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.
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.
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