Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice

Post written and then 4 months later finally got photos uploaded.

Add for clothing brand. 

Here's the plan for Iceland chronicles: I'll give the brief overview and then follow-up with a post on nature (landscapes, animals) and a final one on history. This post is a tad long, though I promise I'm trying to be concise!

Day 1: Keflavik Airport - 5am local time, Reykjavik -7am. This was perfect, we were able to see the town and the sea front with few people around. We hit some of the main sights in Reykjavik, including 1) the Hallgrimskirkja, 2) Phallological museum, 3) Reykjavik Cemetery, 4) Micro Bar for beer tasting.

Viking Ship sculpture on the waterfront; approx 7am local time

My overall impression of Reykjavik is that it is not especially pretty. Much of the city is cement buildings (not many trees on a lava island). 

1) Hallgrimskirkja has some of the best views over Reykjavik - in all directions. Church itself is relatively new, finished just in 1986. The organ has 5,275 pipes, 4 rows of keys, and so many stops I couldn't count.  We were lucky enough to be there first thing on Sunday morning to hear the church organist warming up!

View from the top of Hallgrimskirkja over Reykjavik

Tim standing next to a blue whale penis. 

2) The Penis Museum. Wow. Lots of preserved phalli of all species. The most shocking was the blue whale penis, which can be up to 8 feet long, weigh up to 60 lbs, and ejaculate FIVE GALLONS.

Reykjavik city cemetary

3) I always make a point to see the local cemetery and this one fell into the top 3 ever, without a doubt (the other top 2 being Fiss, Austria and Aran Islands, Ireland).








4) Micro bar where we tried 10 Icelandic samples (for $50... more on obscene cost of living later), from 4 breweries. The IPA and session IPA were not good. But they had a delicious Amber Ale, and the mango pale ale definitely could compete with Harpoons Wannamango.




Day 2:
Heading out of town! We commenced on the Golden Circle - a loop that can be done as a day trip from Reykjavik. We stopped and saw 1) Thingvellir National Park, 2) Strokkur and Geysir geysers, 3) Gullfoss Waterfall and 4) the Kerid Crater Lake. The Golden Circle is packed with tourists because of the easy access from Reykjavik, but I still would recommend this trip.

Mountains in Thingvellir

1) Thingvellir National Park is where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet so there are canyons and lots of earthquakes. The plates are moving about 3mm per year. This was also the place where the vikings met for their national parliament for over 300 years  and for court until as recently as the 19th century (more on this later).

overlooking Thingvellir

2) Geysir is now inactive, but Strokkur goes off about every 10 minutes without warning. It was a bit startling to say the least and a lot of mist was rising from all over different places in the ground. Some holes were bubbling and the water could be 80-100 C (ouch!!). Some of the pools were eerily blue.

Waiting for geysirs

natural color! But looks very unnatural

3) The Gullfoss Waterfall is essentially the Niagara Falls of Iceland. It was extremely impressive.

People on the trail at the left for scale. 

Tim at the edge of Kerid crater lake

4) Kerid was underwhelming.

Tim stooping to look in the Fisherman's hut

We set up our tent in Selfoss, had a snack, and then drove down to the coast and visited 2 coastal towns to wrap up the day - Eyrarbakki and Strokkseyri. We were not initially planning to do this, but turns out Tim gets bored easily... and it was too early to go to bed. This was actually really interesting and beautiful.

In Strokkseyir we saw: an old creamery (not in use since 1950s), lighthouse (same architect as Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik), coast with lots of birds, old fisherman's hut. Eyrarbakki was the main port for south Iceland - but what a tiny town! We saw the abandoned port, some fish strung up to dry, and drove through town to see the old fishing houses, etc. Back to camp for a late dinner fell into bed.

Fish drying in Eyrarbakki

Tim behind the Seljafoss

Day 3: Lots of driving, but many stops to see waterfalls and other beautiful nature things (more photos to come in next post). Skogafoss and Seljafoss. We walked on a footpath behind the waterfall and got soaked! We stopped at Dyrholaey Arch for a picnic lunch and to stretch our legs. Puffins!!! Right next door is the town of Vik - on the edge of the largest national park in Europe, and almost 14% of the entire country of Iceland. Vatnajokull National Park is a glacier so of course we decided to set up camp in Skaftafell, on the edge of the glacier park.

A waterfall near Seljafoss

Beautiful Skogafoss

Dyrholaey Arch in the background (barely!), black sand beaches below

Day 4:
Our campsite turned out to be perfect for watching the sun rise over the glacier. Most of the day you can't see the glacier because it's covered in fog, but early in the morning, it was perfect.

Svartifoss

 Right after breakfast we took a hike up to Svartifoss,  a waterfall that has these incredible basalt columns that occur when the lava cools in these hexagonal shapes. Hilariously, on our way down from the waterfalls, we ran into a family with mom wearing a Pembroke, MA t-shirt (our current hometown). Turns out she is a teacher (in a foreign country, we could not determine and forgot to ask... Germany, Spain, Italy, or France...) and does an exchange with Pembroke High School every fall. We talked about the Dairy Twist ice cream shop in town, took a photo with her, and she will be arriving this year in September! Small world!

Another hour down the road, we found Jokulsarlon, a glacier lake. WOW I have never seen anything like this!  (more photos in next post) Huge chunks of ice floating in this lake and out to ocean. Many geese and a seal! The streaks of lava black mixed in with this brilliant blue was shocking. On a side note, they filmed scenes from a James Bond movie here. 

Jokulsarlon

We arrived in Hofn around lunch time and after setting up camp, took off for a hike and then a stroll around town. We saw the ruins of a Viking settlement and hiked across a black beach collecting lava rocks. We walked on the path around town for an evening jaunt, beautiful little fishing village. 

 Viking ruins

Day 5: 
Today turned out a bit different than expected!! A "hurricane" hit Hofn last night (not actually, but I have never camped in anything so severe) so we got very little sleep (Tim especially as he was supporting the tent). The wind was blowing so hard one of our tent poles was inverting. We didn't/couldn't abandon ship and sleep in the car, but it was unclear if the tent would make it through the night. It did! Although we were planning to do another hike on the glacier today, with little sleep and crappy weather, we decided to hightail it back to Reykjavik and do museums. We went to the National Museum of Iceland in Reykjavik, which turned out to be incredibly interesting and satisfying and filled in many of the gaps in my Iceland knowledge (more info to come)

Day 6:
Blue Lagoon. We arrived at 7:45 (our scheduled arrival time was 7-8am), which turned out to be wonderful! If anyone is planning a trip to the lagoon, definitely reserve an earlier morning time. They do this to keep the wait times from getting too long, but you can stay in/at the Lagoon as long as you like. We had the earliest arrival time so when we got there, there were only a couple dozen others in the lagoon. With our tickets, we got a free drink (blueberry smoothie!) and an algae face mask (in addition to the silica face mask). We spent just over 2 hours soaking, doing a steam bath, relaxing in the lounge, drinking smoothies, and being amazed by all the people who took their phones into the lagoon with them!!!! what?!?! some people were literally carrying their phones around on selfie sticks. How stressful for them. But overall, this experience was so relaxing. In the days following our visit, I channeled my "inner lagoon" for a quick relaxing feeling.

A quick trip, but wow. We agreed that this was definitely a trip worth taking because of the amazing scenery and landscapes, but never again because of the astronomical cost of being there.

A few notes on Iceland in general. We had about 22 hours of full daylight, with the other 2 hours being more gray/dusk - very bizarre to wake up at 3am with daylight outside. It was also quite cold. I thought it would at least be in the 60s? Summer, you know? but the evening lows were in the low 40s and day time highs in the 50s, which was great for camping! Also, the expense! We went grocery shopping and did all of our own cooking for a couple reasons: 1) seafood is huge here and as Tim doesn't like seafood and I'm generally more vegetarian than pescatarian (but don't put me in a box!) and 2) the expense of eating out. A pre-made sandwich at the grocery store was 10$, a lunch out at a restaurant would easily be $25 per person. Filling up the gas tank cost about $125 (we drove a tiny little VW Up!). Having a beer was $7 (for a bud light lager type) to $16 (for an IPA). A 6oz gas station coffee was frequently $3+ whereas a coffee shop 8oz no larger coffee was $5-9. None of these 12oz or 16oz coffees.

However, in spite of the cost and the cold and the constant daylight, the nature was amazing. This was my favorite part of Iceland (of course) so stay tuned for more landscapes and nature photos - coming soon!!!!

Lessons from South America

I spent our last day in Mompiche contemplating what I had learned on this 6 week adventure and remembering the interesting and wonderful people I met.

1) I married the right guy. Not to be a sap, but every adventure (i.e., this trip) I really wished he were with me. Whenever you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

2) Often the things I fear are opportunities that become an amazing experience. I was a little apprehensive of traveling to South America because of others' stories and warnings, not because I had experienced it. I learned that there were good intentions in others' warnings, but that there was nothing to fear. I had so many amazing experiences and discoveries.

3) I learned the extent of my extroversion. It's less than I thought. Interacting with people so regularly was EXHAUSTING.

4) Spanish is exciting. I'm motivated to learn and have found it's relatively easy (compared to say, German, or Russian) to pick up

5) Every person I talked to felt like they did not have enough time - whether their trip was 2 weeks of 12 months. I tried to stay in the moment to experience and enjoy the time I had

6) Disconnecting was important for me. Not checking my email or chats every day, and not being in constant contact with the world was refreshing and rejuvenating. This also helped me stay in the moment (#5). Reminder to disconnect for periods of time helps to reset and reflect.

It's good to be home.

More adventures to come!

Banos and Mompiche...

As we are wrapping up our trip, I'm not sure if it was the feeling ready to go home, the temporal location of these towns in our itinerary, or the actual towns that made them less appealing to me. We spent 3 days in Banos. One day with mildly crappy weather where we got massages and manicures for $20, one day trip to the jungle, and one day catching up on post-cards, talking to my husband, dipping in the thermals, and organizing myself for the night bus trip (eek!)

Highlight of the time in Banos was the jungle tour. Cali and Daniel decided to do white water rafting and because I'm probably the opposite of an adrenaline junkie, Holly and I went our separate way to do the jungle. We left around 9am and it was a packed day! We started out at an animal rescue - mostly monkeys and birds being rehabed back to health.

Holly is skeptical of the steamed fish...

We had a traditional lunch of fish steamed in a banana leaf and then trekked through the jungle to the "Hidden Waterfall."

The Hidden Waterfall

It was huge!! We took the path less traveled, which was nice in some ways (no other tourists) and not so nice in others (more overgrown). I completely wiped out in a stream... because yes, part of the path was up said stream.







Next, we went to an indigenous village where 12 year old Shakira painted Achyote on my face and she was adorable. We conversed in my baby Spanish and she chased me down while we were leaving to give me a gift (a piece of jewelry she had made out of shells). Then, we got into a tree-canoe for a ride down the river at dusk. This was so tranquil and meditative. Even with the group of 5 or 6 of us, we were silent and just took in the amazing nature.

We ended our day at a cacao farm making (roasting and grinding) our own cacao! We drank the most amazing hot chocolate and ate some snacks made by the farmers.

There is a delicious milky sweetness around each of the beans. 

Grinding up cacao! 100%...

Our last day in Banos we all went for a dip in the thermals, and got ready for our trip on the night bus from Banos to Atacames - up on the coast west of Quito. We also had to say good bye to Dan and Monique, which was sad. I enjoyed speaking some German with Monique and I could almost understand everything Dan said by the end of the week with him (that Australian accent, holy cow! almost a foreign language). The bus left around 10pm and arrived in Atacames at 5:45 in the morning. We then hung out at the bus station until our bus to Mompiche arrived at 7:20 and we finally arrive in Mompiche at 9:30 in the morning. We slept literally all day, got up for dinner and then went back to bed.

town of Mompiche ends in the ocean

the main street through town

Mompiche was a strange place. Suffice to say that within a few hours of arriving, we were in on the town gossip - the names of the street dogs, who was sleeping with whom, and had all inhaled enough secondary pot smoke to be set for the day. And that was about it. We walked along the beach, Cali took surf lessons, we fed the street dogs (and itsy kitten), and spent 30 minutes with 2 brothers speaking only Spanish... kind of. There was a lot of nothing going on. For some people this could be very relaxing, but it was not my kind of relaxing (which I am capable of, promise). Also, it continued to be overcast and rainy, so that was an added downer. Time to go home.

Cali practicing the stance

the beach in Mompiche

A random band of internationals hikes the Quilotoa Loop

I have about 2-3 more posts to wrap up my South American adventures and need to be clear for upcoming travels! Where was I? Ah yes, in Ecuador, embarking on a self-guided trek to a volcano crater...

I think I've mentioned how one of my favorite and simultaneously least favorite things about traveling is meeting new people. It is really difficult to constantly be in small talk mode, but it's also fascinating hearing peoples' stories, sharing advice and tales. That's one of the reasons I enjoyed the Quilotoa Loop so much. We started a group of 3 women and ended a group of 10 people and 1 puppy, we all got past the small talk, and it kind of felt like a mini-family.

Holly and I left Quito headed for Latacunga via the main bus station. While walking through the station, we picked up an Aussie, Daniel, or Dan the Man, Damn Daniel = Damniel, and any other name variations you can think of. The three of us (Holly, me and Daniel) met Cali in Latacunga before the trek, wandered around town a bit, had dinner, were interviewed on tape by local high school kids who are taking a class in tourism and had a project to make an add for visiting Latacunga.

Squadanas! (Squad of Bandanas) Holly, Daniel, Cali, Jess

The next morning the four of us (me, Holly, Daniel, Cali) met a woman from Munich, Germany (Heidi) and man from Basel, Switzerland (Stefan) on the bus that dropped us off at the starting point of the trek, a town called Sigchos.

Day 1:

Cali the pig whisperer

The (now) 6 of us (me, Holly, Cali, Daniel, Heidi and Stefan) hiked the first day from Sigchos to Isinlivi. It felt like a pretty short trek - only 14k, but the last 5k or so was in the pouring rain, which was a real downer. But the views of the Ecuadorean Andes were paralleled only by the views of the Peruvian Andes from the month prior and our hike to Machu Pichu.  We stayed at an adorable hostel that owned a llama (?!?!) called LluLlu Llama, with delicious food, a composting toilet, and hot showers. They literally greeted us at the door with towels, free hot tea and coffee, which was a life saver after the rain hike. Also at the hostel, we picked up our next 4 group members - Tina and Ian a middle aged couple from Ontario, and their college aged son Gordon, as well as Monique, another woman from Berlin, Germany.

Dan taking a short rest on Day 1 - before the rain started!

Day 2:

Hiked by this mountain stream for a bit on Day 2

Consisted of another 15k from Isinlivi to Chigchulan. The scenery was even better, which is mind blowing. AND the weather was beautiful today. Unfortunately, Cali came down with Montezuma's Revenge, so we left her in the capable hands of the LluLlu Llama staff and essentially traded her for Paul - another U.S. citizen (Nashville). This was my favorite day of hiking, probably because the weather was so fabulous. I mostly just want to share photos from today because I think the views were unparalleled by anything else I saw in South America.  

One of the amazing views on Day 2

Amazing view number 2 from Day 2

Had to cross this bridge - terrifying! No rails!

Heidi bonds with a baby pig towards the end of Day 2

Gordon and Stefan relax after our Day 2 - we beat the rain! 

Day 3: Chigchulan to Quilotoa. Today, we picked up a puppy from another group of hikers who are going the reverse route from us and say she followed them from Quilotoa to Chigchulan. She followed us the whole way back to Quilotoa AND she was reunited with her family just inside the city limits. Today was our longest day of trekking. It was really exhausting, we've been arriving just after lunch time each of the other days and today we didn't arrive until almost dinner. With the high altitude and mountain hiking, I was spent!!! Cali arrived safely by taxi in Quilotoa and rejoined us at the hostel.

Gordon bonds with our new puppy

Some of the trails we hiked looked like this! 

Made it to the Quilotoa Crater Lake!

Our entire group took a van/bus back to Latacunga on the morning of Day 4 and then Daniel, Monique, Holly, Cali, and myself are continuing on to Banos. Heidi, the Canadians, and Paul are headed to Cotopaxi Volcano and Stefan is heading home. Holly and I have to figure out how to spend our next week before we leave. WOW, feels so soon and so ready to see Tim!

The town of Quilotoa with the mountains in the background

Quito & Cotopaxi = more rain?!?!?!

We arrived in Quito and met up with my friend Cali, who I've known since high school. First things first - free walking tour! I learned some great facts during this tour:

Main Square Quito

1) Ecuador, Columbia, and Venezuela are like a mini-EU. They consider themselves a shared Andes Community. They all have the same flag (horizontal gold, blue, red) with different crests.

2) People in Ecuador have much less Inca-proud heritage compared to people in Peru. The Incas took over other pre-Incan groups throughout Ecuador, so the Ecuadorians have more allegiance to the indigenous and pre-Incas. The Incas actually only  made it as far as Quito about 60 years before the empire fell. Many people outside Quito still speak Quechua.

3) Ecuador adopted the U.S. dollar  in the late 1990s or 2000 after instability in their previous currency, the sucre. People were forced to exchange their sucres into U.S. dollars at a rate of 25,000 sucres to $1 (yes you read that correctly). They still really struggle financially. Ecuador has to buy their dollars from the Federal Reserve Bank and pay extra fees and taxes. So it is not a fabulous deal for the people. The president who decided this was apparently air lifted out of the palace, received  asylum in the U.S. and is a professor at Harvard. It made me really sad hearing about everything the US gets involved with on an international level.

Band playing in the square!! 

4) Free national healthcare = lots of ex-pats.

5) Ecuadorians don't believe in using the term "illegal alien" to refer to any person who is inside their country borders. So even tourists can use the public healthcare (according to Free Walking Tour Guide, we did not test this statement). Universities are open to everyone and the government will even cover tuition and living costs for Ecuadorians to receive a degree abroad with the expectation that they return to teach in Ecuador for the same number of years they were abroad.

6) Canelazo: drink served all over Quito. A hot mulled cider, can be served with or without a shot of sugar liqueur.

7) Calle de la Ronda: popular Bohemian colonial street with cafe and restaurants. Here is where you find locals going out to enjoy their evenings. We ate here and enjoyed a cup of canelazo!!

After a quiet day to catch up on laundry and writing, Holly and I booked a trip to Volcan Cotopaxi. The volcano was active just last year and they had to shut down the national park for most of 2015. They are slowly reopening parts of the park over the course of this year. We took a bus into the park and then climbed up to a base camp at 15,000 feet. From the base camp, climbers will attempt to summit the volcano. The entire volcano was covered in clouds and fog and we could literally see NOTHING. We hiked back down to the bus, rode bikes down to a lake, caught a very brief glimpse of the volcano before it was covered in fog again. I think the trip would have been really amazing if the weather was agreeable, but following the beach vacation trend, we were rewarded with only rain and more fog. One fun fact I learned about Cotopaxi is that in Quechua it means "god (coto) of death (paxi)" or they would also sometimes refer to it as the "neck of the moon."

At base camp! feeling hardcore and out of breath

view of Base camp. Can't see far

Quick peak of Cotopaxi on our way down

Next, off to Latacunga to start the highlight of Ecuador - a 3 day trek on the Quilotoa Loop, to a crater lake!