[tsk1979]

Some choices are very difficult. Some are very easy.
Like the one we made.
New Zealand or Iceland.
And so we went to Iceland. But what is Iceland?
Some questions are easy to answer. But this is not.

After 17 days, and 5000kms later, I cannot answer this question.. but is there a harm in trying.......?

This is the song of Fire and Ice


Smoke on the water


Fire in the skies

[tsk1979]

Its the rainbow connection



Its the Tail spin


Its fury untamed


and tamed


Its the Roar


And the rebel Yell


Its the gathering storm


And the diamonds in the skies

[tsk1979]

Its the grey world


and the Autumn song


Its Frozen


And the Melting Pot


Its the Sonata of a Sun gone wild


And and drum beat of the ocean


Its the Pot of Gold


And treasures untold

[tsk1979]

Its the bridal veil

And the raging torrent


Its wonder so near


And So far


Its Ba Ba Black sheep

And those who have a lot of wool


Its the horse with no name


And those not alone

[tsk1979]

Its the country road not green


And the Ocean not blue


Its the naked fire


And the wild ice


its picture perfect


With the sky so blue

Where you contemplate


Till the sun bids Adeiu

[tsk1979]

Its flower power


And the mysterious shower


Its the Gods fallen


And the caves forgotten


Its the last cry of summer


And the first of Autumn


Its the dance of light


And of Shadow

[tsk1979]

Its Family


And friendship


Its the best friend


And the gossiper too


Its the calm


And the storm


Its the green


And the orange

[tsk1979]

Its a garden


And a mossy wasteland


Its the Shire


And Mordor


Its light


Its darkness


Its the Sentinal


And the Star


Its conversations so quiet


And silence so loud

[tsk1979]

Its heaven


And hell


Its permanent


Yet fleeting


Its this perspective


and this one too


Its reflections clear


and cloudy


Its complex


And the simple

[tsk1979]

Its Sunset


And a false dawn


Its unreal


Yet here


Its nature


And man made

[tsk1979]

Yes its Iceland.
Its the Song of Ice


Of fire above


and of fire below


and of water


and of color


even in darkness


And of grey


and of bright sunny days...

[tsk1979]

There is always a plan.
Unlike a domestic destination, where you just put fuel, pack your bags and set off, for international travel, there is Visa Air tickets, Hotels... and a lot more.

October is off season in Iceland. So technically speaking booking may not be needed. But if you arrive somewhere at 8pm in the night, and expect a discount, its going to be pretty difficult.

Moreover, when your plan is to stay in self catering cottages, things can get more complicated.
So the entire plan would have to be "pre planned".

Thankfully, BCMT member silentsoul was stationed in Reykjavik during our "planning phase", and with his help, we get 5% off on the car rental.

Many PMs later, we finalize the destinations.
Five nights in south, One night on the road, three in north, three in northwest and finally four in the western part of the country.

Booking was done mostly via email, except for our two lights in Keflavik, one going and one coming back.
As for air tickets, it was Diwali, so I guess we took a good 20K hit on the prices. But then this was the only window available for vacation.

Visa is a breeze, takes a few days only, unlike Norway which took one month!
With tickets and Visa and hotel bookings ready, its time to talk about the elephant in the room. Car rental.

Car rental is a very simple process. You go to an aggregator website, and choose the cheapest car available. However, iceland is not so simple. We planned to do F roads(if open) which require 4x4.

Now if it was summer, F roads would definitely be open. If its winter, they would be closed. But in Autumn it would be a gamble.
Secondly, even normal roads become quite a task in 2WD if it snows. Esp those gravel tracks.

So we had to rent a 4x4. And herein lies the confusion.
Heart vs head.

Heart said, go for that 1599 EUR land cruiser. 33" wheels, 100 series manual transmission diesel monster.
Or maybe the 1799 EUR Defender. Again 35" tires, and a snorkel too.

Head said, Jimny or Duster 4x4 at 1100 EUR.
After much bargaining with the LC guy, head won(as it often does when it comes to traveling very expensive EU nations).

It was the Duster or the Jimny. Well of LC is the king of off road, then Jimny is the prince. But its a very spoilt prince. Just like princes are. Good for nothing. Well not nothing, see its prince of off road, but horrible on everything else.

Chatting up with owners and users online, one thing is certain, for 95% of our trip, when we are not crossing rivers, this will make our job hell. Esp on gravel. Handling sucks, ride sucks, and does not have too much space too.

Fifty Euro more and we can have the Grand Vitara. But, we will be killed on the fuel. 11kmpl vs 18kmpl of the Duster diesel again means a lot lot more money.

With budget stretched to the seams, the Dacia Duster emerged victorious.

We were going to Iceland, and going to drive a Dacia Duster AWD. One of Iceland's favorite rental cars. It used to be the Jimny, but now its Duster all the way, edging out all competition in the local market.

One more thing I should mention. You can rent cars from local there(insurance is dicey though). But paying 1200 EUR for a 1998 model for a 33" tired Ssangyong Murano does not feel right, esp with very basic insurance(NO gravel, Sand protection etc.,).

So we rented the duster, got our 5% discount, and also bought all insurance conceivable. Normally for October Sand and Ash protection is not really needed, but with Bardarbunga leaking, and ready to erupt, we did not want to take chances.

The rest of the planning story was destinations, and where to go, driving times and stuff which you will read about anyways.
On the stay front, the other thing was food. We were going to carry a lot of stuff from India, and not eat out. European Cuisine is very easy to cook, all you need to do is buy stuff from the supermarkets. Lot of money saved.

So this was the plan. Rest, its the road. Where the road and the weather and the clouds take us, we will go.

[tsk1979]

Its 8pm in the evening, still a few hours for our Taxi to the airport. The scene is familiar.
Two large suitcases, supposed to be 23kgs each bursting at the seams.

The problem is that they are 25kgs each.
Food is heavy. Very heavy. But stuff like Atta, Rice, Sugar, Tea Leaves etc., etc., etc., is what is going to save us a lot of dough.

The aim is to stay below 25. Airlines in India often allow you 1-1.5kgs extra per suitcase.

Then there is the problem of hand baggage. We have 2 each. Yes. Not one but two. And ready to burst.

So familiar, and not so pleasant. But what gotta go, gotta go.
We arrive at the airport, with the annual food production of a small farm in our suitcases, and proceed to the Airline counter.

The friendly gentleman's eyes pop at 2*25kg.
They pop even more when he looks at our hand baggage

"That is a laptop bag" I say sheepishly

"Is there a laptop in there" He asks.

I mutter a no, while looking here and there. Anywhere but at him. He looks at me sternly, and then says "Yay".

As we fill our immigration forms, he comes again, and tells us we have been selected for random screening by customs. As if we are smuggling the entire GDP of India out.

Well, I don't really care. Customs is a must stop when you carry two cameras and a gazzilion lenses.

The "Random screening" guy is annoyed.
There is another software engineer off to Germany in the same room with us. Not really the Fish they wanted.

"Inko Kyun Le aaye" Translated "Why did you bring them"???

Annoyed he waives us off, and I get the "exit" electronics endorsed on the ticket.

An hour later, we settle down into cattle class, with our fellow buffaloes..err passengers.

Thankfully, its a twin seat, so No grappling for the arm rest with a co passenger.

Flight is not too full, and finally I manage to stuff my Lowepro bag(supposedly for airlines) into the overhead bin.

Its an eight hour flight to Amsterdam. Time is passed watching a German movie about kidnapping and murder and what not.
Nothing to pass time like some old fashioned uncensored gore. The torture on the screen also puts things in perspective. Sure, cattle class is torture, but being kidnapped and beaten is worse, so I am happy.

Thankfully, food is decent(quite surprising) and the dessert is actually delicious. The leg room does suck though, and at the end of eight hours I can barely feel my legs.

At Amsterdam, its a relaxed changeover, and today, we are going to be flying Katla.
Yup. The Airplane is named Katla. Its a volcano which exploded a couple of years back and killed a lot of people. And today, we will fly in Katla. There is a mild jam at the airport, but eventually everyone gives way to an angry volcano


Katla has no food for cattle class, but 2.5 hours of legroom. Yes. The seats are well spaced, and I can finally sleep for an hour or so.
But you know what, when I think about it, it does not matter. The cramped seats, the cattle class, the long flight. We are going to Iceland!! yay.
Goodbye mainland Europe, hello sleep




The flight lands dot on time. Unfortunately its cloudy, and there is no Volcano flyby. I was hoping to see the Holahraun lava field from the air.

On the ground, it takes some time to sink in that we are in Iceland. We are in Iceland!!. The land of Ice and Fire. In real.

The airport is thankfully small, and we first head to duty free.
You see, in Iceland, you can buy a prepaid 5GB data card for around 2000 Krona.
Which is about 1050 INR.

And as expected the duty free shop does not have it.
So I can buy normal sim, fill in data later.

Or I can try the 7-11 after crossing customs.
But its a gamble. The sim is cheaper inside.

So if I get 5GB data card outside, it will be great. If I don't will be paying equivalent of 250 INR for the same sim card as its cheaper before customs(no VAT you see).


We decide to take the gamble, and proceed unmolested with a years GDP through the customs.

As Murphy would have it, there is no 5GB data card. So I buy normal sim.
It has 300MB. I cheap out, buying Vodafone. Should have bought the slightly more expensive Simmin. Then I would have had 3G everywhere instead of 2G I got mostly.

But at that time I did not know that. Hindsight is always a genius you know!

On the IVR system, I dial in the CC number, and soon I am told 1GB = 1000 Krona, 5GB is 2000Krona.
I need about 2GB max, so its 5GB for the card.

The Euro change counter also gives a nice rate(surprise surprise), and we get our required Krona. Now technically, we were to use credit card everywhere. But two places on our itinerary insisted on cash. So we got the small amount for those guys.

Anyways, I digress.
Next step is to call our nice hotel in Keflavik itself, for the free shuttle.
Its a lovely evening in Keflavik.
Weather in Iceland is unexpected.
But I am wondering you expect the weather to be unexpected, so when its unexpected, its what you were expecting, so isn't is expected?

Again I digress. It starts raining as I load the first big suitcase. Second suitcase and its sunny.
As we load ourselves into the van, the winds start howling. Talk about unpredictable weather.

Our stay is at the cheap(5000/night with breakfast) Keflavik Bed and Breakfast

We are expecting a dump. Seriously. The cheapest hotel in town, and with breakfast for 64 Euros?
It turns out to be "luxury".
Big rooms, huge bed, sofa, TV and a big Bathroom too.

Running hot water is anyways expected. When the country sits on a huge bigass pile of Magma, hot water literally flows out of every nook and cranny.

At this time, every bone in our bodies says Go to sleep. But guess what, it starts raining, and its sunny too, and beautiful rainbows form outside.

Sleep? Nah. Lets go for a jog eh?

[tsk1979]

Its raining.
And its sunny too.

Which means a rainbow. Everything is different in Iceland. Even rainbows


We decided to jog till we reach the road overlooking the ocean.
On the way lies an abandoned Military Airbase(US)


Towards the other side are low rise apartment buildings. Southwest Iceland with Reykjavik and Keflavik has most of the population of Iceland. Rest of the country is fairly empty.


Clicking pics I fall back. A camera is a good excuse to get lazy


Main road approaching


And finally, we reach the ocean viewpoint, and with the sun going down, the Rainbow also bids Adieu


Its been a great day. No sleep at night? Who cares. The first day in Iceland has been quite eventful. Some places have an energy to them. No matter how tired you are, they refresh you, make you like new.

So fully alert, sleep forgotten, and with the dream of the journey ahead, we take a leisurely walk back to the hotel.

On the way I spot this


A Ssangyong Musso with the Mercedes 2.7L diesel and 35"(or are they 38") tires. I almost rented a 33" tired musso, but deal fell through due to lack of Insurance.

Big tyre "superjeeps" are quite a common sight in Iceland, and in the coming days we will see plenty.

Its almost 7pm as we reach the hotel parking lot, and click a lovely expedition ready vehicle, without big tires, which anyways would have looked a bit silly on this beauty!

Tomorrow our real journey starts. But the night is still young.
The extremely friendly hotel staff tells us that tea, coffee and milk are available 24/7 free of charge in the cafeteria, and if we want to heat something up, well there is a microwave.

Well, that means only one thing. Time for paronthas. Where did they come from? OF course they are also part of the annual food production of a small farm we are carrying

More than 20 infact.

And with that, we are ready and recharged, for a long night of sleep. Tomorrow, we see Iceland....

[tsk1979]

The Alarm is set off a few minutes past 6am. Its a horrible time to get up. But thankfully, its 11:45am by our biological clocks, and 11:45am is the perfect early morning wake up time.

It does not take us long to get ready and attack the very cold and very vast breakfast spread. There is a lot of stuff. I mean there are some 5-10 types of meat salamis and something which smells fishy. There is grass also for the plant murderer type of people, but not really interested in that stuff.

All the meat stuff, and grass stuff is cold. But the microwave will fix that. There is waffle also, which is quite surprising. Its difficult to gorge yourself at 7am. Infact, back home it would be impossible. But there is this secret mode switch inside us which turns to hungry whenever free buffets are involved. It goes to super hungry when its known that the next meal is 12 hours away, if not more.

Technically speaking its not 12 hours away. We have a suitcase full of food, and half of it is ready to eat. But if you talk about proper, normal food, its still 12 hours away.

There is apple juice too. Frankly speaking, this is unreal for the price. And guess what, the breakfast starts at 4:30am officially. Unofficially, by 4am they are done with it.

Its almost 8:30am when we finally check out. This time the horse will not go to the well. The well will come to the horse. Basically, I am saying, that we do not have to go anywhere for the rental car. It will come.

A dacia duster pulls in. The stickers say "Blue car rental". I did not rent from blue car rental. But the friendly guy who's gotten the car tells me not to worry. Its iceland. All rental car companies are friends. Same thing. Whatever.

The duster has a big boot.We need all of it, infact even the parcel tray has to go.
I ease into the drivers seat, and see the familiar fascia. Familiarity often breeds contempt, but when it comes to driving MT in LHD countries, familiarity breeds relief.

The only thing different(apart from everything being on the wrong side) is the 4WD selector switch, which I push to 2WD. The tires are extremely noisy studded snow tires. Kit level is decent with a GPS system prefixed(Good I did not waste money on GPS!). Redundancy is always welcome, even though we have Nokia as well as OSM maps ready to guide us to all the nooks and crannies.

Time for the driver seat shot



We are ready to hit the tourist trail. People who come to Iceland for two nights (stupid I must say), do something called the Golden circle. It involves seeing some nice attractions, and then burning 40 EUR to sit in the waste of some Geothermal plant.

WE also intend to see the best of those attractions, without burning the 40 EUR. But first its grocery time. Or rather not grocery time as we find out later. The stores will open at noon today because its Sunday. And when we hit the open road, there will be no stores.

So just fuel, and we are on the road. Iceland decides to welcome us again, with a lovely rainbow


Today's day is some planned and some unplanned. Planned is what we had planned to see, and unplanned is what we did not know we will see.

And guess what, the first attraction is Mosfellskirkja, a lovely church accessed by a bumpy gravel road up the mountain.


Sunday service is over, and its empty inside


Few minutes before we came, it was full of people. Some 4 people were inside. Yes, that's Iceland for ya!

The locals are pretty curious. You do not get many Indians in these parts I guess. We chat up a bit, and the sweet old lady tells us about the history of these parts. How, there was an old church, which was destroyed, and this new one was built, and how the owner was not too happy about all this. Very complicated story, which I do not really remember very well.

Nevertheless, its lovely




Iceland is full of sheep, however, they have some cows too, and quite a few of them have come to watch us I guess


Its quite an idyllic setting, and we would have loved to set camp here, but the road awaits, for the time is Autumn, the day is short, the weather fickle and the distance long.