#18:
It so happens that I am writing this 18th post on 18th February 2015, which also happens to be the Eve of Chinese New Year. This is definitely one of the most look forward occasions, a day when we think about what we want to achieve going forward and at the same time reflect on the previous year. As Chinese, we give thanks on this day to our parents for all that they have done for us and moving forward, they continue to give us their blessings though we are no longer babies. :)
For this last photoblog of Iceland, I bring everyone to the South coast of Iceland, to the largest glacier in Europe - Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon. We decided to do a 2-day tour instead of a 3-day one which includes an entire day of ice caving. Kinda regret but many factors intertwined and led us to decide to do a 2-day tour. Our main agenda was to do glacier hiking and I am really glad that I had a go at this. Simply amazing feeling!
Let the pictures tell the story.....
Seljalandsfoss (Above: From the front); (Below: behind the waterfall) - It was a good experience walking behind a waterfall and feel the water cascading down.
Above: I do not know the name of this waterfall because it was not part of the tour. The wind was extremely strong on that particular day (they call it gust) so our mini-van faced a lot of resistance while moving forward and it slowed us down a lot. We had to skip parts of our itinerary and instead our guide brought us to this non-touristic waterfall. It pales in comparison to Selfoss if you were to just look at it from its front. However, the surprise lies behind the cliff that precedes it.
Above: Skogafoss - considered by many to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Europe because of its height but for me, the previous one was better.
Above: If the first time you actually took any serious interest in Iceland was because of the volcanic eruption in 2010 and 2011 that caused multiple flights in Europe to be cancelled, welcome to the world of Eyjafjallajökull - the largest active volcano in Iceland. Apparently, the Icelanders have a way to forecast volcanic eruptions and though they may be living in the vicinity at the moment, they are ready to evacuate anytime an eruption happens. They have many safety protocols in place to deal with volcanic eruptions. I bet they have a love-hate relationship with volcanoes. As much as it is their energy source and the ash spewed from the volcano during eruption supply them with fertile land, it causes much disruption when anticipating an eruption. After this trip, I have one more to-do on my bucket list and that is to see a volcanic eruption taking place, be it from a distance or from a helicopter. Probably costs me $500 but I am sure it will be worth it. :)
Above: Lava field of Eldgjarhraun - apparently this lava field is the size of Singapore - 700 sq km!
Above: Jokulsarlon Glacier - black sand beaches with huge icebergs being washed ashore. The wind was so strong it kept pushing me forward even though I tried to resist it. Caution: If you want to visit, please try to put on weight otherwise I really cannot imagine where you will end up at if you are below 45kg.
Below: I have tons of beautiful pictures of this glacier lagoon. It was simply amazing! Ever wonder why they are blue? They are compressed at below 0 degree celsius which is why they give off this blue colour when sunlight shines on them.
And finally (below) - Vatnajokull National Park - Glacier Hike - Rainbows have been greeting me in all my travels this year from Great Ocean Road to Hokkaido and now Iceland. See the "U-shaped" valley? The guide explained that valleys carved by glaciers are always U-shaped. They start off as V-shaped valleys but as the glaciers cut through them, they slowly become U-shaped after the ice thaws and recedes. My experiences with nature always make me wanna read more into Science and Geography. Other times, I would be happy to read my Economics and Mathematics books. :)
Below: Moulin - Looks like a circular hole (hollow) within a glacier through which water leaves the surface of a glacier. One has to be extremely careful not to fall into one of these because you cannot tell the depth of the moulin from looking at it from the surface. It could be a few metres to a hundred over metres deep. Water carried through the moulin reaches the base of the glacier and eventually exits to a sea or river. I term it "timbuktu" - means leading to nowhere.
Below: Fitting the crampons - feels so good to be using them to walk on ice. :)
Caption this: Don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because it is stormy now doesn't mean that you aren't headed for sunshine.
And I end off this post with an image of the Northern Lights that greeted me on my very last night in Iceland. My takeaway from Iceland is that always be prepared to face Murphy's Law. We did not manage to do the boat ride to sail on the glacier lagoon as the lake was frozen by the time we were there despite it only being early winter. The weather in Iceland is erratic whereby it can be sunny now and cloudy half an hour later. So there is a famous saying in Iceland, "If you do not like the weather, just wait 5 minutes."
We planned to chase the Northern Lights every night while we were there but I was sick one day and the weather was extremely bad on two other. Snow and thunder storm all night and there was practically nothing to be seen. I wouldn't say that I was not disappointed but I overcame it more easily than I expected. It also struck me that I should apply this mindset to all other aspects of my life. One should have expectations of what to come so as to mentally prepare yourself to face it and use it as a drive to accomplish what we set out to achieve but do not confuse expectations with reality. More often than not, reality falls short of expectations so we should be positive, laugh at it and move on and work harder the next time round.
Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!
