iceland. a special place on earth.

"you've been to more countries than me!"
"ok then let's go somewhere that's on the list where we both haven't been."
"it has to be accessible from Brussels or Amsterdam."
"how about iceland?"
"iceland. seriously?"
"why not."

and that's how it came to be.

iceland was never really high on my list of places to visit. sure, i'm quite ambitious with my travels and i wanted to see as many things in my life as possible. taking on the list as a way to honor Floris' life has renewed my passion to see the world. and he's got 3 icelandic items on the list. but if it was just me, i wouldn't take this up as the first thing because it seemed too...special.

and it was exactly why we chose to go there.

my knowledge of iceland is limited to the fact that their population is quite small (a certain friend told me that they are exotic coz there's only 250 thousand of them - well, 300 thousand now, baby!). i also watched the secret life of walter mitty which showcased iceland and greenland and boy was that sweet. so the idea of me actually setting foot on this lovely country was totally exciting. and i don't know any one personally who has been there before, so that made it even more appealing!

i spent quite a considerable amount of time shaping up the itinerary, booking airbnb flats and guesthouse and such. there's so much to see, but unfortunately i could only allot 9 days in iceland so i can spend some time with the family in Belgium and with Lovro. the first thing that comes to mind when one starts researching on iceland is that it's a pretty expensive place to be at. there wasn't a lot of hotels and guesthouses available and since we intended to go on a summer, most rooms are booked and the ones i could find were - ehem - quite expensive. i'd say finding a place for 100eu a night is pretty normal. but you know what? it's totally worth the money. 

the car

the driver

Reykjavik
all road trips in iceland start and end in reykjavik. the gateway to the country, there are a lot of car rentals near the airport. we opted for a 4x4 rental as we've read a lot of reviews about the limitations of a regular sedan and didn't want to risk the car being damaged by gravel or ash or whatever in case we decided to hit unpaved roads.

reykjavik in itself is a nice city to visit, but was not as breathtaking as the countryside. i think staying there for 1-2 days was more than enough, especially if your time is limited. it was gay pride week when we arrived so the city streets were alive with vivid colors and just a general sense of happiness. 

parliament house

hallgrimskirkja church

shopping district

Waterfalls Everywhere
iceland is blessed with an abundance of magnificent waterfalls. nobody knows exactly how many waterfalls there are in the country, but there are a lot! during our road trip there must be at least one in every small town. some are small and low-key. some are majestic and teeming with tourists. but they are all beautiful.

at seljalandsfoss visitors can actually walk behind the waterfall for a closer look. be prepared to get wet though! luckily my jacket was waterproof. but my pants weren't. it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling to sit in the car on your wet pants - but whatever :D

seljalandsfoss

gljufrabui

skogafoss

the magnificent gulfoss (gold falls)

svartifoss - with dark lava columns

Glacier Lagoons
ah. undoubtedly one of the best things to see in iceland - the glacier lagoons. those blue and black sculptures of ice, chiseled by nature. our first encounter was on our third day in the country as we drove further east into the vatnajokull national park. as it is summer, we experienced the midnight sun and it was just nice because we managed to maximize our driving time and only arrive in guesthouses before midnight. and even though it was quite late, we couldn't resist to stop for a moment and enjoy the view, knowing we were going to explore it the next day. 

love at first sight: the lagoon at 11pm

unfortunately the weather was pretty bad on the day we decided to take the boat tour around the icebergs. nevertheless they are breath-taking and really out of this world! some of the blocks of ice were so close that people could fish them out.  

Snow-capped Mountains and Volcanoes
so eyjafjallajokull became pretty popular for the havoc it caused in 2010 when it erupted. it's pretty tame now, and capped with snow, and very unassuming. but it's definitely not the only beauty in a country shaped by volcanic activities. we managed to see a few others too like Snaefellsjokull, Hekla and Katla.   

Hot Pools
there are a lot of places where you can take a dip in steamy hot water for a few bucks. we tried the cheap one, and the fancy one. the cheap one was somewhere in hoffell. it's just a small place near a hostel, you put 1000ikr in a wooden box and off you go. it was drizzling that day so the 40ish degrees water was just nice. the expensive one, well, you guessed it, the famous Blue Lagoon. we took the cheapest package at 45eu. with this package you have to bring your own towel. whaaat? yeah. well, you can stay as long as you want. i think we spent more than 3 hours there. it wasn't very special i get that, but it's unique and actually quite a pleasant experience. plus, it is on the F list. :)

this glory for just 1000ikr

gopro is finally used

don't let the darkness fool you.  we got burnt.

we saw a masked man. so we gave the mud a go.

totally unglamorous

Other Wonderful Things
what else does iceland have? well. more. 

there are geysirs - like hell holes on earth. they spew boiling water out of the ground and everybody go nuts to see that. i know i did. 

there are black sand beaches too. i think later that night we played a game called black bitches. but that's something else.   

black beaches in Reynisfjara beach

black bitches in our airBNB flat. 

you see that beer in the photo? it's about a dollar from the grocery. if you feel like a cola with a kick, then buy it. if u want a beer, don't. that drink could use more beer and less cola.

anyway, we also encountered some interesting rock formations. gerduberg was not part of the itinerary but it was on the way so we thought we'd stop by. well, we got lost finding it. that sucked. but it's all good, they're like kitkat rocks. 

and last but not the least - the first reason why i came here - the canyons. specifically, the one called Fjardrárgljúfur. now try to pronounce that. 

this is the first icelandic item on Floris' list. while it is in the list of things to see here, it's not the most popular. perhaps because it's a little out of the way. took us a while to find it, but when we came there, i knew why he wanted to see it. i was quite emotional as i just stood there to experience the view without him, but at some point i had to move on and continue the journey. a lot like life right now. 

Flora and Fauna
the beautiful inhabitants of iceland is not limited to its 300 thousand people. it has a very exciting wild life too. most tourist spots have areas cordoned off to protect flora and fauna. we saw a good number of wild icelandic horses and a whole bunch of sheep as we drove southeast. it was funny to see how there's usually one black sheep in a group of 4 or so white ones. they're so cute and fluffy! 

our last two days in iceland were slow as we were finally tired from the constant run so we wanted to just take a whale watching or puffin watching tour. sadly the weather was pretty bad then (again). good thing we saw a few puffins when we went to dyrhólaey. at least i managed to see some, otherwise it would have been an all-out tantrum (haha) which resulted in me getting a plushie instead. there is also an abundance of them, so icelanders hunt them for food, and we actually sampled some on our last night in reykjavik. delicious. i felt a little guilty. 

Cats
i'm not exactly a cat person but a cute kitty is a cute kitty. and we met a few of them in iceland. they're all very friendly. there is one from the shark museum who seemed to enjoy our company a little too much. ok maybe just his, not mine. 

garfield

mountain cat

leave no driver behind

Food. Glorious food.
what trip would be complete without sampling local cuisine? well i think i already mentioned that everything in iceland is pretty expensive. that includes food. so it was not exactly a local-cuisine-everyday kind of trip. we usually ate hotdogs and burgers on the road. but we had some decent meal on his birthday night and also on our last night in reykjavik when we decided to splurge a little and have some gourmet icelandic tapas meal. was it wrong that we ate puffin and minke whale? 

cheapest dogs in town

birthday dinner

last supper

best meal of the trip

BUT. there are two most memorable snacks for us. for me, ris buff. this gooey marshmallow coated with chocolate and sprinkled with rice crackers. oh. my. god. as for mister sebas, it was djupur - licorice balls coated with chocolate and white sugar. i didn't like djupur very much so there's no photo. 

oooh la la

So.
so. that wraps up 9 days in iceland. the thing is, i don't think i'm done with it. there's one more thing in the list - but it has to be visited during winter. but you know what else is awesome about winter in iceland? aurora borealis. now that is something on my own list, and probably everyone else's.

prawning @ ECP

another thing in my proverbial singaporean bucket list is to go prawn-fishing or as locals call it, prawning. i have never in my entire life made an attempt to fish, or anything even remotely close - ok maybe once when as a kid we were in a tiny stream of water and i was trying to grab a crablet and its pincer caught my finger (it hurt). i suppose i also don't know a lot of people who personally did - and enjoyed - this whole prawning thing, so it never appealed to me.  

but i am one to cross things off lists. and i love adventures. so i convinced a friend that it would be a fun thing to do. off we went.

the place didn't seem like much when we arrived. it really didn't have an air of intimidation nor fun. we almost didn't go through it, with crab in da bag being conveniently next to the place and me and Jo have been bonding over crabs of late. but there were some folks around so we thought maybe they were catching some. it's rather pricey for 17 bucks an hour especially for a first-timer so we opted for the 90 dollar promotion where you get 10 hours. 

not a sport for the not so patient

the first 20 minutes was a dud. we were seriously running out of patience and it didn't help that they weren't selling beer! that would have made it a bit better. but alas, i finally felt some weight on my rod and pulled it up. i caught a giant one! however, i didn't know how to handle it and i was frankly scared/surprised (ok i screamed!) because the thing was wriggling and it had long tiny claws and stuff. its weight made me pull it to the left towards Jo - who screamed with me in unison - and the prawn got off the hook. it was... hilarious! nobody was laughing though, either they were so serious trying to get their own catch or thought we're just bloody stupid. haha.

fortunately that experience made me more confident so i was able to gauge it better when a prawn is nibbling on the bait (chicken liver) and when to pull the rod. i caught 3 prawns in total! could have caught more, but there were some occasions when i doubted myself and thought i had to wait longer. see, patience doesn't always win! note to self - always trust your gut.

momma can fish a prawn

hooked!

i've cleaned and scaled and cut raw prawns all my life. but i never imagined that taking a live one off a hook would make me squeamish. so yeah i have to admit, dona took the role of collecting the prawns :D 

dona to the rescue!

the folks next to us was a family and we were kinda jealous that even a kid caught one. i left to buy drinks and when i came back Jo showed me her basket. then she said it was from them. they didn't stay long and apparently gave us their catch. 

thank you kind strangers

more than an hour passed already and we're starving. there was no way 7 prawns would make dinner for 3 adults. luckily the folks working there told us earlier that if we don't catch any, they can give us frozen ones. hell, i'll take it!

so after thawing them i started grilling the give-aways together with the fresh ones. i thought that piercing the live ones will do the trick, so i felt completely awful when a few of them (especially the huge blue one) was squirming when i put them on the hot grill :( 

some people were admiring our spread - they thought we caught all of them! hahaha. and we also brought rice, salted egg and cherry tomatoes. the place did not provide cutleries (the owner wouldn't even let me borrow a real knife - he gave me a pen blade instead) so we ate with our hands. and why not! we've been roughing it out the whole night anyway. 

i'm not sure if i enjoyed the experience more than jo did - simply because i caught some. but what we learned was that we will never survive an island life. LOL. well, we have six hours left in our voucher and who knows, that could be enough time to be prawning experts.