Summary of our Icelandic adventure.

Finally, after 8 months I am finishing my posts from Iceland. I would like to sum up this trip in a few words.

I must admit that it's been the biggest trip in my life so far. For the first time I travelled around (sadly not across) one whole country by car, it was a real roadtrip. I have never spent so many days on travelling before (except some summer camps during school years long time ago) and for sure it was special journey for many other reasons.

First I must say that Iceland is an exceptional country. Located in remote, north part of world it's not an obvious holiday destination. I remember when I told my colleagues at work about this destination and their reaction was at least surprised. "This is so random?! Why not Spain?" one of my co-workers said. But I often act differently than most of people around me, so it made me sure that it was good choice for next travel. I have always wanted to visit all Scandinavian countries, and so far Norway is still one of my biggest dreams to fulfil. Iceland amazed us with its landscapes, nature, shapes and sounds. What we saw with our eyes was truly amazing, some places gave me a feeling of being closest to the nature in my whole life. Many times I felt like a small creature surrounded by most powerful and beautiful gift we ever got - the Earth. When you drive through endless hills, mountains, fields and stop to take some breath outside a car, standing at the edge of steep rock with deep, navy sea below - you feel both that you mean nothing against the whole world but also you have to protect this planet yet stronger from pollution and destruction that people do. Iceland protects itself well, a lot of areas are uncontaminated but I have already heard about problems with big companies trying to destroy unspoiled animals' natural habitats with dams and power station, for example Sigur Ros touted the issue of Kárahnjúkavirkjun dam project in their DVD "Heima" from 2006.

I am glad that I had chance to see Iceland from different sides. We travelled around for nine days and visited places that are usually skipped when people concentrate on Golden Circle and Reykjavik area only. For me the most beautiful places were those found on the way ahead, not in our tourist guides. Like Kerið volcanic crater lake presented in these photos below. I found about it from the Internet and I convinced boys to go there while we were driving back from Golden Circle the day before last one. It was absolutely magnificent and I really regret I didn't walk down there and sit on a bench just at the waterside. I think this is a reason why I have to come back to Iceland one day.

During our journey weather was surprisingly good. It rained only once in Akureyri. The rest of days was a mixture of warm, wind, blue sky, bright sun and fluffy clouds. The temperature was always about 10, even 12 degrees so we felt lucky after hearing all these stories about unpredictable weather conditions. The winter jacket was of course irreplaceable, as well as winter boots, but we also wore sneakers when we didn't climb anywhere. Unfortunately winter lasted so long across whole Europe in 2013, so our Iceland was more in autumnal mood than spring-like. Brown, grey and yellow were the main colours of landscape and I am sure that Iceland is the most beautiful during spring, when everything is blooming and getting green.

Some statistics:

- We made exactly 2000 km by car (according to Google Maps).

- We slept in Reykjavik three times and also stayed in Akureyri, Begrunes, Vagnsstadir, Hvoll and Arnes. I really recommend all hostels we chose - BUS Hostel in Reykjavik, Akureyri Backpackers and Hostelling International chain in the rest of places. Clean, comfortable and affordable in May ;). High season starts in the middle of May and lasts to end of September, so you can expect triple prices then. That's why I booked our flights before it began.

- Our flights cost 130 pounds, and we spent 710 pounds during our trip. So it was exactly 420 pounds per person! I think it is quite affordable cost of travelling 9 days in one of the most expensive countries on this planet. I have read everywhere, from Lonely Planet forums to local websites that there is no point to go to Iceland without at least 1000 pounds in your pocket ;] Well, we managed to spent less than 1000 pounds per two ;) The key is to plan your budget wisely, do not buy stupid souvenirs and avoid high season. We also saved a lot bringing some food from home, as well as sleeping-bags (you have to pay for duvet set in most of hostels) and buying food in cheapest supermarket chain of Iceland - Bonus. Prices at gas stations are obviously higher, but sometimes there is no choice when the nearest town is 200 km away. 

- We met hundreds of sheeps, some horses but NO puffins. 

- We also didn't see any whale but we expected that. 

- We almost reached the Artic Circle - we visited Tjörnes peninsula wtih coordinates N: 66.202521, W 17.052895.
- We stood at the edge of volcano but didn't experience any erruption.


Pokaż Islandia - trasa 2013 na większej mapie

Some useful tips:
- Find some companions before your trip - the best way to see Iceland is to rent a car and share costs with other people, the most affordable and comfortable option is a group of 3 or 4 people.
- Do NOT take a cash with you - really, you can pay everywhere by debit/credit card. Even in Berunes we paid by our hostel using my debit card, and as I mentioned in past - maybe 10 people live there. I took over 300 pounds in cash with me and was worried all the time that I was gonna lose them somewhere. The only exchange office at the Keflavik Airport was closed on our arrival, and we couldn't find any other in Reykjavik, so that cash remained useless during whole journey. Once we asked a shop assistant about any exchange office, she directed us to... a cash machine. So yes, I exchanged pounds on my bank account by taking Icelandic krónur out ;)
- It is a good idea to take some light supplies from home - like tea, coffee, noodles, chocolate bars etc. They cost more in Iceland, so you can save a bit having your own food in your backpack.
- Good, warm, wind-proof jacket is a must, as well as comfortable shoes. Personally I had winter boots and sneakers and I managed to buy a great, used ski jacket on Ebay for 4 pounds just before our flight.
- Wi-fi is almost everywhere so you can use your laptop without problems. Of course, you are not in Iceland to waste your time online, but for me it was a tool to keep my photos, which I constantly was importing from my camera. I bought an extra 16GB Sandisk card especially for this trip (I'd already had two 4GB before) and honestly - with all this beautiful landscapes around, it is really hard not to take photos.

What have I remembered from Iceland? It is undoubtedly the most special place I have ever seen. I loved it, but I didn't feel it while we were there or just after. I returned even a bit disappointed and told my friends that even the most beautiful landscapes could get boring after a few days. We didn't see Mývatn area (which I really regret!!), can't afford to swim in Blue Lagoon or observe whales. It was a really on-budget trip and sometimes we were limited not only by money, but also by time or weather. But days go by and I like to look back at all these pictures and live that journey once again. I really miss Iceland, its freedom, silence, and wilderness. Even if our four agreed that this country in a master of marketing itself. Some of the biggest tourist attractions turned to be sooo overrated "alive", while others like Kerið or Berunes totally left me speechless. I really want to be there again.

At the border of two continents.

The last look at this wonderful country. I hope we will see again, Iceland!