There is so much left to write from my previous trips from past months, but can’t wait to write about our latest trip, to the land of Fire and Ice, ICELAND. Yet not sure whether words or pictures can express what we really saw and experienced. As they say, there is no perfect season to visit Iceland, dared to plan a trip late October, in spite of knowing that it might be cold, rainy, snowy and that days would be shorter with 5-6 hrs of day light. Heart was pounding when I clicked last confirmation to book our flight. I wanted this trip to be a perfect road trip with self driving and not a package trip.  Reading about road conditions and weather forecast kept me skeptical till the last minute. On the other hand did not want to postpone the trip either.

We booked WOW flight which seemed to be the cheapest option available. We had to pay extra for each check in and cabin baggage. One personal item which could be kept under the seat was allowed free. Flight was from Frankfurt. Had kept lowest expectations about the flight, but surprisingly it was better than many well known flights which we had flown. Of course had to pay for anything extra like coffee/snacks. But the leg room was big and overall service was very nice.

After a flight delay of 3 hrs, reached Keflavik airport at around 5:30 pm local time. Collected our rental car and drove to Reykjavik where we had booked our first apartment, the Ice Apartments. This was at the centre of the city, but as it was Saturday we could find parking place on the road opposite to the famous church Hallgrimskirkja which is one of the well known tourist spots in the city.

Ice apartments was very cozy and well maintained. It was equipped with kitchen, a bedroom and had all needed accessories. Had our snacks and went for our first walk in the city. And the highlight of the day was having ice cream at the “Elder og Is” ice cream shop. It was our way to recollect the memories from the trip of 2014.  It was cold and windy, but our spirits made us sit on the chairs put outside of the Cafe and have our ice cream. Next day plan was not fixed yet, but we knew we wanted to drive long as the weather forecast was good.

22 Oct 2017, day started early and we were driving to Snaefellsnes National park. In fact, my earlier plan had a day of stay at Hellnar. But had changed the bookings at the last minute with weather related fears being the main reason. So today we had plans to drive around 500 kms in total so that we can come back to Reykjavik to stay overnight. As we drove past the highway 1, sun started shining at the horizon and lit the surroundings with a magical light. Horses and sheeps were grazing in the fields. We did stop at some places to take some pics where it was allowed.

We had rented 4×4 Toyota Rav4(4 wheel drive) and it was consuming almost unto 17liter/100 km and we realised soon that we need to fill in more petrol. Found one Gas station which was defective. Next one was almost 100km away at Arnarstapi. After leaving highway 1, we took route 54 towards Arnarstapi. Road was bit more narrower and lonesome. Though it was nice to drive, at times bit scary as it was too lonesome and the fuel stand was getting lower and lower.

Our first stop at Snaefellnes was at Arnarstapi.  There are some interesting stories related to this place. (https://hiticeland.com/places_and_photos_from_iceland/bárður-snæfellsás)  We visited the statue of Bárður known as the Guardian Spirit of Snæfell.

As the weather was soooo good, we just started walking along the shore admiring the beauty of giant cliffs and the scenery. Kids were in good spirits too.

 

After spending an hour or so, we had delicious chocolate milk at the restaurant at Arnarstapi and in the near by open area where there are benches and tables for tourists, had our ready to eat pasta.

Our next stop was Hellnar. This was used to be one of the largest fishing villages, but today it does not look so.  The cliffs between the Hellnar and Arnarstapi villages are around two and a half kilometer away and are linked by hiking trail over the lava field, along the cliffs and shorelines offering an exceptional experience. One can park the vehicle in the visitor’s parking lot and the hiking trail starts there only. As we were short of time, we did not complete the whole hiking trail.

The view of cliffs from Hellnar parking lot.The red roof building is a Cafe at Hellnar. It was closed on the day when we went there. Hellnar church.

Silent communication with the Horse. Both were looking at each other and it was very nice to witness this precious moment.

We tried to walk over these stones to reach the cave like thing at the end. The rock formations were really interesting some of which are captured below. 

On the trail from Hellnar to Arnarstapi, the bridge kind of structure, as the land below is wet and not walkable. After visiting Hellnar, we had plans to return to Rekjavik. But as the weather was so beautiful, we decided to continue and do a round trip of Snaefellnes Peninsula. Our next stop was Londrangar View Point which was also very beautiful. Though it was bit windy, as the sun was shining, we roamed around a little bit in that area admiring the beauty of cliffs.

Eldborg Crater was our next stop on Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Eldborg rises 60 meters above the surrounding lava in the area. One can walk up to the crater. One can have panoramic view of whole surrounding area from there and as well of Snaefellsjokull glacier. Snaefellsjokull is a snow-capped glacier that covers a volcano beneath. It rises to a height of 1446 meters at its highest point. This volcano is depicted in the novel, A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne.

On the way unto Crater

View of Snaefelljokul from the stairs to Eldborg Crater.

By the time we came down from Eldborg Crater, it was getting darker and we still had a long way back to Rekjavik. On the way to Grundarfjörður

When we stopped at the waterfalls near the Kirkjufell mountain,  kids were already asleep and we had to go one after the other for a quick visit to the waterfalls.

We were to drive further on road 54, join 56 and from 56 join 54 again before joining highway 1. I was bit scared as I was not sure about the road conditions. In the morning, both roads 54 and 56 were marked red in road.is, and as we crossed Grundarfjörður, were seeing only ghost like mountains and the route was supposed to pass through those passes. But luckily there were couple of cars which passed ahead of us and we just followed. The road conditions were good too. As Reykjavik neared, farms started appearing and saw some horses. Even though we wanted to stop by, as we knew it is forbidden to stop on the side of the highway unless there is markings for taking the vehicle aside, we drove further.  But later in the trip we did see some tourists park their car on the side of the highway and go near the horses, which in fact annoyed us as those cars were partly covering the available single lanes in a direction and one had to break to pass ahead. 

Even though we were too tired, after reaching Reykjavik I was in no mood to rest. Wanted to walk more and feel more. After having dinner, we went for a small walk in the area near Reykjavik Concert Hall. Thus ended our first day at Iceland. Before coming to Iceland, we were feeling so low in energy and spirit. Just a day of walk in the fresh air brought freshness both in mind and body. Norway is the country I had admired the most. But I was falling in love with Iceland even more. Iceland is more wild and pure. Kind of like angry God. Each 50km landscape changes and something totally different appears which you can not even imagine. And to be there, no matter how wild it is, its such a pure feeling, like being with mother nature.