From the ArcaMax Publishing, Travel & Leisure Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/travel/s-406410-467633
There is a lesser-known small island in the North Atlantic called
Iceland where you can still get away from it all and experience nature
in a near pristine state. That is just what I needed.
Iceland is a country roughly the size of Kentucky but with a lot fewer
people. It is located a little below the Arctic Circle roughly between
Greenland and the United Kingdom and about a 5-hour flight from the
East coast of the US. It has a population of just over three hundred
thousand people which means that the population density is very low.
Population numbers and geography aside, Iceland is an amazing country
for many reasons though, I don’t think that it’s a country that is
top of mind when it comes to vacation planning. Maybe that’s what I
liked about it. I live in a very crowded, southern California city
where traffic is always a problem and getting away from the crush of
humanity, ironically, requires a lot of driving.
As many of you already know, many of the world’s top tourist
locations are being loved to death by the millions of visitors who
come every year to see the sites, walk up the same staircase in an old
church, or get a photo holding up the Leaning tower of Pisa. If you go
to Paris or Rome, or some of the other top European destinations, you
wait in lines, you sit in traffic; hell, if I wanted that I could just
stay in California. I am not saying that visiting these famous cities
is not worth it. I am saying that it is getting harder and harder to
enjoy these cities and landmarks because everyone is visiting these
cities and landmarks. Of course, everyone’s idea of fun is
different. But, for me going to a place where I could almost literally
leave civilization behind sounded pretty good. I have read about
Iceland and was taken by the exotic and unspoiled nature scenes. I
wanted to be there, in those pictures, camping, hiking, exploring
glaciers and high mountain meadows. Sound like a set up for
disappointment? Turns out it wasn’t.
Certainly there is always a difference between your imagination
(perception) and reality. But I have to say that my experiences
weren’t that far off from my perceptions. I traveled there in the
late summer when the temperatures are decent (mid 50s to low 60s F)
and the days are long – real long. I did all the usual tourist stuff
while I was in Reykjavik and then I booked a 5 day backpacking and
trekking tour into the highlands of Iceland, from Thorsmork to
Landmannalaugur. Each day we hiked for 5-7 hours stopping along the
way to learn about the history and geography of the various locations,
at nigh we slept in tents, ate good food, and played music or just
talked about our days till sleep overcame us.
When I got back to Reykjavik, I booked a jeep tour that took us right
up onto a glacier, called Langjokul (the long glacier). This too was a
real experience. Once we got to the top of the glacier, we all got out
of the jeep to look around and experience the surroundings. The two
things that stuck with me about this were the silence and the amazing
view from atop this glacier. I could see so far that I think I was
seeing the curvature of the earth.
Iceland is a long way to go to get away from it all but all-in-all it
was worth it. Though not a cheap destination, the money I spent was
small compared with the privilege of silence, pristine nature and
uncluttered vistas as far as my eyes could see.
If you are planning a trip and looking for things to do in
Iceland or some cool Iceland tours, I would
recommend the glacier tours and backpacking tours. If you don’t have
the time and are looking for Iceland day tours, I would recommend the
Iceland
golden circle tour.