PostcardsFromM

Aspiring vet with a passion for travel & conservation medicine.

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Iceland Travel Diary

  • Iceland Day 4 – Coastal road, Black Beaches and a Glacier

    Iceland Day 4 – Coastal road, Black Beaches and a Glacier

    After seeing more waterfalls and hiking in some incredible places on Day 3 in Iceland, I’m excited to see what the east coast has to offer. However, I’d say, that the north of Iceland stole my heart and I’m already missing it. But it’s time to move on and my new wool jumper was perfect for this cloudy and windy day ahead of us.

    The East Coast Drive

    Our day began with a decision to make. Should we drive through the mainland or follow the Ring Road and see more of the coastline straight away? Since we had a great time the first time, we opted for the coastal road again. So, we jumped in the van and set off for the day. The drive turned out to be really scenic and peaceful, as there didn’t seem to be many other drivers around. At least, we didn’t see many cars on the way. The landscape kept changing from hilly to more flat. And all of a sudden a fjord opened up in front of us and we could see the ocean. Even better, the road continued alongside the fjord. We had the ocean on one side and the land on the other. It immediately changed my mood from sad for leaving the north to excited. I wanted to see more. In addition the sun came through the clouds, so it became even more magical. We didn’t really say much while driving because we were just in awe of the view. The road took us into the next little fjord and then out again out on the other side. And driving got even better the further we went. Because, out of nowhere, the road in front of us seemed to go directly through the water. We stopped halfway to get out and have a little walk. We found out that we were on Meleyri Beach. A beach that is covered with black volcanic sand and just seems to go on forever. From three sides it is framed by mountains, which makes the whole place look like an AI-created image. We spent our time here walking along the beach, bird-watching and enjoy the calmness of this place. We were so caught up in the moment that we didn’t even notice the time flying by. When we got back to the car, we couldn’t believe it. It was nearly an hour and a half later! But this stop was worth every second. We carried on driving and the scenery stayed beautiful all the way down to our next stop. Even though you’re just driving and not doing much else, you don’t feel like you’re wasting time. Because you never know what you’re going to see next on these roads and it feels like sightseeing.

    Stokksnes Beach and Viking Village

    After driving through this scenic and calm part of Iceland, we realized that something has changed. Before we didn’t really see that many cars passing by but slowly it became more. One reason is definitely our next stop too. Stokksnes peninsula. Which is known for its dramatic lighting and reflections on the beach. And with that it is the perfect place to take some pictures. And so we should have expected that there were going to be more people around this area. When we got there, we saw a small visitor center and a big parking lot, where you had to pay for your stay. Coming from the north we were surprised about that, because we didn’t really had to pay at the main attractions there for parking. But obviously that is fine and we started to walk towards the black beach. On our way there we came across the Viking village. It was originally built for an Icelandic film, which was never finished. But it’s still used as a film set for other productions. It wasn’t huge or particularly impressive, but it felt authentic and it was interesting to have a look around. After that, we continued our way to the black beach. And there were definitely more people there, when we got there. It was quite a cool-looking place and I get why it is nice for photographers. But, the Stokksnes Beach didn’t impress me. Maybe it just wasn’t the right lighting. Or maybe I have seen too many edited pictures before, that my expectations were a bit too high. Either way I was glad that we stopped and that I have seen it and I will definitely go again at some point. So we turned around and walked back to our car.

    Diamond Beach

    Another well-known spot was on our agenda, Breidamerkursandur or better known as the Diamond Beach. But on the way there, we had to have a quick stop, because there were some horses near the fence and I had to get a closer look. So my boyfriend pulled over and I tried to befriend the horses. But I have to say they weren’t impressed by me. So we got back to the car and set off again to the next beach. We arrived shortly after at the parking lot and it was even busier than before. However, we got out and walked to the beach. Same as before, the beach itself was nice, but not as impressive as it looked in the pictures. Though I have to say, I was pretty impressed by the various sizes of icebergs drifting of the Jökulsárlón Glacier. So we decided to go more in this direction, when suddenly something moved in the water. We tried to get a closer look at it and saw a seal swimming in the sea. Not only we saw it, so did some other tourists. They were pretty  excited and started following it, which the seal wasn’t keen on and it seemed kind of stressed. It was a shame to see, that the tourists didn’t seem to care and not giving him space, when the seal wanted to enter the beach. They scared it off on two attempts by coming closer and shouting, so the seal turned around and swam off. It disappeared as fast as it showed up. This scene made me sad and we decided to walk away from the beach and head towards the glacier. It was very stunning, but I couldn’t quite enjoy it as much as I wanted to. As humans, we should respect the nature and the residents of the places we visit, whether they’re other humans or animals or plants. I get that it’s exciting to see a seal in the wild, and I felt the same. However, it shouldn’t lead to cutting its way and stressing it out. Please keep your distance to wild animals! Not only is it more chilled for them, but you also get to see their natural behaviour!

    Today’s Route & Facts

    • Egilsstaðir to Skaftafell
    • Main attractions: Meleyri Beach, Stokksnes, Viking Village, Diamond Beach, Jökulsárlón Glacier
    • Highlight of the day: Meleyri Beach
    • Hours spent in the car: 4h 51min
    • Kilometers made: 381 km
    • Days more to go: 6
    • Black beaches seen: walked on 3, seen a lot more

    Tomorrow’s Plan

    After leaving Diamond beach and staying over night in the Skaftafell area, we arrive in the south of Iceland. It gets more touristy, while visiting a canyon, another beach and more waterfalls.

    Thank you for reading and see you in the next part,

    M.

  • Iceland Day 3 – More Waterfalls, Scenic Hikes & The Cutest Village

    Iceland Day 3 – More Waterfalls, Scenic Hikes & The Cutest Village

    Day 2 felt like a dream. Witnessing whales in the wild and ending the day with soaking in a warm geothermal spa overlooking the ocean. I did think about just staying here and doing it all over again. But we were keen to see what else Iceland had to offer, so here’s Day 3.

    More Waterfalls

    To start the day of, we decided to visit another waterfall, but one that we’d already heard of – Goðafoss. It was only a 35-minute car ride from Húsavík. When we got there, we realised straight away that it was a more touristy spot, even though there weren’t too many people around. But as soon as we got out of the car, the waterfall had our intention. More precisely its noise. Before we could even see it, we heard the water falling and hitting the lower stream. We followed the noise down the path and ended up in front of this massive waterfall that looked just like something out of a dream. Embeded in a wide open lava field, the water streams down in a half circle. It’s incredible to stand there and watch it. I tried to capture it in pictures, but I don’t think they do it justice. You’ve got to see it yourself. We spent some time wandering around and seeing different angles of the waterfall, before deciding to head off.

    Volcano and a bit of an eggy smell

    Next on our list was Lake Mývatn and its surroundings. I have to say, we didn’t spend a lot of time at the lake itself. We kept on driving to Hverfjall Crater instead. The plan was to do the volcano trail up. The hike took us about 30 minutes, with little picture taking breaks and for me to catch my breath, since, as I mentioned in a post earlier, I’m very unfit. But the walk up wasn’t too bad even for me and the view from the top was definitely worth it. It was a cloudy day, but you could still see the lake and the Dimmuborgir rock formations. We also decided to continue our walk around the crater rim. It took us an hour to do the full circle, but every minute of it was worth it. We headed back down and carried on to the next stop. Only a 15 minutes’ drive later we arrived at Námaskarð. And let me tell you, we could already smell it. Even if Google Maps hadn’t worked, we would have found our way to this place. It’s a pretty distinctive egg smell, the kind that burns into your nose and lingers for days. We parked up and after questioning our stop choices, we got out of the car and started to walk to this moon-like area where steam was coming out of. Even though the landscape was stunning and nice to look at, the smell was just a bit too strong for us. Especially for me, as I’m sensitive when it comes to certain smells and egg is one of them. So we turned around and got back in our car. Námaskarð 1 and M 0, for now at least.

    • On top of Hverfjall
    • View from the top
    • The source of the egg-like smell.
    • A moon-like landscape

    Even more waterfalls

    After leaving that interesting smell and landscape behind us, we returned to a more familiar territory. A hilly landscape with a bunch of little waterfalls close together. All in all, driving here was a great experience. Before heading to our next stop, we wanted to get some grocery shopping done for the next few days. So we quickly stopped in Egilsstaðir, before continuing our trip to Hengifoss. We got to the parking lot and, thanks to the well-marked path, it was really easy to find the starting point for the hike. We followed some steps up through a gate and carried on walking for a bit. It took us about 40 minutes to get to a wooden platform, which lead us the rest of the way to Hengifoss. A stunning waterfall surrounded by red clay and black basalt walls. Another hike that paid off. Even though I nearly fell into the water during the walk since we had at some point change to walking on some rocks in the water to keep on moving, since the rest was a little bit flooded. But it was worth it, since we got to see two waterfalls in one hike. You’ll also get to see another stunning waterfall, Litlanesfoss, on the way to Hengifoss.

    And to top the experience off, there’s a little food truck parked right next to the parking lot across a little bridge. So when we got back, we decided to check it out and I went for the waffles with cream and rhubarb jam, which was just what I needed. My boyfriend went for the traditional Icelandic lamb meat soup with bread and butter, and he really enjoyed as well. Just so you know, my boyfriend and I are mostly vegetarians, but when we travel, we like to try some of the local dishes, which sometimes have meat in them. But if I remember correctly, there was also a vegan option for the soup, so you’ll definitely find something to eat at the food truck. I really liked that everything was homemade and you could taste the love.

    • Waffle with cream and rhubarb jam.
    • Some of the waterfalls we saw while driving

    Village dream

    The last stop for day 3 was Seyðisfjörður, a little village in the east. The drive there itself was scenic, but arriving in this sleepy, colorful village was something else. I fell in love with this little, calm spot. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. We wandered through the streets and obviously followed the rainbow street to the little blue church. On the way there a little shop selling hand-knitted wool sweaters caught my eye and I knew, that I wanted to check it out. So I popped back into the shop and saw two women knitting and chatting away behind the till. After looking around for a bit, I found this green sweater, which I really liked and had to get. So I paid for it and got a free bag with it, which I still use for grocery shopping and other things. Sadly I don’t remember the name of the shop, but since the village isn’t that big and it was on the Rainbow Road, you should be able to find it fairly easy. I can highly recommend checking it out. The women were really lovely, and the quality is amazing. Happy with my purchase, we continued our stroll through the village and sat down for a while to take it all in. My boyfriend then had to get me out of this village, before I would decide to stay here forever and we wouldn’t continue our road trip. That’s why we sadly didn’t end up spending our night here. Instead we drove back to Egilsstaðir to stay there. Writing this now, I don’t know why we decided to do Hengifoss first and then drive back to Seyðisfjörður and only to come back again. Well, they were scenic drives, so it doesn’t really matter.

    • Rainbow Road leading to the blue church

    Today’s Route & Facts

    • Husavik to Egilsstaðir
    • Main attractions: Goðafoss, Hverfjall, Námaskarð, Hengifoss, Litlanesfoss, Seyðisfjörður
    • Highlight of the day: my new Icelandic wool sweater
    • Hours spent in the car: 5h 13 min
    • Kilometers made: 393 km
    • Days more to go: 7
    • Waterfalls seen: way too many to count and every single one of them beautiful

    Tomorrow’s Plan

    Now that we’ve reached the east of Iceland, it’s time to head south and check out some black beaches, an old Viking village and finally some more Icelandic horses.

    So, stay tuned for the next part,

    M.

    What was your favourite waterfall in Iceland or which one would you love to see? I’m excited to see your answers!

  • Iceland Day 2 – Whales, Akureyri and Wellness

    Iceland Day 2 – Whales, Akureyri and Wellness

    After spending the night in Hófsós and having a great first day with beautiful waterfalls and volcanoes, we continue our way around the ring road and exploring the Icelandic landscape. And all that while it isn’t really getting dark outside. To be honest, it was a bit strange, but luckily the curtains in our camper were pretty effective at blocking out the light.

    Early morning and sleepy sheep

    We got up nice and early and had a quick breakfast before we packed the car up. The plan was to get to Hjalteyri before 10 am. So we had two options for getting there: follow the Ring Road or drive along the coastline. The second option takes longer, but we went for that one as it sounded like a really scenic drive. We headed off on a 1hr 50 min drive along the coast. Not long after starting to drive, we realised that it might be too early for some Icelandic residents. The sheep. They were still asleep and some couldn’t be bothered to get up and leave the street for us to drive past. So there were a few smaller breaks on our route where we had to wait for the sheeps to get up and walk off. Even though it took us longer to reach our stop, we really enjoyed watching them. The landscape was stunning, I can’t even put it into words. There’s the ocean on the one side and the land on the other. If you’re ever heading north and have the time, I’d say it’s definitely worth taking this route. Just to let you know, you’ll need to take your time on this one though. There were bits where it was gravel and the road became really narrow, so you couldn’t even drive as the speed limit suggested. But at least you could enjoy the view a little as well as the driver. We were glad we’d allowed a bit more time, as it took us nearly two and a half hours to get to the port of Hjalteyri. But there was still plenty of time before our activity started. So, we parked, had a snack and then went to the entrance.

    • Some of the sheeps on the road
    • On the way from Hófsós to Hjalteyri

    My dream come true

    You might be wondering why we’re in Hjalteyri. Before coming to Iceland, I did some research to find the best spots to see whales. We’d booked a whale-watching tour in Husavik with North Sailing, but the weather forecast wasn’t great. So the company got in touch to ask if we’d like to go on the tour on a different day in Husavik or on the dame day but in Hjalteyri instead. We decided to go with the same day but the different location. And it was the definitely the right choice. But let’s start from the beginning. We arrived at the dock 30 minutes early to talk to the staff and everything was going to plan. But everything went smoothly and we were  on our way to the boat. Despite the sun being out and it being quite warm, everyone got an overall to wear. So, after the captain and guide gave us a quick intro, we set off. We didn’t get very far before the first dolphins started jumping out of the water and following the boat. I couldn’t believe how playful they were. And then the guide started pointing out something in the distance. It was the fin of a whale. The captain did his best to get us a little bit closer, but he also made sure not to get in the way of the whale and give him enough room. Every couple of minutes the whale came to the surface before disappearing for another couple of minutes. Meanwhile the guide filled us in on the different species and the challenges they face. It was actually pretty informative. This time it was an adult humpback whale. After spending some time with him, we moved on to give him space. But not far from the first whale, we spotted another humpback whale and a pod of dolphins. After three hours on the sea, a quick stop with hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun, plenty of dolphin, humpback whale and fin whale sightings later, we arrived back in the harbour. Before leaving the boat the guide made sure that every question was answered and helped us off the boat. All in all, it was just an incredible experience. I gained a lot of knowledge due to the amazing guide. It was a dream come true for me! Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been desperate to see a whale in the wild. And to experience it in a country that already caught my heart, with like-minded people and a great environmental-friendly sailing company, it made me and my younger self so happy. I’d definitely recommend booking with North Sailing, if you’re planning a trip to Iceland! It’s a once in a lifetime experience. Just a heads-up though – make sure you wear sunscreen! I got quite sunburnt on my face, even though it was only 15°C.

    City strolls and relaxing evening

    When we got back to the car, we decided to go and have a look around Akureyri, the second biggest city in Iceland, and have a look around. Half an hour later we arrived and had a wander around the little town, checking out the church and the colourful houses. We also did a bit of souvenir shopping, because I try to bring back a fridge magnet from every country I visit as well as a sticker of the country’s flag to put on my small hand luggage suitcase. I haven’t used it in a while, but it is a great memory. We also found some little shops selling hand-knitted Icelandic sweaters. Akureyri is a great place to spend an afternoon, strolling around and soaking in the fresh air, but we decided to keep on driving. We ended up making a last-minute booking on the day before to go to the Geosea Geothermal Sea Bath in Husavik. We chose this place because it felt more intimate, and it’s built on a cliff overlooking the sea. The drive there took us about an hour and we arrived at 6 pm, just in time to enjoy a relaxing evening in a hot pot and reflect on the incredible day we had, while watching the waves go by. But since it was on a cliff, it was also more windy, so I was glad that I brought my headband with me to cover my ears while the rest of my body soaked up the heat from the geothermal pool. It was the perfect way to end the the day.

    Today’s Route & Facts

    • Hófsós to Husavik
    • Main attractions: Whale Watching Tour, Akureyri, Geosea Geothermal Sea Bath
    • Highlight of the day: seeing whale in the wild
    • Hours spent in car: 3h 10 min
    • Kilometers made: 220 km
    • Days more to go: 8
    • Animal encounters had: too many to count, but grateful for every single one of them

    Tomorrow’s Plan

    After spending the night in Husavik, we head towards the east and spend our day seeing more waterfalls, inhale a little too much of an egg smell and fall in love with a little town.

    Until next time,

    M.

    I’d love to hear all about your experiences on whale-watching tours! Feel free to share all your stories in the comments below! And if you found a great sustainable whale tour, please let me know as well!

  • Planning My Southeast Asia Trip – And I need your Help

    Planning My Southeast Asia Trip – And I need your Help

    My big trip this year is going to be to Malaysia, Singapore and Malaysian Borneo. In just over a month, I will arrive in Kuala Lumpur. However, there is still some planning to do, and I would like to share my progress with you. Maybe it will help someone who is also planning a similar trip, or maybe someone has already been to one of these places and can offer some advice.

    But why Malaysia, Singapore & Borneo?

    Firstly, a friend of mine has already been there and said it was the best trip, she has ever been on. I’ve also always wanted to visit Asia, specifically Southeast Asia. Too be honest, I wasn’t too keen on going to places like Bali or Hanoi. Not because I’m soo different, but because these places don’t speak to me as much as Malaysia does. And to be honest Singapore was mainly added because it is right next to Malaysia and fairly easy to get to. As for Borneo, who wouldn’t want to go there and see orangutans, right? Obviously the wildlife played a big role in the decision, as well as something else, I always dreamed of doing – Scuba diving. When I heard that Borneo is a great spot for that, I was sold. Hopefully, by the end of this journey, I will have my scuba diver licence.

    Where I’m headed

    Based on the information I have gathered so far, and given that our flight is landing in Kuala Lumpur, here is my current route plan:

    • Start in Kuala Lumpur: Batu Caves, Perdana Putra, Perdana Botanical Gardens, as well as religious sites such as temples and churches
    • Taman Negara: Bukit Teresik hike
    • Cameron Highlands: Tea plantation, a short hike
    • Georgetown: Penang National Park, Penang Hill, see some of the wall art
    • Flight to Sandakan and visiting Bornean Sunbear Conservation Centre & Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
    • 3D2N Kinabatangan River Cruise
    • Semporna: Scuba diving certificate, island hopping
    • Singapore: Gardens by the bay, Pulau Ubin, Chinatown, Little India
    • Melaka: Night market, Mosque
    • Tioman Island: enjoy the beach, hike to a waterfall
    • Back to Kuala Lumpur and flight back with a 10 hour layover in Abu Dhabi

    From that list of things, the must do and see things for me and my boyfriend are:

    • See and walk through a tea plantation
    • Visit the Bornean Sunbear Conservation Centre & Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
    • The 3D2N Kinabatangan River Cruise: First of all because we have already booked it, but also because everything I have read was quite amazing and who doesn’t want to be in the middle of a rainforest hoping to see some of the last orangutans in the wild? Let’s be real: the chances of seeing a pygmy elephant are basically zero. So I’ll concentrate my luck on the orangutans
    • Scuba diving course: I love being in or near water and have the best time there. So it has always been a dream of mine to dive and explore the underwater world for longer than I can hold my breath. And it is also already booked.

    Everything else is flexible and we are open to adding or removing things from the list.

    How I plan a trip

    Before I start with this section of the blog, I should mention that as soon as someone mentions a trip, I get very excited and start researching the destination, as well as things we could see and do there. The word “hyperfixation” really sums it up. I love planning and researching a place. But I also love to see what other people enjoyed about the place.

    The first thing I do is to decide when to go. As my boyfriend and I are still students, although I don’t have much left to do for my degree, the options are the summer or the longer break in February. However, my boyfriend usually has to study during the February break, so that’s not really an option for a long trip. So we decided to go in August and stay until the beginning of September, for almost one month. I did some research on the rainy season, and I know that in western Malaysia it is rainy season at this time of year. However, most people also said that it mostly rains in the morning or evening, which wouldn’t bother us. If you have any experience of travelling in Malaysia during the rainy season, please let me know how much it impacted your travels in Malaysia!

    Once I’ve decided on the dates, I start looking up the country on Pinterest and TikTok. I then compile all the information I have found in a document and look at it in more detail.

    Some things that are important to me, or that I at least try to include, are:

    • Local vendors
    • Animal welfare & nature conservation
    • No all-inclusive packages: I want to be as free as possible to decide where I want to go, when, and for how long
    • Reduce the number of flights as much as possible
    • Locally owned accommodation
    • Information on the difficulty of hikes

    For example, I knew that I wanted to do scuba diving at a PADI-associated school, since PADI is a well-known company for scuba diving licences and offers great professional diving training. At least, that’s what I have heard. So I checked their website to see where some diving schools are located in Malaysia and Singapore. After comparing them, I chose a diving school in Semporna, because I heard that this is a great place to dive.

    The more difficult decision was deciding which Kinabatangan River Cruise to do. There are so many providers out there, and we even considered organising everything ourselves. However, we decided against it, because it was easier and I found a website called SeekSophie (*affiliate link). It seemed smaller and more conservation-conscious then the others. We looked up the available options on their website and opted for the 3D2N Kinabatangan River Safari/Scenic Waterfront Resort, as the stay would be long enough to increase our chances of seeing wildlife. The reviews of the company were also very good, and the booking process was very smooth. SeekSophie offers not only river safaris, but way more, for example the 1-Day Mabul Leisure Dives (*affiliate link) in Semporna or The Art of the Tingkat: A Singaporean Tradition in Singapore (*affiliate link) sounded really interesting for me. So definitley check them out, if you are going to South East Asia, since they also have activities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. If you find something you like you can also use my code MARAKI89 and get 10% off your first booking.

    With wildlife sanctuaries, you always have to be careful to ensure that they are ethical and help to protect the animals. To ensure this, I always do some extra research, looking them up on different platforms. It was a little easier for me with the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre because I had seen presentations about them and their great work at my university and heard about them from people who have already been there and share my views on such topics.

    Once I have found all the information I need and decided on the places I would like to see, I start putting these things into a  separate document to see how long I would need for them and whether the time I have planned will be enough to cover them. I than have a list of places I definitely want to see, as well as a list of places to look up when I have more time during the trip. However, I mostly transfer the activities to my Google Maps account and create a separate list for every holiday, saving the individual activities there.

    What my Google Maps looks like, after saving all individual activites.

    I have the same approach for accommodations. It has always worked out quite well for me. However, I know it is probably not the most effective way and can be time-consuming. However, as I mentioned before, I love hyperfixating on things like this, so I actually get a lot of joy from spending so much time planning a trip.

    Let’s Plan this together!

    So, that’s where I need you and your advice!

    • Have you ever been to Malaysia, Singapore or Borneo?
    • Do you know of any local eco-projects or hidden gems?
    • What was your favourite spot?
    • Do you have any tips for places to stay that support the local community?
    • If you haven’t been yet, but you’ve heard about something that sounds like fun, please let me know as well!
    • What would you recommend to do in Abu Dhabi, if you have a 10 hour layover?

    If you’ve got any other recommendations, please share them with me – either in the comments below or via Instagram (@postcards.fromm). I’m also going to include some surveys in my instagram story, where you can provide some answers. And I’m going to share all the ideas I got in another post, so everyone can access them and maybe they’ll be helpful for someone else too. I’d also share the name of the person, who recommended it unless you would tell me that you don’t want that.

    Thank you so much in advance! I’m so excited to share this adventure with you – from the planning to the flight back home!

    Love, M.

  • Iceland Day 1 – Driving, Waterfalls and Volcanoes!

    Iceland Day 1 – Driving, Waterfalls and Volcanoes!

    Iceland. It’s a place I’ve been itching to visit since I was 13 or so. And yes, I fell in love with this country after taking my first riding lesson on an Icelandic horse. I’ve ridden before, but that time it felt totally different – and just right. But you don’t want to hear about my riding history. So, after dreaming of driving through the scenic landscape of Iceland and wishing for it to happen as soon as possible, I finally made it happen.

    The Arrival

    The time has finally come in 2022. To be honest, I was surprised that I didn’t cry when I first breathed in the fresh Icelandic air. Because I couldn’t hold it when I saw a rhino in the wild for the first time, but that’s a whole other story.

    It was the beginning of July 2022. And yes, I know it isn’t the cheapest month to go to Iceland since it is the beginning of the high season. However, there was a particular reason for coming at this time, but I’ll tell you about that later. And just beforehand I travelled with my boyfriend, that is why I’m going to continue saying we or our or something similar. Our flight landed at about 1 am since because of a delay. As our pick-up time for the car wasn’t until 6 am, we had some time to stroll through the duty free shop and exchange some money. After that, we looked for a nice little spot in the airport and sat down with our luggage. We tried to sleep for a bit. I was really glad that I insisted on bringing a big warm blanket with me, as it was really useful straight away. At 6 am we got picked up and got to meet our car for the next 10 days. It was a small Dacia Dokker Camper. After inspecting it and the staff treating us with two sleeping bags. Shoutout to Starcarrental for the smooth pick up and the helpful tips. We set off on our adventure. And since I planned a rough route beforehand I knew our first stop straight away. The Bonus in Borgarnes. Honestly I think every roadtrip in Iceland starts with a stop there, at least mine.  We grabbed some food and carried on driving.

    View driving

    Fire and Water

    Our first stop was Glanni. It was pretty spontaneous, as we hadn’t planned to go there. We saw a sign, though, and thought, you know what, let’s just follow it an see where it takes us. So we took the exit and ended up on a parking lot with a sign directing us where to go. There were a few other people there, but not too many. So we got out of the car and followed the path. And it took us to a little platform overlooking a beautiful little waterfall. I’ve got to say, this moment just couldn’t have been more perfect. It wasn’t too windy and even though the sun wasn’t shining, the water was glistening. I felt like the luckiest girl ever to experience that. We took some pictures of the waterfall and a lovely old lady also took some of us to remember too. After that, we carried along the path and came across some stunning scenery and riverbeds. We just enjoyed our time here and soaked up all the peace and quiet and the views.

    Our next stop was only a 5 minute drive away, so we hopped in the car and arrived at: Grábrók Volcano. This was our first planned stop. It was a little bit more busy in comparison to Glanni. Well, there’s a massive crater right next to the Ring Road with a parking lot right in front of it, so you can’t really miss it. And so it makes sense that more people are stopping there as well. We also stopped and started walking to the top. And now I have to tell you a little secret about me. I am not exactly the sporty girl at all and my stamina is pretty poor. Well basically non-existent. So I was a little hesitant walking up this hill. But I made it and it was surprisingly easy. And honestly it was so worth it. The view from the top was amazing, with the Borgafjörður countryside right below us. The walk took us about an hour, but we also spent some time at the top.

    We hit the road again, listening to podcasts and music. 1 hour and 11 minutes later, we arrived at our next destination – Kolugjúfur Canyon. I’d seen some pictures of it beforehand and was really excited to see it, also because it’s not too far from the main road. However, I have to say that even though it was nice, I was not that impressed. It was a cute waterfall, but nothing compared to Glanni. I’m probably a bit biased, because it was the first waterfall I saw in Iceland and it was a surprise, so it’s hard to beat. Even though we weren’t that impressed, we spent some time walking around before we carried on with our journey.

    • Waterhole near Glanni
    • View from Grábrók Volcano
    • Kolugljúfur Canyon

    Campsite search

    We had something special planned for the next day, where we had to be at a specific place, so we kept on driving for a bit longer. We didn’t look up any campsites in advance because we wanted the freedom to stop whenever and wherever we wanted. But then I started to feel a bit peckish and these delicious chocolate cookies from Bonus weren’t enough to keep me going. We had a look at some places to stay and found a really nice campsite in Hofsós. It was a big grass field with a small building that had a shower and a toilet and a heated kitchen. We parked for the night, cooked some pesto pasta and then went to bed.

    Today’s Route & Facts

    • Keflavik Airport to Hofsós
    • Main attractions: Glanni, Grábrók Volcano, Kolugjúfur Canyon
    • Highlight of the day: Glanni
    • Hours spent in car: 4h 30 min
    • Kilometers made: 367 km
    • Days more to go: 9
    • Snacks eaten: I’m not even going to try to count how many, because there were a lot!

    Tomorrow’s Plan

    More water and hopefully a childhood dream comes true. We’ll be getting our things together nice and early so we can fit in two of the three activities we’ve already booked.

    But more another time.

    M.

    Have you been to Iceland before or are you planning a trip soon? Leave a comment – I’d love to know your favourite spots.