Iceland - the land of ice and fire! Volcanoes, geysers, glaciers and weird rotten food! A distant neighbour I've wanted to visit ever since learning about it in elementary school. Iceland is the opposite of Finland: mountains and barren landscapes instead of endless forests, and hot springs instead of thousands of lakes. The other Nordic country where people speak unintelligible language, and the only one which I couldn't visit just by driving my car. The only reason why I hadn't visited Iceland already was that it's so far away and flights are expensive. I finally got my chance when my in-laws were visiting Finland and we wanted to do a family trip together to someplace new. It was perhaps my vote that allowed Iceland to beat Portugal.
Reykjavik city center.
Unfortunately it turns out I arrived a whole decade too late! Ever since the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the tourism has increased almost exponentially. Iceland is currently Europe's most expensive country due to the mass tourism, and in my opinion the return value for what you pay for is rather meagre. You really cannot blame the Icelanders though; the people are coming regardless of the service you provide, so why bother? Who would say "nei!" to free money?
Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik.
For me, Iceland was the land of endless tourist caravans. A visit to each nature attraction starts with the same race for a parking space. Now I understand why rental car damage waiver makes sense in a country with population density of 3.4/km2. If you want to hike in untouched nature far away from the maddening crowds, Iceland is currently not the best choice. If you brought your selfie stick and are willing to wait in line to get your Instagram snap in front of yet another overcrowded waterfall, Iceland is ideal. In my humble opinion Northern Scandinavia has rather similar scenery but much better people-to-reindeer ratio.
I'm not entitled to fly in Iceland, moan about the crowds and expect the rest of the world to stay at home. A family from Beijing, Berlin or Boston have the same right being there as a grumpy geezer from Finland. I'm just saying that being stuck in crowds was not my cup of brennivín. Iceland is like the Phuket of the North: most of the people there are originating from elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with Polish people serving Chinese tourists American food, but I personally would prefer having my Polish culinary experience in Poland.
Fancier end of the dishes we ate. Regardless of quality, everything costs over 20€.
I left Iceland with mixed feelings and an empty wallet. We did quite a lot of hiking, and the nature is just as gorgeous as it looks in the pictures! Mother nature also blessed us with (mostly) good weather. We joined a walk on the glacier and took a boat ride to the edge of Vatnajökull; the guides were really nice and these were the definite highlights of the trip. At the same time I was really annoyed about people posing in front of absolutely everything and that rules like "No drones" -prohibition applied only to those visitors who actually would bother with the rules.
Disclaimer: I didn't wake up early in hopes of capturing dramatic “post card” sunrises at any of the locations. Everything is already done much better than what I could’ve possibly achieved in one week with my skills.
Sun Voyager is a sculpture in Reykjavik. It looks like it’s bought from a Pentik store.
Visiting the beautiful Harpa Concert Hall.
Icelandic beach lion: a grey seal chillaxing in icy waters.
I found something that’s undeniably an ancient fossil! I’ve now earned a hat and a whip!
Djúpalónssandur beach.
If you do an image search for Gatklettur, you can find some stunning sunset photos. Unfortunately I wasn’t as lucky with the weather.
Laufskálavarða is a lava ridge covered in stone cairns. “Travelers trekking across the black sands of Mýrdalssandur would leave little stacks of stones for good luck.”
North America left, Europe right: the continental drift can be seen in Þingvellir National Park.
Kerið crater lake.
Hiking to Reykjadalur Hot Springs.
Icelandic food reminded me of my mom’s cooking. Simple, healthy and sometimes even a bit tasty. I ate a lot of fish since I don’t like the other main raw materials of Icelandic food: sheep and horse meat.
Hiking on the Southern coast of Iceland.
A DC-3 plane wreck on the beach at Sólheimasandur. It is difficult to frame a photo without tourists posing in, on and around it. It's a perfect symbol of Icelandic tourism: a few years ago no one even knew it's there, now it's being bombarded by countless hordes of tourists. The poor plane is covered in tags and graffiti, and soon there's nothing left. Humankind is awesome!
Reaching the plane requires roughly two hours of hiking in total (which you can skip by paying 20€). I was quite upset when we got there; it’s just an old piece of aluminium being overwhelmed by a wave of selfie people. Then I realised it’s actually an art installation! Remains of industrial age being devoured by mass consumption and tourism, leading to the oblivion we’re all heading towards. Deep.
Hiking in Skaftafell. This is Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest peak of Iceland.
That’s Breiðamerkurjökull on the back.
We took a ride on an inflatable to Jökulsárlón - a glacial lagoon bordering Vatnajökull National Park.
Diamond Beach.
The final moments of an iceberg.
We joined a guided walk on the glacier. The walk to the edge gets longer each year: the glacier is retreating unprecedentedly fast. The leading opinion is that it’s all because of a Chinese scam to make American manufacturing non-competitive. I wonder how they do it? Blowtorches?
Our guide Sandra showed us some really beautiful ice caves (the ash on the ice is due to volcanic activity). The other guide Ladislav, a chap from Czechia, turned out to be a fellow photographer and Olympus shooter. Immediate bonding! Check it out, he is brilliant!
It’s an incredibly blue world down there.
Icelandic stand-off.
Strokkur - The Mighty Geyser.
On the Road Number One!
Reynisfjara.
Kirkjufjara Beach.
Icelandic beauty.
Gullfoss.
We spent one night at a farmstead called Holmur. It was located in the middle of nowhere, with a glacier and mountains as a backdrop. What a beautiful place to live in!
One of the friendliest locals we met.
Seljalandsfoss.
Kvernufoss.
Skógafoss.
Svartifoss.
Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon. Takk fyrir!