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Writer's pictureODOAT

A Circular Trip of Ice and Fire

8:30am GMT

You wake up in Vik, Iceland feeling a little tired. You had stayed up a little too late last night with your travel companions planning a business venture involving puffins, and, while you're not regretting the decision, you hope the business takes off to make this exhaustion worth it. You get out of bed and see that your roommate for the night has already left to go down to the kitchen so you quickly get changed and follow suit.


In the kitchen you see that several of your travel mates have already started eating breakfast, so you grab a bowl of cereal and start eating while discussing last night's awesome dinner. You are staying in a huge Airbnb, it has to be to fit all 10 of you that are traveling together, and your host had made an amazing home-cooked typical Icelandic meal.


You can't sit around chatting for too long though, because you have a long drive ahead of you today. You need to drive from Vik, which is at the southern point of the island, all the way up to Akureyri, which is at the northern part of the island, and, is actually one of the most northern cities in the world, exemplified by the fact that it has the most northern Domino's pizza in the world. Apparently there is no latitude too high for hot circles of cheese and tomato sauce. But according to the map, that is over a 9 hour drive, which is not counting the stops that you will inevitably be making. You have found that driving through Iceland is a bizarre and ever-changing environmental experience, and your group has been compelled to stop every so often and marvel at the alien world you have found yourself in at that moment.

9:30am GMT

Driving from Vik, you quickly come across one of those alien vistas. You're amazed by the black sand beaches which this part of Iceland is famous for. You wonder if those footprints are even human as you snap a pic of the landscape. You have never seen anything this barren, it honestly does not look like anywhere else on Earth that you have ever seen. And you know that things are just going to continue to be strange and bizarre as you keep driving.


As you have done so far on this trip, you split up into two cars of five people each. You were nervous before you started if everyone would get along well. It's kind of a random mix of your friends, siblings of friends, and friends of friends, but so far it has all gone relatively well. A couple of your travel companions have gotten into some lively discussions so far, but as long as they have stayed in different cars while driving, there has not been too much of a problem.


And the reason the car harmony (carmony) is so important is that you've been spending a lot of time in the car. Your plan for this trip is to spend a week circumnavigating the island of Iceland. A bold goal and one that requires lots of time in the car, but it has already been a fascinating experience. The plan that you had suggested was to spend more time around Reykjavik (you found out that it is pronounced Rake-ya-vik) and take tours and local trips, but your group voted for this driving experience instead. You were initially upset that you'd have to spend so much time in the car packed in with 4 other people, but just looking out the window has proven to be worth all this effort.

10:30am GMT

Especially when you get to see scenes like this from the car. You're still close to the black sand, but now you can see mountains and glaciers, no big deal. You find yourself continuously amazed at just how different things look so quickly. What was just a barren and flat landscape is now mountainous, and that is happening at least each hour throughout this drive.


Despite being able to see glaciers, it actually isn't that cold (and probably not because of global warming). You're traveling in May, and the weather has been in the 40s and 50s. Certainly not warm, but a far way from freezing cold. You imagine that it must be colder on the glaciers and wish you could have had more time to explore and hike while here, but the show must go on.


You guys decided to pick Iceland after your friend sent around a message asking if people were interested in checking it out after seeing a super cheap flight on WOW airlines. It was certainly true that the price was WOW-worthy, and, especially being able to split the price of the places you're staying 10 ways, this has ended up being a pretty inexpensive trip. Prices for food and things in Iceland do seem higher than elsewhere, but then again, it must be pretty expensive to get food all the way up here, and you're not sure what, if any, vegetation could grow on this island.


11:00am GMT

You stop at this difficult to pronounce visitor center which is associated with the Vatnajökull National Park, a gigantic national park that takes up the majority of central Iceland, which it turns out is basically just one big glacier. You did not get to see the park even though you already saw some of the glacier, but the visitor center was really cool itself. It had tons of information about the park, tours you can go on, maps along the walls, etc. If you had been planning on going on a tour or a hike into the center of Iceland, you would definitely have been all set.


You drive on, alternating being at the wheel to be able to each get the maximal amount of time looking out the window. The road you are driving on for the entirety of your trip is Iceland Route 1. This route drives around the island in a circle, as one would expect, so the drive itself is super easy. And despite it being only one lane in each direction, you barely see or have to pass other cars.


But that seems to be mostly because almost no one lives out here. Starting as soon as you left the Reykjavik area, you not only have been seeing many fewer cars, but much less of anything except bizarre landscapes. It turns out that the majority of the Icelandic population lives in and around the capital and the other settlements that there are on the rest of the island are spread apart and connected only by the lifeline of Route 1.

12:30pm GMT

Speaking of being disconnected from the rest of the world, you come across a real glacier lake on your drive, which is totally disconnected from anything you've seen before, including on this trip! You get out and go down to the water to check it out. You recoil as you touch the water, because, as you should have expected, it is literally ice water. Little glaciers go on as far as you can see and are all around this little lake. It's amazing and beautiful as well as bizarre to be able to see this much ice and snow in May, but you figure it must be like this all year. Reykjavik is the northernmost capital in the world so you're a pretty far way away from any warmness.


As you keep driving, your group is starting to get hungry again, so you make sure to keep an eye out for any upcoming towns, because who knows what the next one after that will be. You see a sign coming up for Höfn, which seems to be a little town on the coast. You pull into it and it turns out to be a cute little town, but you guess a relatively large town by Icelandic standards considering it has a choice of restaurants. You end up picking a nice looking typical Icelandic restaurant that has good reviews.


The restaurant itself ends up being nice and the food is great! The experience leaves a little to be desired, not due to any fault of the restaurant, but you guess that the stress of travel has gotten to a couple members of your group because there ends up being an energetic conversation that just further makes you thankful that you have two cars to keep certain members of your group apart.

3:30pm GMT

As you drive off from Höfn, you hope that what you ate for lunch wasn't actually reindeer and these ones you see aren't going to be mad at you. You have already seen it on menus and you might have already been tempted to try it. The local fauna has been interesting and diverse though, you've seen things you had never seen before, including these reindeer. Earlier, you saw what you thought were puffins, but couldn't be sure as they were smaller and had a longer beak. Regardless it was some black and white bird that looked cool.


You haven't seen too many animals though, mostly because the environment is too intense for them in many places as well. Here you see that the landscape includes a grass-like plant, so that must be why some larger animals can be seen on this part of the island. Your drive has taken you along the coast for a good amount of the drive, but you still have yet to see a whale; you could call yourself Ishmael though because you would keep on searching...


4:00pm GMT

You quickly get an opportunity to search the water as your drive takes you to an ocean vista with a walkway down and an obelisk-esque rock presiding over the beach. Your group goes down to check it out and you get lost looking out at the endless ocean. It's strange to think that this island is so isolated from pretty much everywhere else (Greenland is the closest large landmass) but it definitely makes sense as you feel like this island reminds you more of Mars than of any terrestrial views you have seen.






As you keep driving, you realize that this will be the last view you get of the ocean (aargh) until you arrive at your destination for the day, due to Route 1 cutting through the center of the island when crossing the Northeast corner. As you prepare to head inland, you enter a large valley between some mountains and, as you round a turn, are left open mouthed at the view.


5:00pm GMT

You are surrounded on all sides by huge mountains and beautiful waterfalls flowing down to a river that cuts through the valley. You turn in circles taking pictures of each view of the valley, each direction as amazing and jaw dropping as the last. You could not imagine something this incredible existing, but then again, you couldn't have imagined much of what you have already seen on Iceland so far.


You manage to tear yourselves away, however, mostly because you still have a good amount of driving to do the get to Akureyri and now you need to start driving over a glacier. As the entire center of Iceland is pretty much one big glacier, Route 1 has to cut right over the top of one. The road was actually just recently opened up for the year; during the winter this part of Route 1 is not navigable, because the ice, the snow, and terrible conditions make plowing a dangerous option.


As you climb higher and higher into the mountain, the sparse vegetation that existed at lower elevations disappears to reveal only rocks and ice, icy rocks, and rock-shaped pieces of ice. You hadn't really thought about what it would be like to drive on a glacier, but you guess that this is about what you had expected.




And it just keeps going on and on. The road isn't in the best condition up here, which makes sense, and you wonder what would happen if one of the tires popped, where you don't have cell service and haven't seen another car since you got up here... You cross your fingers while continuing to drive and are feeling thankful that you have an SUV for this drive. Despite them not being a great option for city driving, Iceland driving almost necessitates it. This is further exemplified by the fact that your group-mates in the other car do not have a SUV, and, while their tires do not pop, they do not seem to be having a good time with all the bumping and shaking this road is causing.

7:00pm GMT

Finally the road starts to descend and you head down towards a river with a little bridge crossing it and a path that leads down to the bridge. You're happy to see green things again and to have survived your glacier-top experience so you jubilantly leave the car and head down to the bridge to check out the surrounding scenery. The bridge itself seems a little rickety so all 10 of you don't get on at once but you take turns walking across and snapping pics and hoping that you're not going to be the straw that breaks this poor bridge's back.


You all survive though and keep on driving. However, you're nervous if you will survive your next stop that is coming up. One of your friends has been super excited to stop at Hverir, which is hard to pronounce and even harder to stand. Hverir is a group of boiling mud pits that come right out of the Earth, or from hell, depending on your opinion of them. The mud pits are emitting hot sulfuric gas, which, if you've never had the... pleasure... to experience, does not smell good, to put it lightly. You have already tasted the sulfur in the water throughout Iceland, which affects the taste in an interesting and not particularly pleasant way, but to experience the smell from these pits was overwhelming, in a number of ways.

You thankfully move on and get back into the car with windows open, once you're far enough away from the pits, so you don't have to smell yourselves too closely. The rest of the drive to Akureyri is also scenic, but includes sites you will be experiencing the next day, as, despite it still being sunny at 8:00pm, it is too late to do anything but drive to your destination. You pass by My'vatn Lake, which is a huge lake with thermal baths, as well as Goðafoss, an immensely impressive (and immense itself) waterfall. However, those are not for today as you and the cars are exhausted.


9:00pm GMT

You finally arrive in Akureyki (actually pronounced Ah-koo-rare-ee, but mispronounced by you the entire trip) after quite a long day on the road. Akureyki is the 4th biggest town in Iceland, but by far the largest outside of the Reykjavik area. Tonight, you weren't able to find an Airbnb to fit all 10 of you, so you split into two groups. You guys all have an uneventful and quick dinner in town before splitting up. You end up in the group that is staying close to downtown, while the other group will be staying in what seems to be a nice and fancy place outside of town. You're happy to be where you are, however, as you can explore the town a little bit.


10:30pm GMT

After checking into your (much tinier than advertised) Airbnb and feeling slightly embarrassed being shown around the small apartment by the hosts while smelling like sulfur, you shower, thankfully, and 4 of the 5 of you staying there decide to hit the town. It's a quick walk down from your Airbnb to the center of town, which actually feels like a downtown. There are quite a number of restaurants, bars, hotels, and even hostels.


You head into one of the hostels to grab a drink and the pub is really bustling. The beer is really good and you even get to chat with some locals for a bit. Everyone is super friendly, but seem slightly surprised to see so many Americans all the way out here. You suppose it won't be that way for long with the cheap flights that just started going to Iceland, but you're happy to have gotten here ahead of a big tourist wave.


You walk out of the bar and see a huge group of youths in their teens and 20s outside a big club with lights and loud music blasting out. You're certainly surprised to see such commotion and excitement when pretty much all you've seen today is nature, reindeer, and snow (but no whales :/). But you guys are way too exhausted to even think about clubbing tonight. You'll just have to save it for your next trip to Akureyri...


12:00am GMT

You make your way back home in the bizarre twilight that still exists. It's certainly not sunny, but the sun has not set by any means either. You get back inside, get changed, and lay down on your floor sleeping mat (this place was definitely not big enough for 5 adults). As you start to drift off to sleep, you think back on the eventful and full days you've had so far, and the busy day you have planned for tomorrow and the rest of the week. You become even more exhausted just thinking about it, but it's a good exhaustion. You really feel like you're living when you're in a place like this, experiencing things that you had never known existed before.


You consider how much this trip has been an experience of opposites. A big group of travelers with occasionally opposing viewpoints. Busy and packed cities with nothing in between. The island itself being so rugged yet so peaceful. Created by volcanoes and fire but is now covered in ice and glaciers. As you contemplate these contradictions your mind starts to fade and you look forward to being able to relax your body and buzzing mind tomorrow in the My'vatn thermal baths. As long as they don't smell like sulfur...

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