Greetings! Blogging from campsites – as well as showering and staying warm, among other things- proved a bit difficult, but the free WiFi from the Reyjkjavik, Iceland airport is pumping right now so I will do my best to get caught up.
Continue with me along Iceland’s Golden Circle!
Day Four: The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck, the Black Sand Beaches of Vik, and the Skogafoss and Seljandsfoss Waterfalls
The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck
The legend goes that in 1973, a US Navy DC plane crashed outside of Vik, Iceland when the pilot failed to switch to the reserve gas tank, instead switching to an empty gas tank. No worries- everyone survived! The plane was abandoned, and now tourists walk two miles through black sand/rocks to see it and pretend they are doing a photo shoot for their next album cover. So natch, we did the same.
Have I mentioned that Iceland is not warm? Also, for most of our four mile walk, it was raining. It felt rather post-apocalyptic– imagine The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
The Black Sand Beaches of Vik
From the plane crash, we drove a short distance to the scariest road I have ever been a passenger on to overlook a very foggy cliff. I have no pictures of said road because I was simultaneously saying Hail Mary’s and helping my non-glasses-wearing husband avoid potholes the size of VW bugs while we drove straight up a mountain on a gravel road. I should also point out that when my husband drives and does not wear his glasses, he says things like, “Why is that woman lying in that field? Oh, she’s a horse.”
From the top of the cliff, we hiked a long path to a beach overlook with a perfectly fine parking lot that looked like it was reached via a non-terrifying, paved road.
Not Pictured: The Terrifying Road We Drove in the Heavy Fog
The Skogafoss and Seljandsfoss Waterfalls
If you are into waterfalls, you will be into Iceland.
Day 5: Jokulsarlon Glaciers and Pork and Beans
Jokulsarlon Glaciers
The drive to Jokulsarlon was long (~4 hours) and gas is expensive in Iceland (~$8/gallon), but I have never seen anything like these glaciers. When we first saw the massive sheet of ice on the side of one of the mountains, Rich couldn’t figure out what they were: “Is that sky? Is that water? What is that?”
The other thing I wish I could capture in these pictures is the sound the glaciers make. We had been looking at them for about ten minutes when we heard a sound that approximated two cars hitting each other head on. Instead, it was the sound of giant car-sized pieces of ice falling off and landing in the water. It was unreal.
Pork and Beans
As previously mentioned, Iceland is expensive- hence the camping and eating only one meal out in Iceland. Our second-to-last campsite, Svinafell, had both an area for tents and small cabins as well as an indoor cooking/dining area. When we arrived, an Icelandic hiking club had set up a full-on feast– we are talking wine, flowers and candles on the table, toasts, desserts, music (so. much. Ed. Sheeran. ), revelry galore. While we understood not a word of what they were saying, the atmosphere was really fun.
And we ate pork and beans. Hot, delicious, and on budget!
Day 6: Sunshine in Iceland!
While most of day 6 was spent driving back to Reykjavik, we did make two quick pit stops to hike at the Skaftafell National Park and to get one more view of the black sand beaches. We woke up to sunshine, and it was just so glorious.
Next Up: Budapest, Hungary!