We were 4 – Samuel, Tania, Veronika and Michal, each one of us coming from different parts of Europe (Czech Republic, Spain & Slovakia), but sharing 6m² of our beloved “Rentis” camper van. S and V had dreamed about visiting Iceland before it was cool and all hipsters wore lopapeysur on daily basis. M and T just followed because they were deeply in love with first two to the instance that they were able to forget their craving for hot Malagian summer or cheap Czech beer and put jackets and hats on and pretend that 9°C is perfectly OK for August weather.
Interesting is that a year ago we didn’t even know each other. S and V started working together back in June 2016 and slowly started to find out that they have more and more in common. Love and desire for Iceland was one of it so they decided to go for the trip together with their significant ones. Sad is that they do not work together anymore, but we must say it was not due to a terrible trip to Iceland.
Our plan was pretty simple – to see as much of Iceland as possible in 10 days – pet puffin, climb volcanoes, relax in public swimming pools and hotpots, hike, ride an Icelandic horse, take a photo in front of at least 12 waterfalls, so our thematic Icelandic calendar is ready for 2018, buy an Icelandic sweater, meet Júníus Meyvant and force him to invite us for a dinner, have an overly expensive beer in KEX hostel, and see the flighty old drama queen Aurora. We managed (almost) all of these things and discovered so many more wonders along the route number 1.
After the late night arrival to Keflavik we took bus to Reykjavik and spent next 2 nights in the capital. We had a lovely Airbnb host who provided us with bikes which we used to travel around the little capital, feeling a bit weird, riding the bikes in such a low temperatures. But, hey, you don’t get to ride a bike in Reykjavik every day so we enjoyed it very much. We wandered the streets, went for the Free Guided Tour with a lovely presenter Eric, tried the famous hotdogs, some of us bought the lopapeysur already on day 1, ensuring good looks and warm feeling for the rest of the stay.
On day 3 we finally set out on the road. We picked up our lovely van and spend the first day taking pictures of everything through the rainy front glass. We decided to do the round trip in the clock-wise direction because we read somewhere that is better. We traveled north visiting the main sights on the way and stopping on each viewing point taking countless pictures. We bathed in the Mývatn Nature Baths which was truly an unforgettable experience. We started taking group photos at almost every waterfall, always showing the number of the waterfall with our fingers. We made exactly 12 and we want to introduce our 2018 calendar in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
On the east coast we fell in love with a little village called Seyðisfjörður with a magical atmosphere settled in the middle of a fjord. Definitely a place to come back to and spend more days. Unfortunately our program was quite packed and after few hours spent there we had to leave. As we were getting more and more south we were also noticing a growing number of tourists at each site. Highlight from the south for us was the visit of the Heimaey island.
We spent whole day on this little island, which is by the way the home place of Júníus Meyvant, a great Icelandic songwriter and singer. Unfortunately we did not meet him in the streets but in a café we talked with a lady that knows him! Almost as good as meeting him. We had lovely fish in a pan in the local fish restaurant, we petted local superstar puffin Toti and left the island with hearts full of joy. Our circle was coming to a close so for the last day we decided to relax and enjoy some time in the little town Hveragerði and early in the morning set out for a short hike to bath in the Reykjadalur valley and its thermal river! What a thing!
Last day we spent again in Reykjavik as it was Saturday and we wanted to visit the local flea market which opens only on the weekends. We threw in some more hot dogs of course. After that we set out for our last ride in the direction of Keflavik where we had to say goodbye to our beloved Rentis. He did a tremendous job protecting us through the journey across the country. Thank you Rentis.
To give you a detailed overview of our Icelandic bucket list:
- Pet puffin ✓
- Climb volcanoes ✓
- Relax in public swimming pools and hotpots ✓
- Hike ✓
- Ride an Icelandic horse ✓
- Take a photo in front of at least 12 waterfalls ✓
- Buy an Icelandic sweater ✓
- Meet Júníus Meyvant and force him to invite us for a dinner (pretty much) ✓
- Have an overly expensive beer in KEX hostel ✓
- See the flighty old drama queen Aurora ✓
I would say not bad for 10 days on the island. Plus, we only got soaking wet 2 times! Of course we experienced many more things and we saw many more wanders about which there could be a book written. But we want to keep those to ourselves. A year ago we didn’t know each other and now we have been to Iceland together and we can say that we will share and cherish these beautiful memories for very long time. If you are thinking of going to Iceland, take people you like, make your own bucket list and be happy fulfilling one item after another with people you like.
Thank you for reading!
Read more: Jamie & Austen in Iceland
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