Global Village Part 2 - Iceland

At the grazing lands by an Icelandic volcano... 7.19pm 3/7/2017

We've made it to Iceland after 3 days of events and festivities for the wedding of E and J.

The wedding day went perfectly with an awesome couple tying their knots, great weather, great food, a great party, and great company. There was even a surprise fireworks display. Unfortunately, there was a casualty for the night - my linen suit jacket which was no where to be found the morning after. But, it was worth it and as some said, it shows how good the party was - indeed, it was an awesome party!!!

The celebration did not end the day of the wedding, however. The next day started with a breakfast at the hotel (great spread but all I could muster were fruits. I didn't even manage to enjoy the spa and the pool of Sonne Lifestyle Resort at Mellau which looked awesome.) Before returning back to Lingenau with the rest of the Internationals at the wedding, A and I managed to hike up to a nearby waterfall which was quite impressive. And, in the evening, we were all treated to a pizza party with an Austrian twist to it. A stove oven was brought to the house for homemade pizza and the pizza guys who is a music teacher and his pupil treated us to a few renditions of traditional Austrian music on the trumpet. The teacher even wore a lederhosen! It was another wonderful evening with great company - no English word can represent the feeling, so please allow the usage of the German word gemütlich to represent that evening. And to cap the night off, one last drink turned into another 4 over the course of the morning where global problems were solved!

The day after, after another wonderful breakfast with E's parents, where I thought my broken German actually managed to make some meaningful conversations, a road trip to the Pfahlbaumuseum in Unteruhlingen, Germany was organised for us. The museum was cool, multimedia presentations complemented by physical artefacts from 1000BC and an actual recreation of a settlements on stilts from this period. Most amusing for a few of us however was the duck bull fish imagery and figurine. Then we were off to Lindau for a quick stroll around the city and a pretty traditional German meal at the top rated tripadvisor restaurant in the town, Wissingers. It was great food and it was pretty impressive that they managed to accommodate a group of 15 people without booking!

View of Lindau from the ferry on Bodensee

Unfortunately, after 4 nights in Austria to be with E and J for their big celebration, it had to come to a sad end. However, in addition to strengthening old bonds, new bonds were made as well and with the world becoming smaller day by day if you want it to be, internationalism and globalism can thrive at an individual level.

Waking up at 2am to start a 3 hour drive in the dark, fog, and rain was not easy, however. But, we made it down the Alpine mountains and across the German autobahn which was at parts under construction with time to spare but with close to 0 hours of sleep.

And, that is why at 19:19 Icelandic time, I am on my bed in Godaland Guesthouse, ready for bed. Even the experience in thermal waters at one of the 20 wonders of the world, the Blue Lagoon, was not enough to rejuvenate me for long enough (don't get me wrong, however - the experience in the Blue Lagoon is definitely worth it!) Maybe I should have swum in the 5 degrees Celsius water of the North Atlantic Ocean like what I saw 3 guys doing while I was taking a shot of expresso while enjoying the view at Hafið Bláa.

Will rest for the night now... we've made it to Iceland and we're already half way to the Vatnajokull National Park.

Relaxing in the Blue Lagoon

By the glacial lake of Jokursarlon... 1.17pm 5/7/2016

Having a chocoespresso by the Jokursarlon, a glacial like at the Vatnajokull National Park - the view can't get more spectacular than this. Its amazing how the pieces of ice has broken off the glacier and now become a sight not to be missed in the South of Iceland. The blue colours of the ice, the reflections of the various shapes onto the water, and the view of the mountains and main glaciers are amazing. Unfortunately this beauty hides the fact that this is clear evidence of global warming.

In fact, we are in Jokursarlon for the second time. We stopped here on the way to Hofn yesterday but told ourselves that we will come back today. The sight is that spectacular. The journey yesterday was a 200 + miles journey that took us from the plains of Godaland to the seaside town of Hofn. The sights on the way was spectacular - the beautiful waterfalls Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, and Gulfoss; rivers and streams along the way, the changing volcanic landscapes, black sand beaches, glaciers, the North Atlantic, and seas of purple Alaskan Lupine flowers.

Off to Skaftafell for another hike by the glaciers now....

Glacial Lake at Vatnajokull

At the edges of the Þingvellir National Park

Another full day of exploring the Vatnajokull National Park and we have now arrived close to the capital city, at our guesthouse for the next two nights. Although so close to the city, this place is so naturally beautiful, with the hills on both sides, meadows with Icelandic horses, creeks going through it, and the spring bloom in full swing.

Getting here, however, was a pretty long journey. We started off at Hofn where we stayed the night at Hofn Hostel, which I would say is the best place that calls itself a hostel that I ever stayed in. Rooms and bathrooms were clean and the whole set up and ambience was cosy and convenient, albeit the receptionist being a little bit sassy. But, she got her job done and gave us free towels.

The day's adventure then started with a quick look around Hofn, which is a seaside town overlooking the national park, and also an important fishing town (besides tourism of course). We then headed to Hoffell where there were already people enjoying a morning dip in the hot tubs which overloooks a glacier (bring your own towels as its just a few tubs without any other luxury facilities). We were looking for a hiking path to the glacier but ended up driving on a gravel road for 4 kilometres. We did see another glacial lake that was created by the melting of Hoffelsjokull but didn't need to hike to it. Fortunately, our rented Chevvy survived the journey.

Then, as my previous post chronicled, we stopped by Jokulsarlon again, then to Fjallsarlon (another magnificent glacial outlet lake), and finally to Skatafell where we did hike this time to Svartifoss, a waterfall surrounded by very geometrical lava columns. Hunger developed soon after and ended up having a lobster bisque from a food truck.

Hunger pangs satisfied, we then embarked on our 4 hour car journey from Skaftafell to Mosfellbaer. We did stop by Laufskalavarda to participate in the local tradition of stacking rocks for good luck for journeys... and we made it to the best holiday accomodation I've ever stayed in, the Minna-Mosfell Guest House.

View from our apartment in the Minna-Mosfell Guesthouse

On the flight back to London Gatwick... 9.25am 7/7/2017

Yes, Gatwick is one of the furthest London airport from Cambridge. In addition, I deliberately changed my Easyjet flight from KEF-LTN to KEF-LGW despite Luton being much closer to Cambridge. (Tips for those travelling on Easyjet: it is fine to use the inbound segment of a flight even if the outbound flight was not used). One reason is because of my irrational hatred of Luton as an airport but more rationally was because my flight out on Monday to Kuala Lumpur via Dubai will be from Gatwick. This means I do not have to incur a one way fee when renting a car for the weekend I'm in the UK.

However, enough with logistics... this flight marks the end of the second part of this summer holiday - the first being Austria and the second being Iceland. I leave Iceland still in awe of the beauty of this island (to those who know the local spelling of Iceland: no pun intended). It is incredible how this small part of the world can boast such diverse landscapes and most of them very otherworldly. We did not even travel to the North, and I heard that is even more amazing.

Our day yesterday was spent on the Golden Circle route, where the combination of natural and cultural attractions complemented each other so well. It is no wonder why tourism is such a big industry here - very little effort is needed to make this a top tourist destination. We completed this route anti clockwise (or as A would call it counter clockwise... Americans!), making our first stop at Kerið, a volcanic crater lake (although there are doubts of the actual origin of this lake). The rain did not stop us from clicking away. We then stopped at Skalholt, which was one of the centres of Icelandic political, cultural, and religious life from the 11th to the 18th century. Most surprising was how this area is now extremely rural despite being such an important area in the past. As a tourist attraction however, it has very good facilities with clean restrooms, a restaurant, a small museum, a beautiful church, archaeological excavations, and a reconstructed tunnel so that people can sneakily get out.

Kerið, a volcanic crater lake​

We waited till the next stop to eat - at Friedheimer, a tomato restaurant that occupies some space in a working greenhouse. I obviously had to try the schnapps in a tomato but we also tried their speciality tomato soup and a tomato and apple pie. In addition, there were a few information boards about agriculture in Iceland, which most definitely needs to be in greenhouses - it really made me wonder whether in this day in age, with such easy access to international trade, it is allocatively efficient to still mass produce agricultural products in greenhouses. However, Iceland does have the advantage of having abundant thermal energy, and a CO2 source that is needed for such cultivation. I am still wondering.......

The next few stops - Roxi Waterfall, Gulfoss Waterfall, and Geysir were all amazing. Roxi was a wide but short waterfall; Gulfoss, an amazing double waterfall that has the potential to generate so much energy; and Geysir, the name of the natural occurrence that got its name from Iceland.

And our last stop was Thingviller National Park, where visitors can see the most dramatic point where the continental plates meet. The view is epic - like something out of a CGI-ed movie. But, the history of this place is also very significant - it was the site of the first parliament of Iceland back in the 11th century.

Having completed the Golden Circle, we headed back for a simple Pesto Pasta dinner, but were also greeted with freshly baked bread for breakfast and a pie for dessert. The best of it all, however, was ending this wonderful journey around Iceland with a dip in the hot tub in 8 degrees weather. It was a while since I felt so relaxed and content. Thank you Gudrun and Elvar, the proprietors of Minna-Mosfell Guesthouse for such a wonderful stay!