Iceland Day 1 - Smoky Bays

When Ingólfur Arnarson chose Reykjavik as his permanent settlement in 870 AD, he was confronted by puffs of smoke dotting the land, which is why he called it Smoke Cove, or Reykjavik. These puffs were of course steam, and were indicative of the huge geologic engine running under Iceland, which both threatens Icelanders, as well as provides them with an abundance of clean green energy.

I can't imagine the Vikings were much more excited than I to see this new land though. As the bus passed the outskirts of Reykjavik, I had to readjust my mental picture of this small cute village to a much bigger gleaming metropolis. We changed at the BSI Bus Terminal to the local shuttle that was to take us to our hotel, and my impression of Reykjavik changed again.The city may be big, but it's central area (the one we tourists are concerned with) is cozy and compact. It's not a rural haven, but more like a ultra trendy mini city, with shops sporting designer labels, chic cafés, and trendy restaurants.

The main street, Laugavegur, is just one lane and teeming with pedestrians, and this was where our cab rolled down to drop us at our apartment in the ultra trendy Reykjavik 101 area.

Now a quick note about our accomodation. We had booked the 'Botique' studio serviced apartment in Apartment K. We were a bit nervous about this, as when we emailed the hotel, they said that the exact apartment may not be in the address we were told, and would be allocated only on our arrival. But our fears were soon put to rest - we were met at the street by Kathy, who was extremely helpful and made us feel right at home.

We were let in to the apartment which was just across the road, and when they said botique, boy did they mean it. It was done up in red and white, with one side of the apartment covered in windows. As you can see from the pictures it was extremely comfortable.

Kathy sat down with us and talked us through the main attractions in Reykjavik, especially pointing out the cool places to eat. She also gave us a crash course on Icelandic pronounciation - the J's were pronounced Y, the ð like th and the ll were pronounced a sorta guttral th.... to demonstrate which she proceeded to spit generously on the table.

After a while we decided to wander around the city, and also pick up a few groceries for the apartment, and also find the local liquor shop. Just for info, the local grocery shop is call Bonus, but there is also a shop called 1011 which stays open late. Alcohol can only be bought at Vinburen (a government owned liquir shop). As we were wandering around we got to see The Sun Voyager (Sólfar), by Jón Gunnar Árnason.

After grabbing some food, I went out at around 12 am to see the legendary Reykjavik nightlife, and it was just amazing to see this small street transformed. I also walked to the Hallgrímskirkja church to get a few pics of it lighted up. 

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Visiting Ultima Thule

In the past, in my mind, Iceland was this tiny island, covered with ice and snow and unremarkable in every way. A place where a few unfortunate people would have to live, but no sane person would visit. However, a couple of years back, Tanmay showed me some pictures of Iceland taken by a friend of his who had visited, and I was entranced. The place looked unearthly and unspoiled and raw; an exhibition of geology and nature unlike any other.

From that moment I was hooked.

I didn't think it would come to anything. . . we did our usual touristy trips to Amsterdam, Paris, Spain; the list goes on. But Iceland was always there hovering at the back of my mind.


Well, a few days back we finally touched down in Keflavik airport. It's about a three and a half flight from Gatwick, so it's not too far. Iceland is a bit to the west, so it's an hour behind us. The first surprise I got was to see a big Iron Maiden logo on our plane. We were actually on the plane used for the Iron Maiden 2011 tour!

It was a fine bright day and the Atlantic shone a brilliant blue. Soon we were flying over Iceland towards Keflavik, and the first thing that struck me was how barren and deserted it all was. There were just a few scattered buildings surrounded with masses of boulders. I was soon to learn a lot of Iceland was covered with these kind of boulders and it was typical to certain types of cooling lava.

A few minutes later, we even got a glimpse of the blue lagoon, enveloped by clouds of steam.

And soon, we touched down in Keflavik International Airport. Immigration was a breeze; they looked at my visa for all of two seconds before stamping it. The airport is pretty small, and in a few minutes we were out.

I'm gonna try and keep these series of posts pretty crisp, just including information to help you get an idea of the place, in case you want to go there yourself.

So, Keflavik Airport is about 50 kilometers from Reykjavik. You could get a Taxi, but you can also buy tickets for Flybus (http://www.re.is/Flybus//) which will take you to the BSI terminal or Flybus Plus, which will shuttle you from the BSI Bus Terminal to a list of locations around the city (or even the more popular hotels). It makes sense to buy a return ticket (4500 IKR) if you plan to go back the same way.

The bus journey to Reykjavik basically consisted of an hour long drive through lots of  old lava fields. The landscape were dotted with these weird sculptures - boulders balanced on each other to look like men, women or children. I never found out about their significance.

Soon we were driving along the coast, and in the distance was the collection of buildings that was Reykjavik.