how so many of them were friendly.

Today we fly back to the states, and I am just so happy that I have all of these great memories of Iceland.

Location:Laugavegur,Reykjavík,Iceland

Single Lane Roads, Tunnels, and Bridges

Throughout our journey around and across Iceland, we have seen many single lane roads, tunnels, and bridges.

As you can see the road goes from normal two lanes while on the normal road, to strange one-lane when you get to the bridge.

I can sort of understand the single lane bridge, when you can see the person across or on the bridge, so you know if you want to enter, but with the tunnels, it's another story all together.




The single lane tunnels are normally 2-6 killometers long, and have at least one turn so you can't see the other end. Throughout the tunnel there are small pull-offs, where you stop to let someone who is coming at you pass.

It amazes me that these are able to work in Iceland. If these were in a bigger country, like America or the U.K., they would be full to the brim with accidents as soon as they were opened.

My dad was fine with the single lane bridges, but got a bit stressed out when driving through the single lane tunnels.

Location:Laugavegur,Reykjavík,Iceland

Horse riding

Today we started our adventure when we woke up around 7:30, watched an episode of Fortitude, and got dressed to go horse riding.







This is when I first got on the horse. My dad ended up staying behind, he didn't want to try with the weird breed of Icelandic horse. So I went alone with my guide, some old Icelandic man who didn't speak English, but seemed nice enough anyway.






As we continued to ride, I noticed how comfortable the horses were to ride. This is because they are a different type of horse than the American ones I'm used to riding. Icelandic horses are much shorter than the average hourse and much wider, this provided a very steady and smooth ride.







Icelandic horses also have 6 gaits rather than than the standard 4 gaits (Walk, Trot, Canter, Gallup.) The extra two gaits are "Tolt" and "Flugskeid". Tolt is a very smooth very fast pace, that is reasonably easy to achieve. Flugskeid, on the other hand, is incredibly hard to master, and when done well can achieve speeds up to 48 miles per hour.






Saudarkrokur, the town we rode in, is the center of the horse culture and history in Iceland, and has been for hundreds of years.






The ride was a bit more than a hour. We rode around a nearby a lake, on trails that felt like different farmers' driveways. Once during our journey, we came close to a cliff and stopped to look out over the beautiful lake we had been exploring.

It was such an amazing experience and I am so happy that we were able to find a way to make it work in our overall plan for this trip.

Location:Snæfellsnesvegur,,Iceland

Day 5

Our day started when we woke up around 7:00, and we left camp around 7:30 to start our adventure. Although a rather late start to the morning, it did not hinder the awesomeness of what we saw today.






Our first stop was to a Volcanic steam vent just outside of Lake Myvatn. It's tempature is a bone rattling 200 degrees celsius. That is hot enough to melt anyone that tried to swim in its waters. This vent also released a very strong sulfuric smell into the air.







This little pond, was just outside of our destination for the day but was so pretty that we had to stop to take a picture. The blue tint to the water in this picture is unexaggerated, the water was a bright blue, because of the minerals in the water. The sign in the foreground warns people not to go swimming out they might get burned.






This is where they get the hot water for the baths. This extremely hot hotpot of water, is 100 degrees Celsius. They send the hot water through pipes and mix it with glacier water to create the warm water which you can swim in.











Our Main destination for the day, Lake Myvatn Nature Baths. This pool is naturally blue, and not reflecting from the black, rocky, natural bottom of this pool.

The hot water bath, chemicals in the water, and beautiful scenery all made for a great and relaxing break from the road.

Today was really fun even though we didn't do too much. Just being in a place so different from anything I have ever seen is amazing all on its own. Then add on something awesome like the Nature Baths, or a herd of carrot hungry sheep makes the day even more amazing. I am so happy to be in Iceland and excited for the next three and a half days in this amazing country.

Location:Hringvegur,,Iceland

Night Four

Last night we saw the northern lights while camping in the middle of nowhere, and it was awesome. It was about ten, and it lasted for an hour and a half, then disappeared. It was like a river of green fire in the sky, constantly moving and changing directions. Here are the pictures.

























- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Dettifossvegur vestri,,Iceland

Day 4 (Campsite)

This blog post is going to be a bit different then usual, since yesterday was a huge driving day we didn't have much to say in the blog so we pulled over on to a black sand beach, or its parking lot, and did a photo shoot off or camper.






This is our car, before we unpacked it, it is the size of an average mini-van.






This is where we sleep. During the day the bed is mostly set up, but it just requires for us to move the seats forward, then we can fold the rest of the bed out. The bags of produce are over the kitchen, but are also over the bed, luckily they are by our feet.












This is where we eat, the table is normally between the seats and the bed, and the chairs are just on the top of the bed.







This is our kitchen, we store, cook, and prep food here.








We've been able to keep ourselves fed, and warm in here through many cold nights. I am glad to be here, and even more glad that we chose to explore the land of fire and ice.

Location:Dettifossvegur,,Iceland

Day 3

We got an early start to our day when we woke up at 6:00, and left camp around 6:50. That's when our adventure for the day began.







Our first stop for the day was, Reynisfjara. Reynisfajara is a black sand beach with hexagonal basalt crystal formations that are twenty times taller then me. This was amazing and a detour that I am glad we took.





Our next stop was to a glacier called Svinafellsjokull. This behemoth of a glacier was amazing, surrounded by mountains higher than any I have ever seen, covered with tons of snow.





Finaly we went to the famous Jokulsarlon glacier bay. This is a bay with one huge glacier that has broken apart into small chunks that float around the bay resulting in a bay full of icebergs. It is truly amazing.

Tonight we are sleeping in a little hotel room instead of our car. This is for many reasons, and I hope we will be back sleeping in nature tomorrow night. I am amazed at how much we have already seen on this trip, and I can not wait to see more tomorrow.

Day Two

Our day started when we woke up this morning around 6:20, and left our funky little house around 7:30 and got our day started.





Our first excursion was to Thingvellir. Thingvellir is where two tectonic plates are slowly moving apart to form a canyon, it was the site of Iceland's first congress more than a thousand years ago.








Next we went to Geysir. Geysir is a Geyser that is surrounded by thousands of other Geysers and vents for steam exiting the earth's crust.








Gullfoss, the next stop on our journey. Gullfoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland, and really a breath taking sight.








The next may in fact be my favorite of all. Kerid is an old inactive volcanic crater that has been filled with a blue water lake. This crater has a small trail across its rim, They skipped having a railing for huge chunks of the trail, leaving you in what felt like pure nature. Although dangerous, this is still one of the things I will remember for the rest of my life.








Finally we went to Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall was very small compared to what we saw earlier, but the one factor that made it so unique was the trail that went behind the waterfall. This is a picture taken behind the waterfall.

Now sitting in our beautiful camp site, I am so happy that we chose to go here, and can't wait to explore more tomorrow.

First day, or three

Our Flight got in around 4:20, (Iceland Time) and we got our car around 5:30. Our House was available around noon, so with some time to kill we went to one of the public baths. The baths are pools made by men, that are heated with natural geothermal energy from the Earth. This creates a year-round outdoor bath, that is the size of a big pool, along with hot pots for soaking.

After we spent hours at one of the baths we went to the new whale museum in Raykjavik. It was just like the exhibit in the natural history museam but with TONS more whales (23!). Then came 11 o'clock, but still our house was not ready, so we went to lunch at a world famous hot dog stand, then went to a restaurant that serves the best bowl of Lobster Chowder in Iceland.

Now finally it was twelve, but we decided to check one thing out before we went to our new home, The Cathedral. The Cathedral was designed to look like it was made out of the same hexagonal rocks that cover the Island. This gave me a feeling that the Icelandic people associate nature with their religion, or treasure nature so much that they created their church around it.

Once we made it to our new home, we were content with our little house. It is off the main road so we don't hear many cars, but close enough to the church that we hear the bells ringing. I am very happy that our first day went so well, and excited for tomorrow when we venture into the depths of Iceland.









Awesome bowl of Lobster Chowder...








The Cathedral...








Our house...

Location:Raykjavik

Setting up the Blog

We'll be heading to Iceland in a few days, and I'm setting up this blog to record our trip and adventures around the Ring Road.

(click on the map to see it full size for more detail and names of the places we'll be exploring)

The Ring Road is an 800-ish mile road circumnavigating Iceland that we'll be driving during our stay, here are a few articles with great pictures explaining a bit about the trip:

• Ring Road Article
• Another Ring Road Article