We are at the start of a new travel series. It will take us to the far northern regions of Europe: Iceland. It was a decision that my friends and I made pretty much last minute, when a previously planned destination fell through. I always wanted to visit Iceland. It's relatively close, and still in Europe, but at the same time so strange and fascinating. In the end it really did turn out to be a amazing road trip. My friends and I visited the whole island, made a big road trip along the ring road, which circles around Iceland. We saw so many natural wonders and lovely places, and I'm so excited to share all of them with you here. I hope you will come along with us on this journey.
A Flight to the North
Our journey started in Munch on October 13th, which was a Friday. Though a unlucky day, we had a great 4 hour flight to Reykjavik. We flew directly with Icelandair. I will have to say that I wasn't that fond of the airline. They didn't serve food, and everything had to be paid extra. There is a two hour time delay between Mostar and Reykjavik, so we did gain 2 hours by flying there.
My first impression of Iceland was the cold at Keflavik International Airport. We were prepared for the cold of course, but still, feeling the icy wind on my face was like a kiss from the north pole. We rented a car at Thrifty rent-a-car. When renting cars in Iceland you have to make sure to have full insurance. There are many things that can damage the car while on the road, so it's best to be insured for all of them. We booked through rentalcars.com.
Of course, traveling by car is the best option. Buses are few and far between, and if you really want to experience the country, a car is the best thing. Make sure to rent a 4x4 if you want to explore the inland. We didn't rent such a car because we didn't plan on making off-road trips.
Getting comfortable in Reykjavik
We booked our accommodation in Iceland, exclusively through AirBnb. It was the best way to get five people under one roof and not break the bank. Iceland is expensive, so getting nice accommodation for a good price is a challenge. After a 40 minute drive from Keflavik International Airport to Reykjavik we set up in this great apartment. We were exhausted from our trip (we drove to Munich from Mostar for 11 hours before that), so we stayed inside. Next day was the start of our road trip and we wanted to be relaxed for it.
Our road trip begins...
It was around 9 in the morning when we started our road trip. After 30 minutes driving from Reykjavik to the east of the country, every sight of civilization will fade away. You will come across wast fields with animals. We saw some horses fenced in, just on the side of the road. Of course we had to stop to take some images. They were very friendly and even came closer to us. We took some images with them before eventually continuing with our journey.
Here is a map of our drive from the first part of the first day:
Our plan for the first day in Iceland was to do the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is a popular tourist route in southern Iceland, covering about 300 kilometres (190 miles) looping from Reykjav�k into the southern uplands of Iceland and back. It is the area that contains most tours and travel-related activities in Iceland.
In this first post I will show you the Kerid Lake and Gullfoss Waterfall, and in the next post we will visit the Geysir and Thingvellir National Park. That way the first two posts of this travel series will cover the Golden Circle.
Kerid Lake
Kerid is a volcanic crater lake located in south Iceland, along the Golden Circle. While most of the crater is steep-walled with little vegetation, one wall is sloped more gently and blanketed with a deep moss, and can be descended fairly easily.
The lake itself is fairly shallow (7�14 metres, depending on rainfall and other factors), but due to minerals from the soil, is an opaque and strikingly vivid aquamarine color. Entrance to the lake is 400kr (which is around 3,2 EUR/3,8 $) which is fairly inexpensive when it comes to Iceland.
The group all together. With me were my sister Jasmina, Selma and Amer with his sister Belma. We asked some other tourists to take a picture of us, and luckily we all ended up in the shot.
Surrounding the lake are amazing landscpaes. We also walked down into the crater. You can relax there on a bench and rocks and gaze onto the lake. Inisde you are shielded from winds and the cold. It's actually pretty amazing being down there and looking up.
Gullfoss Waterfall
Gullfoss is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. As one first approaches the falls, the edge is obscured from view, so that it appears that the river simply vanishes into the earth. This is a completely free attraction, though there is a paid public toilet and gift shop next to the parking lot. You walk down to the waterfall, which starts to rush and roar as you approach it. It's quite the sight.
During the first half of the 20th century and some years into the late 20th century, there was much speculation about using Gullfoss to generate electricity. During this period, the waterfall was rented indirectly by its owners, Tomas Tomasson and Halldor Halldorsson, to foreign investors. However, the investors' attempts were unsuccessful, partly due to lack of money. The waterfall was later sold to the state of Iceland, and is now protected.
You can walk all the way to the edge as we did. But you have to be careful. First it's slippery because of the water, but second there are also a lot of people visiting so it can get crowded. This is especially true in the summer season, which is peak season for tourism in the country.
After we visited the waterfall it was time to continue our journey through the Golden Circle. But more from our first day in Iceland in the next post.End of Part One
To be continued...
