Here I was, off on the first international solo trip, I finally arrived in freezing cold Iceland, walked through duty free and brought the cheapest thing I bought in Iceland, a bottle of Brenivin (black death) Iceland’s most famous alcohol.
Went to the bus station and got my ticket to Reykjavik, feeling tired but excited, finally hopping on the bus, taking a deep breath and realizing I finally made it.
Arriving at the BSI station I got a transfer with the same company with an added price, I hopped on a small minibus and finally I made it to another hotel close by because my hostel was off limits, walked only 100m and finally made it to my hostel.
At this stage it was only 10am, I was super excited to get inside and see the hostel in person, unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to check in until 3pm so I put all my bags in a safe area and put the stuff I really needed in my carry-on backpack (big mistake).
I decided to set off to town and walk around and find the hop on hop off tours, first of all while walking I saw so many beautiful colourful store fronts and apartment buildings, and eventually getting to the heart of town, the centre of town is huge, I wasn’t expecting it to be that big and everywhere you look you could see ice capped mountains, so incredible to see.
As I walked through town, I found an information centre, I headed in and gathered all the information for the rest of the trip, they gave me directions to Harpa concert hall,
I tried to head into the nearest place to get a coffee however the price was 7.50 krona (way too expensive) so instead I continued to the find the hop on hop off bus, before hopping on I took a lot of photos of the mountain, the photos will never do justice. I decided to get a 24hr pass because I was short of time, so I didn’t need anything longer, it was about $60 AUD.
I hopped on the bus, listened to the commentary with the earphones and after the 3rd stop, I nodded off to sleep, I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes opened, I woke up a couple times but eventually the tour ended an hr later where the tour started.
I hopped off the bus to stretch my legs and also to try and find a coffee, but it was a dead end, and I wasn’t about to spend that much on my small addiction, I decided to head to Hallgrimskirkja church, a very big landmark in fact it’s 74.5m/244ft, I waited in a small line to head up to the very top, with breath-taking views all around Reykjavik.
I decided to head back to the bus and try one last time, this time around I stayed awake a little bit longer and saw a couple more places until I again fell back asleep, again waking up at the stop 1.
After a failed attempt to see this big city I decided to disembark and headed to a supermarket called Bonus, basically like a Aldi (but the same prices as Coles), I thought I was going to get some good bargains like sliced meats and cheeses but they we’re too expensive with the price conversion, I bought Cheerio’s and some milk which still costed me around $18 AUD, after buying some groceries I headed to the hostel to finally check in, I got a tour, I got my room number and a locker key and off I went, once I got in my room, I unpacked, checked out my large pod and just relaxed, I unfortunately I didn’t make any friends to go to dinner so I headed out alone, by this stage the weather had cooled down significantly, it was around 7pm and probably 5 degrees with a wind chill, I headed to a local burger place called 2Guys, a very quiet place but still had a small vibe, I ordered a burger meal because I hadn’t eaten since 5am that morning, it was a really delicious burger with also even more delicious fries, holy moly I think if I went back to Iceland I would definitely go there every night just to eat the same thing, the meal costed around $26-$30 AUD, a little on the expensive side however it was well worth it, after dinner I headed across the street to a small supermarket, a very upscale but good priced shop, it was open 24/7 too, after the small supermarket I headed back to the hostel and sat around in the social area, however everyone was doing their own thing, and no one was interacting with each other, so I decided to head to my pod and watch a movie.
I woke up the next morning around 5:40, however I realised after 10m of messaging people the real time was only 4:40, so I went back to sleep and finally woke up about 5:30, I headed for the communal kitchen and ate my breakfast, the kitchen was quiet, so I had it to myself mostly.
After breakfast I rushed to get ready for the day because I’m always late, I couldn’t even put my shoes on in the room I was that late so I ran to the bus stop which was about a 15m walk and sat down and put my hiking boots on, at the bus stop there we’re so many tourist buses and all the guides going crazy trying to figure who was on what bus, the morning temperature was only 3 degrees, it was so cold and there was also such a wind chill that made it even worse, we waited at the bus stop for about an hour, while waiting I met two good buddies, I decided to butt in and we all got talking, we finally got on the bus and off we were to our first stop, or what we thought it was anyway. Our first stop was another pickup location, more and more people hopped on this already packed bus, eventually there we’re 4 people standing up, by this time the other buses of the same company had just left so our guide was frantically trying to re-arrange the people that had no seats.
After about 30 minutes the guide finally made an announcement and asked if there we’re any 4 people that wanted to go on a private tour then to stand up and get off, finally after another 15 minutes (nearly 2 hours late) the tour started and we were really off to our first stop and because we were late we only had limited time at each location.
The tour I did was called “The Golden Circle” the most famous tour of Iceland, as we set off the guide was so funny, he kept telling us all these amazing stories and silly dad joke puns, also how much he hated Justin Bieber for ruining Iceland, in Iceland there is a lot of moss so much so it just looks like tiny lumpy grass, there are 606 different species of moss, they do so much for the eco system that they ask you to always stay on the path and never touch the moss because after heavy trampling it dies and it takes 100 years to grow back. While driving along you really feel like you’re on another planet, probably what mars could look like in another lifetime away, it really is so pictures that you’re constantly in awe of how amazing it is, I never expected it.
As we winded down the road of the we stopped at a petrol station for a quick break, there was a extra big Bonus, more like a warehouse style shop than an actual supermarket, I headed there to buy something and this time I was in luck, I got a roast beef, onion and pickled sandwich, it was about $4 AUD which seemed really reasonable and I wish I bought more of them.
Our first stop on the tour was Kerid crater, the crater is 55m deep, 170m wide and 277m in circumference, the water is also a perfect warm temperature.
The next stop on our tour was Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland’s most famous waterfall meaning golden falls, for the most bravest people like me you can walk down to the waterfall and be on the water’s edge, this waterfall was extremely popular like every waterfall in the summertime so you really had to mind your step and most of the time it was just a dirt slope up and down, with a small rope on the side to stabilize your balance when you needed it, getting right up close to it was incredible, once we got back up the top we were lucky enough to see a rainbow on the side of the falls, there is also a large gift shop on the carpark area and a cafeteria too.
After that stop we had a little bit of spare time to see the Icelandic horses, I was expecting them to be a bit woollier however they we’re still cute and friendly, one even smiled for a photo, and then proceeded to eat my jacket.
The third stop we headed to the Strokkur Geysir, the geyser erupts every 10 minutes but to get a photo you have to be quick because it can be over in a flash, the guides also told us not to touch the bubbling hot water for obvious reasons, although the temptation was too real, I eventually touched a small area and it wasn’t even that burning (thankfully), we saw the first eruption and also smelled it all around, the smell is really like rotten eggs, but two of us decided to stay back and head to the other side of the geyser, unexpectedly there was a sudden wind change and it decided to bless us with showering us with the delicious warm rotten egg soup, I wish someone got us all on video because it would have been so funny to see everyone running, after the geyser we had the opportunity to eat our lunch, and just to relax by the surrounds.
The fourth stop we headed to Pingvellir national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, Pingvellir meaning the fields of parliament Iceland is divided by mid-Atlantic rift, parts of the rift such as the Westfjords and Reykjavik are on the north American plate while the east Fjords are on the Eurasian plates, Iceland is the only country in the world where the rift is above sea levels, the tectonic plates drift 2.5cm each year.
We all hopped back on the bus and majority of the people went to sleep, we arrived back at Reykjavik on time.
After an exhausting day I headed for the bed and just ate cereal for dinner to keep prices down.
The next day I headed for another tour this time it was a tour of the south coast and it included a glacier hike, again my guide was late to picking me up and me the overthinker thinking they forgot about me, he finally came and we hopped on the small mini bus and headed to all the pick up locations, the driver was rude and a bit boring, he yelled at a poor tourist that stood up on the bus to ask him a question which really set a bad vibe for the rest of the day,
Our first location of the day was about a 2-hour drive roadside stop again, so after going passed all the sights I saw the day before I opted for a big nap,
the next stop we headed for the first waterfall called Seljalandsfoss, our guide dropped us off and told us to “just walk that way” he didn’t even hop off the bus, the waterfall is huge 60m in-fact, this waterfall you can actually walk behind so you have to walk up a lot of stairs, each area you walk you are getting more soaked from the spray of the pounding water, I asked a lot of couples if they wanted photos taken and in return them taking photos of me which worked out so well. On the other side of the waterfall the trek back to the staircase was a bit more stressful, it was very rocky and you had to climb over many slippery rocks, at times I thought I was going to slip, I eventually got back on the bus and we headed for another waterfall.
The second waterfall was a bit underwhelming called Skogafoss the second most famous waterfall in Iceland, we stayed a little bit too long but there was an amazing double and even triple rainbow.
We hopped back on the bus and headed to the infamous Black Sand Beach called Reynisfjara, it was created by molten lava that enters the water, a reaction occurs when the volcanic ash collides with the sea, Katla volcano formed black sand beach in one of the eruptions, however the most photographed part of black sand beach is of course the basalt columns created by the volcanic forces. The most famous movie and tv shows have filmed there, like Game Of Thrones S7 and Star Wars, The force Awakens and Rogue 1.
Next stop on our tour we went to the famous seaside town of Vik, a very small town overlooking the black sand beach and the surrounds and it has a small church on the top of the hill.
The next stop we made it to Katla glacier and volcano, we got our harnesses on and our ice shoes and ice picks and away we went, I wanted to do the glacier hike because I know it won’t be around forever, so I wanted to experience something really historical.
We walked for about 10 minutes and finally reached the area where we had to put our ice shoes on and some more safety instructions before we were allowed to head towards the glacier, we finally headed to the glacier and started the hike, we were all lined up like the seven dwarfs taking in the breathtaking views along the way, our guide was ahead of us at all times at times, he would tell us to wait to make sure the ice was stable underneath us, the first part of the hike was similarly to rock climbing, but not that difficult, eventually we headed deeper into the glacier even walking down stairs with a tiny rope there for support, walking with the ice shoes were a bit difficult because you have to stomp your feet, after heading down the stairs we had to head up again, eventually making it to the flat area of the glacier, we took in the surrounds as the sun was setting behind us, just in awe of how amazing it really is.
We eventually hiked for another 30 minutes, we took in the surrounds even more and also did a caveman drink, where you have to do a push-up with your ice pick and drink fresh glacier water, we then had an opportunity to fill our bottles up with fresh glacier water and to tell you there is a big difference between tap water and glacier water, it’s hugely different and so crispy delicious.
After relaxing up there for about 15 minutes we had to head back down, on the way down we saw some tourist sitting on the glacier rock face risking their lives to take some photos, it is very much illegal to go past a certain point without any safety harnesses, they also had a couple young children…anything to get a good gram. We made it down and took our shoes off and headed back to the bus, we all sat down until we got our breath, then we all got on the bus and 2 hours later we we’re back in Reykjavik, it was a quiet trip back, mostly everyone slept all the way, I forgot to bring my earbuds so I was bored for the entire way home.
That night for dinner I opted for cereal to save money and also I was too tired and exhausted to go out so after I ate, I just went straight to bed.
The next day it was so wet, unfortunately the rain never stopped that day but with the rain the wind came, straight from the artic, I opted for a lovely walk in the pouring rain to the bus stop to return my hired clothes, getting very lost along the way, I finally found it and opted for another lovely walk in the pouring rain to the centre again getting lost however I found a beautiful park along the way.
I made plans to meet up with my friend I met from my first tour Gloria, and we met at a small bookstore in the middle of town, it was so lovely catching up with a familiar face, after grabbing a hot chocolate and trying a Icelandic pastry we went to look for souvenirs and Icelandic jumpers, I was so ready to buy an Icelandic jumper but the price of a jumper was around $300.
After buying some kish souvenirs we headed for Iceland’s very own and famous chocolate factory, mind you it was still quite wet out, the walk was about 45 minutes which felt like hours because of the vicious winds and we we’re very close to the water, after what felt like walking through the desert in the pouring rain and the worst winds imaginable we finally made it to the factory, well more like a small shop with decadent ice-cream, we started to dry off or try to at least, I wrenched out my jacket every 15 minutes, eventually asking the girl to call a cab because I didn’t want to walk back. The chocolate unfortunately wasn’t worth the hype, I got the original one and salted toffee, the salted toffee was delicious but the 50% less coco wasn’t great, it was a bit disappointing.
For dinner that night I tried to make some friends in the main room so I headed to get some pizza at dominos, however I couldn’t entice anyone to eat so I just headed to my room and packed my bags, however my night really got better, I met some really nice girls in my room.
The next day I had to wake up early to have breakfast and then leave the hostel for the blue lagoon, I said goodbye to my first ever hostel experience and headed for the bus stop, I hopped on the small mini bus and headed to the main bus terminal and then hopped on another bus to the blue lagoon, the bus ride took almost an hour but the scenes along the way we’re so beautiful, I was definitely excited to get there.
Once I arrived I had to go check in my bags in the blue lagoon’s own bag storage, it was about $10 to store my suitcase, once I checked my bag in I walked around the path to the entrance of the lagoon, I have been dreaming of the blue lagoon for so long so actually seeing it in person felt so magical.
I headed for the check in, they gave me a wristband so you can buy drinks or a mask, I opted for the premium package, it was $110, my expectations weren’t met, what I expected was a quiet oasis, not that many people in there and private closed doored showers, however when I walked in there we’re so many people that bought that package too, people rushing around everywhere trying to steal showers, cutting in lines, kids (very lucky kids) and also a little bit dirty. However, I decided to put that all behind me and really just take in the moment of actually being in the blue lagoon, I walked through the confusing corridor and finally made it to the exit the lagoon. I looked around me and got my photo taken in front of the lagoon.
Step by step I walked into that beautiful very warm lagoon the inside temperature was about 38 degrees, it was beautiful and so relaxing, I headed for the mask kiosk to get the first of 3 masks, they gave me a charcoal mask first, and then the second mask was a algae (from the lagoon), after washing off the second mask I headed for the in water bar, it was a long stroll going through people, it felt like forever trying to get some alcohol, the line thankfully only took about 5 minutes or less, I got an apple cider, gosh the first sip tasted so crisp and fresh, after getting the drink I decided to sit by the side and watch everyone go passed, I then heard this lovely Californian girl ask if I wanted my photos taken, she really was a godsend, I wandered around the lagoon and eventually had to get out to catch my flight to London, once I hopped out I got changed, put my swimmers in a waterproof bag they provided and got a cab to the airport.
I got to the airport and finally passed security and then relaxed before my flight (or thought so) I decided to sit around the departure halls however I didn’t realise that we had to go through immigration, there are no signs saying that you have to go through, I headed to what I thought was my gate turned out to be the customs line, the line was out of control, it went for over 200m, people we’re cutting in everywhere, people we’re asking attendants questions, it was very chaotic or perhaps just a really busy day or time at the airport, the time quickly started to dramatically decline and I only had 30 minutes to start with, I eventually made it to the other side, my gate said final boarding as I ran to a toilet and finally made it with about 5 minutes to spare (even with final boarding calls).
Review of Galaxy Pod Hostel:
First impressions we’re good, the kitchen was usually tidy, the rooms we’re nice and large, my pod had a very squeaky door so it was very hard to pull open and shut, and unfortunately the toilets we’re dirty most of the time and the bathroom was very hot and humid without any ventilation, the hostel was in an “ok” area, it was a little bit further from the actual centre however it was only about a 5 minute walk into the main area.
Rebwithacause 