Our third day in Iceland was a doozy - tons of activities planned and also tons of driving! Luckily we had podcasts and some pretty amazing views to occupy us. Literally every 30 minutes, we had a different landscape. I've tried to include some pictures of each different type, but nothing can prepare you for the sheer SIZE of everything here.
Our morning started with a drive to Skogafoss, which was probably my favorite waterfall we saw. Although as you can see in the photos, there are little mini waterfalls everywhere!
Continuing our drive, we went from green to black pretty fast. After that, we started seeing the glaciers! That's when we knew we were getting close to Jokulsarlon. This is a glacial lagoon, that is filled with icebergs from the Vatnajokull Glacier.
We had booked a tour on a zodiac boat - this boat went faster than the more common tours and we were able to see much more this way. We looked like marshmallows in our gear, but we never got cold!
Continuing our drive east, we stopped by Diamond Beach, where some of the glaciers end up on their journey to the ocean. After that, we caught up with another tour - this time for snowmobiling!
The drive up was insane - we were in a gigantic 4-wheel drive truck that was absolutely needed. Once we got to the top, the weather wasn't that great, so we couldn't see that much. It didn't dampen our spirits too much because we both got to take turns driving! When we reached the end of the glacier, we got to see just how close to the end and high up we were - would have been amazing on a clear day, but we still had tons of fun.
We had a LONG drive back that evening and we were luckily able to find a convenience store open to grab a, quick dinner that night.
Also, word of warning - most gas stations there don't accept US cards. We had to go inside to buy a loaded up gas card which works on the machines outside. But if you're driving late at night, the inside stores aren't open after 10pm and you might be out of luck!
It was around midnight that we arrived at the Black Sand Beach (or Reynisfyara), but with the midnight sun, you could hardly tell. There were probably 10 other people wandering around the beach, which is normal packed with people. It was surreal to experience it at night!
Our last morning, we grabbed breakfast and started our drive back to Reykjavik. We stopped to walk around Seljalandsfoss (literally, you can walk behind it) and also another "hidden" waterfall that is maybe a 20 minutes walk further. If you're interested, follow the signs to the left towards Gljufrabui. You do have to wade through some ankle-high water, so be prepared!
The best thing I can say is to bring waterproof everything when visiting Iceland. It would suck to miss out on some of the more unique sights because you're avoiding the water!
And lastly, you can't go to Iceland without trying a gas station hot dog! So when we stopped to fill up our rental car, we grabbed 2 and an order of fries for about $40. I wasn't joking when I said Iceland was expensive guys!
We got to the airport early...because WOW Air...and had time to have a couple of mimosas before our flight. And about our flight. Maybe don't fly WOW Air guys. About an hour in, the water from the toilets literally started overflowing down the center aisles. Luckily we were on a side aisle, but that didn't help the smell. They said it was fresh water, but it sure didn't smell like that. The pilot literally had to come and turn off the water supply. Add that to the 2 hour delay? YIKES.
The rest of our trip was lovely and we can't wait to go back to Iceland to explore the West Fjords and the North.
Up Next: To wrap-up our catch-up posts, I'll post some highlights from our week-long trip from Texas to California!
