Iceland trip-2 day south coast tour

Start of our 2D1N tour of south coast with ice caving and Jokulsarlon lagoon. Weather report said that a storm will be coming to Reykjavík by noon time and we are lucky to get out of there by then. 

First stop will be Seljalandsfoss. Quite impressive with all these icicles around.

The snow was quite deep and so we are unable to go around behind the fall as that area was closed.

Next stop was skogafloss. 

On the right, there is a trail of stairs leading to the top of the waterfall. It’s quite a long climb and v slippery and we saw a lot of ppl struggling along the stairs. On the end, we did not go up due to time constraint and safety reason. One of the thing we realized on this trip is the importance of crampons, those spike thingy which u put on ur shoes. It’s v important! In fact, no matter how good ur shoes’friction is, it’s useless on slippery icy surface. Do invest in getting one if u ever wana come to Iceland. 

Next stop is the beautiful black sand beach with the basalt columns. The wind was blowing at abt 40km/hr...I think coz I felt like I will be blown away any moment. 

The wind was blasting hailstones at our face. It was crazy weather but quite fun also since I had never encounter such weather before.

The basalt columns were amazing! 

Inside of the cave.

I wonder how such structures can be naturally formed. Seemed quite unbelievable.

After that, we proceed to take a quick look at Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon just before the sun sets...

Can see large chunks of ice floating on the water....

After that, we check into a hotel near the lagoon called Guesthouse Gerdi. The room was v simple with no fridge, kettle or TV inside....and since there was other restaurants nearby, we had to eat dinner at the hotel. 

For dinner, in our tour group sat at a long table shoulder to shoulder with each other, almost like in a school canteen. It was quite uncomfortable....

For me, I ordered the artic char with rice while hubby ordered the Icelandic lamb with potatoes. We also order an Icelandic beer to try....in total it cost about $120 SGD! 

Definitely one of the most expensive meal we had at Iceland just for 2 mains and a beer. 

The weather was really bad that night as it rains non stop....so there goes our aurora hunting for that night with the possibility that ice caving could be cancelled the next day as the caves would be flooded....

The next morning, rain had subsided and we made our way to the lagoon to see if the ice cave would be cancelled. Luckily it’s was not cancelled. Yeah....

We climbed on board this giant wheels jeep which traveled across the glacier to our ice cave. The whole journey was v bumpy as the most of the ice has melted due to the rain and the Jeep was like swimming among the broken ice....haha...so exciting...

Into the ice cave!

It was really beautiful inside the ice cave.

Lotsa ppl inside this tiny ice cave....guess this is the only one remaining as the rest were closed....

Light from the outside passing through the ice made it look blue.




Somehow the ice look greenish when taken with my hp camera. It looks better with a SLR camera.

If only there weren’t so many ppl....

Simply amazing....so glad we get the chance to visit the ice cave! A tick of the the bucket list!

The ice caves were operated by this company called the ice explorers.

The scenery around there was simply stunning.

View of Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon in the daytime. 

Next stop is Diamond beach just located v close to the glacier lagoon.

Feels so out of this world....

One of my fave place. Quiet and surreal...

Next stop is this little traditional Icelandic house which is now a church.

Next to the church are all these graves...

Each bump is a grave. 

Next we stopped by this glacier called the Hollywood glacier as many movies were made against this backdrop. It was amazing as we are able to come so close to it.

The view was stunning! The bluish colour ice was the glacier. Wish I could climb onto it...haha...

After this, we made our way back to Reykjavik. To made up for missing the aurora hunt the previous night, our guide took us to a viewing spot outside of Reykjavik to look for aurora. When we were on the verge of giving up due to the rain and clouds again, the aurora suddenly appeared!

It started as a light greenish glimmer which became bigger and bigger when the clouds parted....we were all so excited to see it. 

It came and went out v suddenly when the clouds decided to close up after a minute. This was a good ending for my 2D1N south coast tour as I managed to see what I wanted to see. Ice caving, aurora, glacier, waterfall etc....and I think I was v lucky to be in this group where the ppl are punctual and nice. No PRC ppl in this tour, thankfully. 

Iceland trip-Horse riding and hiking

Woke up to this beautiful view after a good night rest. Today’s activity is Icelandic horse riding and hiking up a mountain. 

Waited for our pick up at Bus Stop 2 and the time is 7.45am. Our pick up finally came at 8.15am. We spent about 30mins outside shivering in the cold...it’s really cold. 

On the journey there, it’s a view of white expanse all around. 

Upon reaching eldhestar horse riding farm, we quickly suited up in their overalls and helmet. So excited meeting an Icelandic horse! They quite small and tame compared to other horses.

I had zero horse riding experience so maybe they gave me a horse that moves slowly and dun like to run. It had a mind of its own and run when it feels like it but most of the time, it just walk slowly. 

Anyway it was a fun and memorable experience for me and I enjoyed it v much. 

After 1.5-2 hrs of horse riding, we had lunch at the hotel. Turned out eldhestar operates a hotel and a horse ranch also. Lunch was simple and nice. 

It’s buffet style and consist mainly of soup, bread, salad and some cold deli. I like the garlic soup. 

After lunch, the activity was supposed to be hiking to the geothermal river but our guide advised us not to get as it’s v difficult to hike up the mountains in deep snow and told us to go dip in the swimming pool instead. However, we din have any bathing suits with us and we really prefer hiking to dipping in a hot tub which sounds so boring. In the end, we are the only 2 person who went for the hike together with our guide. 

Luckily it was a beautiful day. 

The climb up was pretty steep and I was already out of breathe after 15 mins. 

Passed by some hot springs along the way.

View during the climb. Actually it was quite scary coz it’s quite high and the trail was narrow and uneven. One wrong step and I could have tumbled down.....

The view was awesome. 

Even managed to saw a rainbow.

Taking a short break....

We managed to make it to the waterfall after an br which is about 1/4 of the journey and decided to turn back coz realistically it’s not possible to make it all the way coz my legs are gone and I’m halfway dead already. Plus there’s not enough time since we are moving at turtle speed. It’s really hard hiking up the mountains in deep snow! Every step is an effort. But I’m glad and proud to be able to make it this far! So glad I came for this hike! 

On the way back, the weather suddenly changed as so typical of weather here in Iceland. The clear blue sky is suddenly replaced by dark clouds and then it started snowing. 

The hike down is easier and faster but I fell and landed on my butt...haha....realized that hiking up is painful of my lungs but hiking down is painful for my knees....

Back in Reykjavik, we went to try the famous hotdog stall.

It’s really yummy and nice!

At the end of this memorable day, even though my whole body is aching all over, we experienced our first horse riding, our hiking up a snow deep mountain and tried delicious famous hotdog! 

Iceland trip-Feb 2018

We decided to escape CNY by going to Iceland this time! It’s going to be a long flight with 2 transit at Helsink and Copenhagen before arriving at at Reykjavik. After eating reunion dinner at Ban Heng with my in-laws, we rushed to changi airport.

This is the year of the dog, thus the flower decoration dog status. 

After a grueling 12 hrs flight, we finally arrived in Helsinki. It’s the second time I’m in Finland. A lot of Asian ppl around who like me are also escaping the CNY.....

Couldn’t sleep much during the flight as there are screaming kids around. 

Bye to Helsinki and onwards to Copenhagen Denmark.

Finally after 24 hrs later, we arrrived in Reykjavik and checked into Castle House Luxury apartment. 

The kitchen comes with everything, plates, spoon, fork, electric kettle, can opener, toaster and pots..etc. 

Since I haven’t sleep for past 24 hrs, I was concussed out by 8pm after bathing and eating. Haven’t had a single dream that night.

Super blue moon eclipse

Took a picture of the super blue blood moon eclipse as seen from outside my bedroom window last night. The reason why it’s called blue is not because it’s blue in coloured but because it’s the second full moon in a month which is v rare and thus the term ‘once in a blue moon’. The last time it appeared was more than 150 years ago so I’m glad to be able to see it once in my lifetime. Actually I was surprised to see it looked smaller than expected....I have seen bigger moons than that.....in fact it looked even smaller than a usual full moon...hmmm...maybe because of the clouds...haha...

A nicer and more professional picture I found which shows how the super blue blood moon looks like.