My arrival in Netherlands in March 2010 was my first foot steps in travelers shoes. I was a rookie in Europe at that time. It took sometime for me to get adjusted and adapted to the new culture and the life style. I was very curious and pleasantly shocked with many things. I never thought of coming abroad for work but I always dreamed about traveling Europe one day. My fascination for Europe tour was all because of Bollywood movies. I was mesmerized by the beauty of many movies scenes filmed in European locations. I have dreams and that comes true when I got a job offer by a Dutch company. My sole intention to accept that job was not only because it was a good opportunity for my career but mainly because I had an opportunity to explore the western world. I was slowly settling down myself in dutch environment and started making my first list of places to visit. As I mentioned, my first inspiration to visit Europe is because of Bollywood movies, I listed Switzerland and Paris as my top two destination (You all may be surprised but I visited Amsterdam for the first time after one and half year of my residential period in Netherlands). It was my first month when I hear in a news about Iceland. If I remember correctly then, It was Eyjafjallajokul ( a tongue twister pronunciation) volcanic eruption in 2010. That infamous volcanic eruption caused cancellation of more than 100K flights in a period of 6 weeks. This incident better say accident made me curious about Iceland. I started googling about the country to know more about volcanic eruptions. Only then I figured out, Iceland is placed in top 10 countries list which have highest number of active volcanoes. However, It was not only volcanoes which lured me but It was the captivating landscapes and magical geothermal activities which caught my attentions and since then I listed Iceland in one of my dream destination. The major obstacle to travel Iceland was traveling expenses, It means I still need to wait for few months to save some money to visit this artistry country. Since then, It took me five summer to execute my travel plan in this mystic land. In these five years, I have traveled more than fifteen countries and prepared myself as a traveler.
Here the Adventure Begins
Arrival and Golden Circle
Finally on August 18, 2015, I and my friend Maulik landed in Keflavik International Airport, Iceland from Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. My brother Vivek and friend Sita joined me for the trip from Dusseldorf, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark respectively. This was my first trip to Iceland and was about one week longer. Sita was the first one to arrive there and later we joined her in Reykjavik Capital region. On 19th August, we collected our Car ( which was pre-booked) from Reykjavik domestic airport and headed to famous Golden circle. The Golden circle is very famous road trip in Iceland and kind of must do things. There are many tour companies offers this Golden circle trip throughout the year. For the flexibility reasons, we decided to go there by Car and it is also one of the most cost effective way to travel Iceland ( if you are 2-3 People then). I can say public transportation doesn't exist in Iceland. Most of the public transportations are services offered by private tour companies and these tours can be very expensive. The Golden circle is a about 300 km loop and can be easily done as a day trip from the Capital city Reykjavik. We first drove toward Thingvellir National Park ( Unesco heritage site). Its a beautiful area situated on Eurasian and North american tectonic plate boundaries of mid-atlantic ridge. The Thingvellir park is honored to have the world first Parliament ( 930-1798) and beautiful lake ( perhaps the biggest lake in Iceland), eye soothing waterfall and scuba diving site . Here is my takes on captured moment from Thigvellir National Park
Here the Adventure Begins
Arrival and Golden Circle
Finally on August 18, 2015, I and my friend Maulik landed in Keflavik International Airport, Iceland from Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. My brother Vivek and friend Sita joined me for the trip from Dusseldorf, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark respectively. This was my first trip to Iceland and was about one week longer. Sita was the first one to arrive there and later we joined her in Reykjavik Capital region. On 19th August, we collected our Car ( which was pre-booked) from Reykjavik domestic airport and headed to famous Golden circle. The Golden circle is very famous road trip in Iceland and kind of must do things. There are many tour companies offers this Golden circle trip throughout the year. For the flexibility reasons, we decided to go there by Car and it is also one of the most cost effective way to travel Iceland ( if you are 2-3 People then). I can say public transportation doesn't exist in Iceland. Most of the public transportations are services offered by private tour companies and these tours can be very expensive. The Golden circle is a about 300 km loop and can be easily done as a day trip from the Capital city Reykjavik. We first drove toward Thingvellir National Park ( Unesco heritage site). Its a beautiful area situated on Eurasian and North american tectonic plate boundaries of mid-atlantic ridge. The Thingvellir park is honored to have the world first Parliament ( 930-1798) and beautiful lake ( perhaps the biggest lake in Iceland), eye soothing waterfall and scuba diving site . Here is my takes on captured moment from Thigvellir National Park
- Thingvellir National Park
- Geysir
From Thingvellir National Park, we drove toward our next destination, a geothermal active hot spring area universally known as Geysir (Haukadalur). The active area is full of many big to small hot springs ( temperature can be very hot 80-120 C). The major tourist atraction was the Strokkur , which erupt hot water every 8-10 minute ( 20-25 meter in height). The great Geysir ( another hot spring) was known to erupt water up to 80 m height. The great Geysir is inactive these days but fumes can still be seen. The whole hot spring area ( about 2-3 m2) has very distinct smell and full of clearly visible fumes from many hot springs little Geysir .
- Gullfoss Waterfall
Our Next destination was just few kilometer away from Geysir the famous Gullfoss waterfall. Local people also refer as Golden waterfall due to its slight Golden color in a full sunny day.The waterfall is certainly not the biggest waterfall of Iceland but one of the most beautiful water fall. This many layered (staged) waterfall is going to trap your attention for forever. The impression is long lasting.
- Kerid Crater
Our last destination for the day before heading to Reykjavik was a beautiful crater formed as a result of volcanic eruption. for us this beautiful crater was most beautiful and pacifying spot of the day. The Cobalt blue water doesn't let your attention run somewhere else.
This is my first take on very first day in Iceland. I hope you will like it. More stories will come in Next Part. Till then enjoy reading, enjoy traveling :D
