I shamelessly self-proclaimed my pictures in Iceland as “professional” because Iceland’s beauty makes up for my bare-minimum photography skill. Bear with me my fellow Hoosiers as I tell you the story of my journey in Iceland back in February. I tell you, it was an experience my wife and I will always cherish.
Gullfoss (Golden Falls) Waterfall
A Nordic island nation, Iceland is a land of re and water. It emerged because of the divergent and spreading of the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates. Many would say, the island is still being made. It has a population of 332,529 and an area
of 103,000 km2, making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
My research for Iceland began from our quest to tick o one of our bucket list, to see the northern light, the famous aurora borealis. Yes, Iceland is listed as one of best places on earth to see one. While there
are tours you can join and travel with, we personally prefer not to take tours since we like moving at our own pace and creating our own schedules. We highly recommend you to drive and explore Iceland by yourself.
Discovering Iceland is best in two routes: the golden circle, and the ring route. They refer to the routes one wish to take to explore the country. The golden circle, about 300km journey south of Iceland, back and forth from your base Reykjavik, will take you 2-3 days to cover as many beautiful landmarks as you can. Prepare at least a week if you wish to cover the ring route, which is about 1300km of journey, encircling the entire country. While you could technically drive the whole thing in less than 24 hours, the reality is it will take you at least a week with stops on along the way. This is because you’ll be stopping a lot in both routes. Like every 10 minutes!
Þingvellir National Park
Black Glacial Hole formation in Vatnajökul
Þingvellir National Park
We started driving the golden circle, with the city Vik as destination. One of our 1st day highlights: Þingvellir National Park, a location of historical signi cance, protected due to its unique geology and natural features. The water in and around Þingvellir are a popular destination for shing and, I kid you not, scuba diving. Oh, this was the set for Brienne & Hound epic battle in Game of Thrones by the way.
Another notable one was Geyser at Haukadalur, geothermal area about 60km away from Þingvellir National Park. In fact the general term “geyser” was named after this particular one in Iceland. But the champion for that day had to be the Gullfoss (“Golden Falls”), A breathtaking scenery worthy of rival to that of the famed Niagara Falls.
Black Diamond Beach
Black Diamond Beach
We rested in Vik, awe-struck on what we experienced on that rst day in Iceland, eager to wake up fresh in the next morning. Our 2nd day was even better. Highlights: Black sand beach, mirror lake near Dyrholaey, & the famous canyon Fjaðrárgljúfur. And these were just a few to name.
Fjaðrárgljúfur
The best part of our trip came on the very last day. The trip took us all the way to south east of Iceland, Jokulsarlon. It boasts Iceland’s pure natural art and spectacular sights. Highlights: black diamond beach, blue glacier lagoon, and the Vatnajökull glacier itself (the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and one of the largest in area in Europe).
In all, Iceland is seriously beautiful my fellow Hoosiers. I can’t describe it enough in just a mere 750 words article. And no, we didn’t get to see the Aurora. Winter is too cloudy there to see one and plus, you need a lot of luck. But that only means I must go there again someday. I hope this will inspire you to travel there and appreciate its beauty by yourself.
Regards,
Vincent William
Class of 2003
IG: @vwilliam_