Friday, April 28, 2023
we're always right place and wrong time
we always wait in the sunshine
and we're always on the cusp, I'll forever put my trust
in silver linings, silver linings
Silver Linings - Easy Life
Honestly, I can't say I'll forever put my trust in silver lining because I can't see the silver lining in the first place. Day 6 was the last day in Iceland and I was spending it all in Reykjavik. The only engagement for that day was something at 12:30 pm. So after a really tiring day the day before, I could just be slow and take my time that morning. After breakfast, I went out to explore the capital starting with going to Tjörnin / the lake. As lake goes, there were many ducks and swans. There's a family that morning feeding them. What's quite interesting was that some part of the lake was frozen and it's quite funny seeing ducks trying to slide walk slowly on ice and it's especially funny when they just flew and tried to land on the ice upright :D I walked around the perimeter of the lake until the other end which I found gave me a more beautiful view but perhaps it's because the sun was out a bit when I reached there.
Then I made my way to Hallgrímskirkja / the church. A paid concert was about to take place at that time, so only audience could enter the church. I just walked around it a bit and then I took the main street in front of the church, taking pictures of what I thought was interesting like the mural arts or arts on the ground (like the picture below). The weather was changing, cloudy with a slight drizzle. It's been like that for the past days, so yeah what can you do about it right?
The main street in front of Hallgrímskirkja brought me to the rainbow street. Entered some shops that looked interesting as I walked. There's quite a number of mural arts in this town, not just in this street but throughout as I had been walking, so it's kinda interesting to be turning a corner and see some art on the wall.
Walking around, I was concerned about where to find a taxi. My 12:30 pm appointment was for a helicopter ride. I have googled the bus, but I didn't have exact cash for it and the ISK / Icelandic Króna that I had should be enough for taxi. By the way, I read a lot that you could go cashless in Iceland and it was so true. You could pay everything tapping your card which is so convenient, familiar, but then I thought this was too easy, like you ended up not thinking if you have spent too much. One time I went to dinner not bringing my bag because I just needed the card to pay and I thought this felt like being a guy because girls usually need a bag to hold our things and most of the time guys just have things in their pocket :D Anyways, I wasn't sure if I could pay the taxi with card and maybe holding some cash would be good so I exchanged 50 euro in Helsinki airport during my transit there. I ended up not using the cash much, so I had to spend it that day. Back to me looking for taxi - I tried to look around to identify a taxi, but couldn't, but by some luck I found a taxi stand with some taxis there. The taxi driver knew where the hangar is, so it's good. There's a partition in the taxi and the driver was wearing a mask. He didn't insist I wore one, but I wonder if it's a requirement. Side note: my mom would say it's always better to wear one, but the thing is in a world where no one wears a mask, wearing one just makes me worried people think I'm weird or I have the disease or worst I would be targetted because of it's a sign I'm a foreigner and Asian at that. Anyways the taxi driver was saying the weather didn't seem to be very good that day for a helicopter ride and I was like yeah, but hopefully it'd work out. When I paid him, he was like so you want change? Good God :| So I asked, do you have one 50 ISK coin? He said he did and he gave me that. I needed the coin for the bus ride back. Arriving in the hangar, they told me it was cancelled precisely do to the cloudy weather. ARRRGHH!!! They said they texted me but I didn't receive it. They said they tried to call, I did see there was a miss call but the number wasn't listed :( I wonder why on earth they didn't email like all of our correspondence. AARRRGHH!!! I tried to keep it cool there. I asked about refund, they said they would of course do that. The refund did come some days later but what freaking annoys me (still present tense) was that due to exchanges or whatever admin fee there is, I lost like 30 SGD. It's not the helicopter company's fault this happened; it's whatever money processing currency exchange system going on in this world - that is hella annoying. 30 SGD is like enough for a meal both in Singapore and Iceland :( The other thing that added to my disappointment was that I was really quite on a fence on doing this helicopter ride because it's expensive. I was tossing between doing it or going on a horse ride, both things I have never done before. Thinking that the helicopter was more awesome, I ended up choosing it even though the timing was not ideal. I was hoping I could do it in the morning so I would have time to go to the Blue Lagoon. When I was given the confirmation, I thought okay maybe God told me to save money and not go to the Blue Lagoon which I was also very much on the fence about going. So that was the thought process and everything didn't work out, aarrghhh!!! Anyways, I already planned to go to Perlan after the helicopter ride. Now that it's not gonna happen, I thought okay, on to Perlan then. The helicopter people asked if I would need a taxi to the city and they would pay for it. I asked a taxi to Perlan instead. So they called the taxi and I used their toilet before I left. The taxi driver was the one who took me there and he laughed when he saw me. Apparently the helicopter people paid him quite generously for a short ride to Perlan which was around 15-17 minutes walk.
I cannot remember how much Perlan cost, but I had nothing to do and it's raining outside so I bought the ticket that encompasses all. Perlan is like a small museum which shows the nature of Iceland. There's a planetarium which has a story about the aurora. I did that one first. Then there's the ice cave which was built using ice that they actually brought in from actual glacier. I was thinking when they did that, wouldn't that ruin that glacier. Turns out the ice cave was small, so maybe not much harm done. They have a section explaining glacier, how they're formed and such. There's also an exhibition about volcano and the different volcanic rocks and there's a wall in which there's a model of what the natural habitat of puffins look like. I was quite interested to see the puffins, but you could only see them in the summer. One of the last thing I saw was the volcano show where there's a video of a volcano erupting. I forget which volcano it was but it was in the winter and it became like a tourist attraction where people could actually come quite close to the lava flow. The room simulates the smell of the volcano erupting. I can't really describe it, the smell was strong and it was quite unique, nothing like what I have smelled before.
Perlan also has an observation deck. I went out there twice, once it was cloudy and drizzling and windy and the other time there were some sun but still windy. It gave a nice view of Reykjavik. Then in the cafe there I decided to have lunch, fish and chip. The cafe is on a floor that rotates ever so slightly. I don't think I completed one whole rotation during lunch. Overall I think Perlan is so so, like if you really really have nothing to do, then I guess you can go there.
Going back to the city, I gave myself some time because though I knew the schedule of the bus, I wasn't sure about the walk there. I have downloaded both Helsinki and Reykjavik map for offline use for this trip, but what I didn't realize was that Google Maps was somehow able to locate my location on the map without data or even during flight mode. I usually deny access to location for the apps in my phone, but apparently I always allow it for Google Maps and it was so so useful. I've travelled to many places for some years now and yet this crucial information was only something that I learnt then. I am embarrassed. So anyways, Perlan is on the Öskjuhlíð hill and I knew nearby there's like an area with trees which would make for a good walk. I found the trail and I thought it was really interesting, the trees were taller and green, but then I also realized, it was stupid of me to be doing this. The weather could change into heavier drizzle which would make the trail muddy, I'm not an outdoor person who does hiking at all so I have no safety knowledge whatsoever except for this one where I understood what I was doing was stupid. No one knew I was going there. I do not know the trail at all. I also do not know any emergency number. If I got hurt or if suddenly someone did something bad to me there, I would just be gone. So I decided as much as it looked peaceful and interesting, I needed to get out. As I was walking out, I saw 2 guys walking the trail dressed very casually. I wondered what they were doing there. Were they there to smoke some weed? That's where my head was going and I also thought just when I thought someone bad could do bad things to me there, I saw other people. Nothing happened, but it's kinda a sign to me that maybe it's better for me to get out.
I got to the bus stop quite early which gave me time to check if the bus would be on the street I was in or the one opposite. Kinda daunting not understanding the bus stop information in the bus, but I managed to get off correctly at the bus stop near Hallgrímskirkja. This time around I could go in. I said a little prayer to thank God for helping me on this trip and to help me with safe travel back.
Then I made my way back to the hotel, taking the rainbow street again. Before I turned in for the day, I went to the nearby supermarket, Bónus, whose symbol is a pink pig :D Got chocolate there. Then I remembered there's an ice-cream shop nearby. It was cold out but I thought maybe I could use my remaining ISK. I thought it was a bit silly going for ice-cream on a really cold day but ahead of me was a close-to-elderly couple going for ice-cream too so I didn't feel so silly and as I was looking at all the flavours, a group of family came in. 2 scoops for 1000 ISK and I thought that was perfect, I could spend my last ISK there. I couldn't remember what flavours I got but it was money well-spent :D Since it was really cold out, I was already planning to have my ice-cream inside. Appparently all were doing the same. It kinda made me happy seeing all just standing around with me by the wall eating ice-cream. It was a good ending, but I have to say that I don't think me and Iceland gel. Somehow we just didn't work out and as ungrateful for me to say this, I'm not that super blown away as many people who have been to Iceland have said or written. Many things didn't happen, that would usually spur people to dream for another visit, but I think I'm good. I could very much be dead inside that I didn't feel much *sigh* that is for another post. When I went back to my room that day, I saw another rainbow from the window. I saw a lot of rainbows in this trip and as I saw that rainbow I told God, I don't know God, I don't understand the reason why things didn't work out. I know I should be grateful for all the good things so I asked for forgiveness that I'm not all that. For pictures from Reykjavik, please go here. One more post to write and that'll wrap up the story about this trip.
:) eKa @ 9:33:00 PM • 0 comments
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
who needs words?
when everything is crystal clear
when happiness is so sincere
across this universe
Who Needs Words - Young Gun Silver Fox
Day 5 was a Friday and I was going to Katla ice cave. I guess I was a bit nervous because I don't know how physical it was going to get. It was a long drive to get to the starting point, Vik, which I had been on the Monday that week. To break the long drive, there was a stop at the waterfalls which I already saw on Monday. What was different was that the landscape was no longer white and covered in snow and instead of blue sky, it was cloudy with a little drizzle. I guess it made it quite interesting for me to see the same waterfalls in a completely different light. First stop that morning was the Skógafoss waterfall. The guide mentioned there's a staircase that we could take to see the top of the waterfall and the river that feeds the water. When I saw it, I was thinking how come I didn't notice it on Monday, but maybe it was closed that day due to the snow. Since I have seen the waterfall before, I thought why not climb these stairs. It wasn't easy, like almost halfway I was thinking, why am I doing this?!? Shouldn't I be conserving energy for the cave? But when you're halfway, you just have to commit to it and I made it. I was quite relieved when I saw a teen boy who was taller and looked fitter than me bending over to catch his breath, because then I know it was really not easy, not just for me who don't exercise :D There was also a dad in my group who took the stairs and he was behind me, he was on the large size and I was worried if he could make it without incident, but he did and I was glad for him :D On top of the waterfall, we could see the river of this waterfall which Google told me is the Skógá river and if you walked a bit along this river, you would see a smaller tiered waterfalls in the river. Now that the cliff around the waterfall was not covered in snow, I saw there were many birds on them. I wonder where the birds went when it was covered in snow.
Arriving in Vik, we only had a small break which was actually not enough to have a proper meal. Before I left that morning I bought a pastry (just one this time) from the bakery near the hotel which I love and so during the break I quickly gulped that down. I was worried that the pastry, big as it was, was not sufficient but we had to make do. I think I lost some weight during this whole trip due to the many steps taken each day; it was more than 10,000 each day and there were even more than 20,000-step days; but I think I have gotten them back now. When we re-grouped, our driver guide divided our group into 2 separate jeeps and that jeep took us nearer to the cave entrance. It was quite a long ride where after the paved road we were on black volcanic dirt. When someone commented that it was bumpy, it reminded me of the drive in Kenya last year :D The jeep then stopped at this one place where we were given crampon. Now I have read about this before coming and was quite concerned about having to put it on. Since I had no experience with winter gears, I had concerns if I had the right shoes. By the way, I got many of my winter clothings from Decathlon because it's just way cheaper than the alternative and I was really thankful that they exist and they're fast. My shoes should be right for the occassion but I was still concerned. When the guide passed me the crampon, he just pointed which part the front one was and that information didn't help at all. He was busy with other people so I couldn't really ask for more explanation, so I asked a girl who was sitting next to me in the jeep and turned out the crampon is like a slip on. You position the toe part first and drag the back part to fit the back of your shoes. Another girl asked that girl if she had her ones correctly, so I guess it's also a new experience for some people too. Other than the crampon, we're given helmet too. The crampon helped a lot when walking on the ice. It made me feel safe. It gave a crunch crunch sound as we walked. Someone in the group said it sounded so crunchy :D It was some walk to where the cave was, but I was just in awe with what I saw. Mind you there was a drizzle, but the landscape was so different.
On booking this trip, I was thinking there might not be many people going for this so I really had my concerns because this was the most physical activity I booked and I was worried if I would be the weaker one in the group :$ but turned out there were so many people doing this. At one point suddenly behind me a group of Singaporeans arrived. I think they're a tour group. I identified them by accent. I didn't say "hi" because, well as bad as I am to say this, I don't think Singaporeans are the friendly bunch especially to one who is not one of their own who comes from places like mine. Anyways, so we're all waiting below this ice arch (picture below) because they could only let a few people at a time in the ice cave. I have to say that the cave I went to was different from the pictures. The guide was explaining that nothing is permanent there, depending on how the ice grow and melt, new caves are formed and some caves may not be accessible. Even the arch we're under was getting smaller. So he said the guides always have to find ways to adjust the trip. He had an ice pick and he said that the water in the blue ice is pure so he hacked some of it and told us we could try it if we wanted to. After many others took the pieces, there wasn't a small piece left, so I didn't. Google told me that the black streak in the ice was of black ash from past volcanic eruptions.
So we're divided into smaller group to enter the cave and it was dark inside, kinda couldn't see much, but it was still interesting and at the same time scary for me. That is because there's like a stream with strong current by our pathways and there's only so little space to walk and this small space had to accomodate people going in and out in a single file. There's rope you could hold on but I became kinda edgy inside and I kinda snapped when someone behind me asked, are we not moving? I had to tell him there's nowhere to go because the people in front of me hadn't left and I proceeded to tell him and his excited group, please can we go slow. I couldn't take many pictures inside because it's dark and because there's people waiting, I chose not to stay long. This picture below was not a good one, but it shows a bit of the stream with the strong current which I was so afraid I was going to fall into. I wonder where I would end up at if I did fall into it.
After that short time in the cave, it was a walk back to where the jeeps were and this walk back was the most memorable thing about the whole trip or even my whole time in Iceland. A good thing about it was there was some time where the people in front of me and behind me were some distance away and I felt like I was the only person in that out-of-this-planet landscape. Yes there was a drizzle, it was cold, but I didn't care. There were some streams around which I think was from the melting ice and I don't know how high we were but there's like a mist or cloud shrouding the landscape and it felt ethereal. You know, somehow seeing the landscape of mountains or black rocks covered in snow in Iceland like below always made me think of a whale. It was truly the best experience I had in Iceland. I may sound ungrateful for not being amazed much with all that I had experienced in the days before but this one thing is truly the most memorable one. It is something I would hold on in my heart as that wonderful blessing God took me to see, a completely new experience, one that I may not encounter again elsewhere. My words are really not adequate to express what it was like to me, the awe and wonder.
For pictures from the trip to Katla ice cave, you can go here. On the way back to Reykjavik, we stopped by Seljalandsfoss waterfall which I also already saw on Monday and so I decided to walk more towards the smaller waterfalls. Turns out at the end there was this waterfall which is quite hidden. I saw the path towards it, but I didn't take it because I was alone (I guess the rest in the group were tired, they didn't really get out) and I don't know how long the path was and I was running out of time. Like the Skógafoss waterfall in the morning, it was quite interesting to see Seljalandsfoss and its friends in a different light without all the snow covering them.
Now, earlier that day I received the message that the aurora tour which was cancelled the day before was on that day. I was hopeful it would all work out, but then the drive to Reykjavik was taking longer and I started to get worried. We're supposed to arrive around 8 pm, but we're not even close. My pick up for the aurora tour was 09:30 pm. I really wished I could arrive as early as possible so that I could clean up a bit and eat a bit. I got dropped off just before 09:00 pm and it was a dash to get cup noodle ready and tripod ready. I don't have a habit of bringing instant noodle on trips but did so purposely for this and since I couldn't find soupy Pop Mie here, I had to settle with Nissin and I prepared for it but it still annoyed me that it didn't come with eating utensils. I mean, what?!?! How are you supposed to eat this supposedly convenient food if the one tool you need to eat it is not provided? *sigh* Well, as I said, knowing that possibility, I have brought the necessary utensils. Somehow I managed to eat, get the tripod ready, and was punctual at the bus stop for pick up. I was worried about this because since I arrived, I have gotten very sleepy around 09:30 pm or so and to stay up until late was something that I wondered I could do especially after a physically tiring day, a day which was also perhaps the wettest and coldest I'd been. A lot of prayers to God to help me through this. We're driven to a place which the map said would be clear enough to see the aurora. There's a lighthouse nearby and the sound of the sea. I have googled the forecast myself so I couldn't blame the guide for choosing the place which other guides also chose because there were other groups as well. When we arrived, we could see the moon somehow covered a bit by cloud but there's reason to be positive because of the forecast. It was really cold, another worry for me if I could make it. The guide gave us hot chocolate and it helped stop my shivering and he also gave us some chocolate too to snack on. Now you see this post and there's no more pictures because the weather somehow completely didn't work out. It was really cloudy, not like what the weather forecast said. The guide tried to go to another place but it's the same thing, then we went back to the first place and the moon was now completely covered. Is it stupid to be driven around in the middle of a cold night for nothing? Yes, but that is what happened to us. I guess if we had seen some, it would have been worth it, but gosh :( I tried y'all. There's nothing else I could do - I got someone to lend me a tripod, I tried to learn how to photograph aurora, I scheduled it as such so that I had options if one day didn't work out though perhaps I should have scheduled it better so that I had more nights available. The forecast was saying it was a good chance we could see something and the weather forecast showed clear sky on the area we're in but that part didn't materialize. It hit me hard, like God why? We have this saying in Indonesian, manusia berencana, Tuhan yang menentukan - human makes plan, but God decides. I don't know why God said no :( but I cannot be that pissed because He had protected me throughout and yes there was that wish to see the aurora but deep inside it was something that I thought was far fetched for me. I even remember saying to the guy who lent me the tripod that perhaps after all the effort, I got to see nothing at all. Maybe I jinxed myself there and then. I know that maybe a no from God is not a no, it's just a not yet, but if it really is a no, it's just one thing among the countless wonderful things and places He has taken me to experience. I was delivered back around 02:00 AM something and in the grand picture kinda way, what really important was I survived that long day. I was okay and I had experienced something that felt out of this world.
:) eKa @ 9:41:00 PM • 0 comments
Friday, April 21, 2023
Day 4 - Golden Circle + Kerið Crater
these things I like to do
they're only worth it when I'm with you
yeah it's true, so do you
do you wanna do nothing with me?
Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me? - Lawrence
First heard that song on the Stephen Colbert's show and I thought it was really good, the music and the lyric. The lyric itself is kinda me :D So day 4 was spent doing what I think is the most common thing people who come to Iceland do which is doing the Golden Circle route and I chose the trip that included Kerið / Kerid Crater too. Start time that day was later than the rest of the trips so I had more time in the morning and after breakfast I decided to go to the bakery with really good reviews some distance away from the hotel to get some snack for lunch. I like pretty much everything there but settled on bagel filled with cream cheese and peanut butter and a lemon donut (if I remember correctly). They actually don't have the combination of cream cheese and peanut butter listed, so I wonder if they thought I was weird. Alright back to the trip, first stop on the route was Þingvellir / Thingvellir National Park. We're given time to just roam around on our own. It really is a must-visit for tourists because there were many people there. I can't remember much about what I saw. I remember there's like a wall of rocks (for lack of a better word) and that's kinda cool. I really wish I know what the mountain over the water is called.
After that we went to Gullfoss Waterfall which Google told me means Golden Waterfall. It's a waterfall in a river and Google also told me that the river is the Hvítá river. It is very cool because it's rather wide and the current and drop were quite strong.
Moving on to Geysir, on the way we stopped by a place to see some Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses are very cute because they're smaller than the common horse. All the many guides I had in this trip have said, don't call them pony even though they're small. There's also a stable in this short stop which I went in only for awhile because I couldn't handle the smell. I wonder if the horses are really friendly or I am projecting that they're friendly because they're so cute in the small size, but the horses there didn't seem to mind people.
The stop in Geysir was longer because we're also given time to have lunch. I chose to eat first in which I got hot chocolate and had my bagel which was not bad, but I thought it might be better if the peanut butter wasn't the chunky kind. After that I explored Geysir which is this area with a number of geysers. I saw a few people waiting around on one but since nothing happened, I just walked around the area a bit. There were some pools on the higher ground. I didn't put my hand in it, so I don't know how hot it was.
Back to the area where people were waiting, I decided to wait too. I couldn't remember the name of this geyser, but the guide did say it erupts pretty frequently so we should be able to see it in action. From Google, I think the name is Strokkur. Below is a video that I took. Side note: I don't know what's up with Blogger that their video tool is not working, arrggh had to go to Flickr to get it hosted :( Anyways, I waited for some time so it was a longer video, but I cut down the waiting part and I don't like the surrounding sounds so I changed it to music. We're told that if it's going to erupt, the water is going to shake violently, which I don't think the video really shows. It's kinda cute seeing suddenly a blue bulb like shape forming and then it burst :D The burst wasn't very long though.
After that, I decided to wait again for the next eruption so that I could take some pictures. I waited and watched two more eruptions. Other than that geyser, there's also little geyser like this one below.
Last stop of the day was Kerið Crater. I didn't know what to expect going there. I had no knowledge whatsoever about this place. On reaching, I first took the path that leads down to the crater. Then I realized, it's a lake in a crater. I thought it was so so cool. The lake wasn't very big and it was frozen when I was there which made me think it might be so cool to ice-skate there? Though at that time, the ice wasn't very smooth which I think actually made it more charming. You could walk around the rim of the crater but I didn't really do that because it was cold with a little drizzle and windy. I like Kerid crater a lot, I think it's really beautiful. That being said, it may give you a different feel in a different season.
For pictures from the Golden Circle route, please go here. It wasn't a long trip that day which I purposely scheduled as such because in the evening I was planning to go see the northern light, but earlier that day I received a message that it was cancelled because of weather. I was really disappointed and I didn't know then that my disappointment would still grow in my remaining days in Iceland :( Anyways, so arrived back in Reykjavik not too late in the evening and I had a free time, so I decided to walk following the path by the water and see a few things. Below is the Harpa Concert Hall. I only entered it on my way back because I was sure there would be toilets I could use.
The weather was quite clear on my walk which made me wonder why the aurora tour was cancelled :( Disappointment doesn't leave me easily. So anyways, because it's quite clear, the view across the water to Mount Esja was very clear that day, but yeah I see this picture below with so many low laying clouds, it's really not conducive for aurora watch.
When I reached the Sun Voyager, I took a few pictures and then started to make my way back, stopping for dinner which was fish and chip at the place where I had the arctic char days earlier.
Walking back to the hotel, I took a picture of a mural art in one of the building or maybe a house nearby the hotel. Last picture below is of the view from my room where you could see the church, Hallgrímskirkja. Oh the melancholy feel it gives really match my disappointment that day.
:) eKa @ 8:58:00 PM • 0 comments
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
'cause sometimes nothing really makes sense
and I wanna ditch all this and leave
somewhere in the distance, somewhere
somewhere the future's bright
and you don't have a billion things on your mind
Somewhere - Hauskey
Day 3 was spent taking a day trip which was branded as Silver circle. While many tour companies I googled offer similar trips, this was the only trip that I found which was offered just by one place. The driver / guide was an Icelandic girl and she said actually there's no such thing as a silver circle, it's just a branding :D It basically takes you to different places in the western region. It was really cloudy that morning which gave me a rather low expectation of how the day was going to be. Side note: I guess being from the tropics, unconsciously it's just inherent in me that I need the sun. On the first day being back in Singapore after the trip and I went out to do some errand and there was the sun and feeling its heat, I was like I miss you sun. I missed the heat even though that lasted maybe 15 minutes because after that sweat started to form and I needed air-conditioner :D The guide on the other hand argued that it's a good day, it's cloudy yes but it's not raining. She was like, a good weather in Iceland is really relative. It wasn't snowing as we departed but at the first toilet break, I remember the ground was filled with snow and it was quite deep. I had actually been in that rest stop the day before and there wasn't snow, so it was quite interesting to see snow in the same place just a day apart - again all this snowing thing was new to me. Someone used the snow plower to clear it up as we're about to leave. So I guess that's how relative a good weather is. Just a cloudy day is a marked improvement as opposed to snowy day when the snow could be deep and you have to start clearing road.
As we went along, the guide talked about the landscape - volcanoes, lava fields and all. She then said we had time, let's stop to see some lava fields. We approached like a small hill and I was like, oh my is this the same place as the day before, I really don't feel climbing the same set of stairs. Luckily it was different but yes another set of stairs to climb. Again I didn't take note what this place was, but as I was googling places to write this post, it's likely the Grábrók Crater. Either I wasn't fully there the day before to appreciate the view in Saxhóll Crater or the view here was better, I kinda thought it was really cool and more interesting there. The crater was deep and the view around it was pretty and the moss covering the field was aplenty. I remember touching them and yes they were spongy as I was told.
Then it's off to Glanni waterfall. There were 2 viewing points here. On going to the second viewing point, I almost slipped on the icy path, didn't flat out fell but bumped my knee and of course bruised it. Oh how I hate the ice. I don't know if there's a trick to walking on ice but suffice to say I didn't master it. The waterfall is in a long river which Google told me is the Nordura river. Again like the waterfalls in the days before, some parts of it were frozen.
Then it was a short stop in Deildartunguhver which apparently is the the most powerful hot spring in Europe because it produces like 180 liters of boiling hot water per second. Steam was coming out from the little stream and it's kinda fun that the steam could really envelope you and you can't see anything around you.
Next stop was Snorri's pool / Snorralaug in Reykholt. Unfortunately I didn't register at all what was explained to me. There were a few things to be seen here. The Snorri in the name was of Snorri Sturluson, who was a famous Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. I thought the name is kinda cute for a girl, but it's a guy name apparently. The small pool is kinda cute in front of a small door which may be a tunnel that leads to his house - don't quote me, I'm not sure. In this compound, there's also a small church which we entered and like a small old house kinda thing. I think it's called turf house. I did enter it, but there's nothing much inside it.
After that it was a longer stop for lunch too in Barnafoss and Hraunfossar waterfalls. I chose to see the waterfalls first before lunch. First was the Barnafoss waterfall and then Hraunfossar which was a series of smaller waterfalls by the rocks in the river. I have to say they were very pretty with the ice and blue water. It's like one of those pictures you see in a calendar :D There's quite a number of viewing points and I tried to explore all but on one path where the path was really icy, I didn't go all the way.
Earlier that morning I actually bought two Danish pastries from a bakery / cafe near my hotel and I was intending to eat them for lunch, but it was cold out so I wanted to sit inside. Feeling bad eating my own food and not buying anything, I ended up having soup in the cafe and ate one of my pastry which was really good. The pastries were really big, so it's kinda worth the price. In real life, especially with inflation I often force myself to go cheap and that sometimes involve food to the dismay of my mom and aunt who think I should't scrimp on food. They feel we should be frugal on other things but not food if possible. I can't say I don't splurge in real life but I do try to control myself, but out there in the world I do have to say I splurge more, like buying one of those fancy overpriced juice mix, things I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do in real life :D I digress - anyway after the lunch break, the trip continued on to Vidgelmir Lava Cave. On arriving there, our group merged with another group for a guided walk into the cave. We're provided with helmet with light. The guide provided a lot of explanation about the cave, how it came about. As the name suggested lava was involved and of course a volcano once erupted. As Wikipedia puts it, Lava tubes are formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust which then thickens and forms a roof above the molten lava stream. When the eruption subsides, the still-molten lava moving beneath the crust will continue to drain downhill, leaving an open lava tube. So that's why we have this cave which is like a pipe for lava to go through. The guide who has a master in geology (if I'm not mistaken) explained some of the rocks there which obviously I cannot remember all. There's the straw rocks which are like thin short stalactites. Then the drip drip of lava to the floor of the cave also formed the candle rocks stalagmites. The candle rocks I saw were also short. The most interesting thing for me were the ice stalagmites because it was my first time seeing them. I'm not sure if it's year round.
The whole walk in the cave wasn't very far I think, but it did take 1.5 hours. At the end, the guide switched off all the light for a moment for us to feel what it's like. It's complete darknes and you lost a sense of space. There were people standing near me, but when it's totally dark I couldn't tell how near they were. Obviously I was all calm then, but thinking about that experience makes me think of those Thai boys and their coach who were stranded in a cave for days. I have a newfound admiration for how they could keep it together. First picture below was the end point of our walk and the picture below it shows a little bit of the cave opening.
After the cave, I thought we're done for the day but turned out we had another place to visit. We went to Húsafell and stopped at this open place which I'm not sure if it's belonging to the artist, Páll Guðmundsson. There's definitely his workspace there. I heard he's very nice so maybe that's why we could just stop at his place and walked around. He does sculpture in rocks, many of them are on the ground featuring faces. There's also a small church here with some of his artworks inside. We walked around the area a bit. The surrounding felt calm and his sculptures were interesting. There were stones here as well that were used to the test the strength of men. It's very hard to lift, I didn't even try. The guide said The Mountain from Game of Thrones who's Icelandic could do this :D
For pictures from that day, please go here. For dinner, I went for lobster soup (so it was soup day that day) because I wasn't that hungry and I still had one pastry left. I have this weird thing of not being enticed by Danish pastry but it was really good. The one I had left was the Nutella one and it was so big that it took effort to finish it but it was so good. I kinda miss that bakery now. I kinda want to try all their pastries.
:) eKa @ 8:48:00 PM • 0 comments
photos.
archives.