STOP 9 | Iceland: if Iceland were to be invaded, it will be because of water!

Dedicated to Olga, as I am tired to do solo traveling, and she may be crazy enough to my standards, but not too crazy :)

Why Iceland? Before I die, I would love to have visited 100 countries and I am still at 35+, so I am taking all the chances I get to add some more. And Iceland was convenient given my current geo-location.

 

Making my way to the hotel from the bus stop was pretty smooth, since Reykjavik city center is pretty cozy. I spent my first night at Reykjavik Downtown Hotel, a small hotel managed by one amazing Vietnamese guy. The first night I familiarized with the supermarket nearby, where I could get a bite to eat.

Day 1

In the morning I had a virtual session with my coach and then I head to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa in southwestern Iceland, and one of the most visited attractions in Iceland.

 

I still do not know why we were asked to take a naked shower before entering the lagoon, anyhow I followed the procedure – we are all adults here – and after putting back my swim-pants – I entered the lagoon. Temperature outside was about 10°C, it was not raining too much and the temperature in the water was constant at about 38°C. I got my mask and my drink and I enjoyed the environment.

 

Before leaving, I was able to take my transition pic as well, wearing my Milan Duomo mask, in front of the entrance of the Blue Lagoon.

 

 

I arrived back to Reykjavik just in time for my 6pm meeting: I believe all the Intrepid Tours start with a 6pm meeting during the first day, before heading to dinner.

 

And at dinner I had a taste of Iceland, literally: fermented shark, which was not that bad.

 

After dinner, I went for a walk and Tom – a fellow traveler and roommate –joined me as well: we got a beer somewhere in the city center, spotting also the famous hot-dog place, suggested by my friend Dario.

 

 

Day 2

 

We started the day going to Reykjavik City Hall to admire a depict of Iceland, before starting the tour via the Ring Road. Along the way we did a couple of stops to admire some waterfalls and scenery: 

 

 

We also stopped briefly at Lake Þingvellir to take a look at the scenery, from the American tectonic plate, with the Eurasian plate in front of us.

 

 

But the biggest highlight was yet to come: we went to see Geysir, a geyser in southwestern Iceland. Let's skip the part when a group of us waited in front of a dormant geyser for 10 minutes...

A couple of more waterfalls on the way to our hotel, and as you can see I was slightly tired of them, however you can see below the biggest waterfalls of Iceland by volume. Indeed, if Iceland were to be invaded, it will be because of water!

Iceland indeed keeps standing for two main reasons:

• It's located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• It's located on a hotspot, like Hawaii

We then drove towards our destination seeing also the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano in front of us: such a volcano was responsible of a lot of troubles in 2010 with all European travelers basically being mad at it, since it didn’t allow them to travel for quite a few days.

 

Our hotel was, and once arrived we took the chance to plant a tree. Trees make up about 3% of Iceland territory, so it’s not much, but every little piece count. I planted my tree and named her “Balance”.