May 28- June 4, 2016
Of all of my travels, I most enjoy traveling to far-flung and unexpected places. Slowly, many countries lie at the brink of ideal destinations. With the completion of my graduate degree, I decided that a week of exploring an unusual destination was much overdue. The country of choice this time was Iceland. Iceland has been attracting tourists around the world with its beautiful landscapes, cheap airfare deals, and convenient location between North America and Europe. Iceland’s tourism industry is succeeding; as it seemed like there were more tourists than locals. Then again, I still wouldn’t necessarily say there were a lot of tourists. With all the variety of activities in Iceland and many remote locations, it was quite easy to escape crowds of tourists. If there is anytime to visit Iceland, that time is now.
Our trip began Friday, May 27 and ended Saturday, June 4. We (my partner and I) decided to rent a car and drive around the island on the Ring Road. We found that a week is enough time to do this trip; however, we were not able to see western Iceland and determined that 10 days is preferable. Yet, limited vacation days prevented us from having a trip for any more than a week. We flew Wow Airlines. Personally, I liked the airline. Despite having a lot of hidden charges, such as for food, entertainment and luggage, it seemed like there was a bit more foot space and larger seats. I can survive without horrible airplane food and I had a childhood of flying without movies. However, little space and the whole luggage problem irk me quite a bit. We rented our car, a Kia Soul (love Korean cars) from Blue Car Rental and we stayed at AirBnB guestshouses in 5 cities/towns: Reykjavík, Vík, Höfn, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Akureyri, and back to Reykjavík. All of our guesthouses were wonderful and if anyone wants suggestions, let me know.
Our trip started in Reykjavík and the Golden Circle. We then drove south to Vík. Here, we did some hiking, saw many waterfalls, and found the beloved puffins. We then drove along the southern coast to the east. The southern coast landscape is quite diverse: rolling fjords and cliffs, barren black sand beach, and crystal blue glaciers. We then drove along the east coast and visited key attractions, including a puffin home in Borgarfjörður Eystri and Seyðisfjörður, a port town where ferries from Europe enter. Next, we hit major sites in the north and ended our northern visit with a whale-watching tour in Húsavik. After seeing whales, we returned to Reykjavík, stopped by the Blue Lagoon, and hopped on the plane, back to Baltimore (BWI).
Iceland is a travel photographer’s dream. Countless times, breathless landscapes caught us in awe. Although we did not go to many remote places as I would have liked. We did see a few, which were the highlights of the trip. One thing particularly notable is just how blue the water was. I had never seen freshwater as blue as in Iceland. The water looked almost dyed. I would assume the blueness of the freshwater could be contributed to the glaciers and its freshness. Although I am not sure and I guess I will have to visit more glaciers near the Arctic circle to know if crystal blue water is common or unique to Iceland.
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