Scandinavia 2019 Day 4: Vatnajokull Glacier & Black Sand Beach, Iceland
DAY 4: 29 NOV 2019
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| Vatnajokull Glacier hike |
It's time for the most adventurous item in our entire trip itinerary!
We will be hiking Iceland's largest glacier, known as Vatnajokull glacier,
which occupies 8% of Iceland's landmass.
Just to repeat, we literally hiked on the glacier itself.
As we wanted to start the hike during civil daylight,
we left our guesthouse before 0800.
We drove to Troll's main equipment station to get our gear.
We put on our harness and received our crampons, ice axe and helmet.
It is highly recommended to wear hiking shoes with sturdy ankle grip
as you wouldn't want to feel cold or lose your footing.
If you do not have one, you could rent it from them for a fee.
All of us only brought our phone/camera for the hike and left other valuables
and belongings in the bus.
This helped me to focus on the hike and not fumble with my backpack!
We were then driven to the carpark nearest to the start of the hike.
From there, we took a 20 minutes walk further inland with our guide, Natalia.
Being the oldest in the group, my mum definitely freaked out when
she saw what we were going to do for the next few hours.
So, she tagged along with Natalia for the entire hike.
To get to the start of the glacier, we had to get to higher ground.
To do that, we had to walk up a narrow steep zigzag slope.
I admit, this was scary as it was hard soil which made it easy to slip.
Natalia told us to stomp heavily with every step in order to prevent yourself from slipping.
When going down a slope with hiking shoes, it will be best to walk sideways like a crab.
After a short hike, it was finally time to wear our crampons.
The crampons were easy to put on and our group did it effortlessly.
With our crampons on, Natalia brought us to a blue ice cave.
The reason why it is blue is because there is no air bubbles in the ice!
The blue ice cave was rather small and we were out within minutes.
Next, we started our glacier hike!
I felt very safe with my crampons on as the grip was good.
Just remember to stomp and have your legs hip width apart to avoid having the crampons
catch onto your pants.
We kept climbing higher and higher and the view was magical!
The guides dug out a trail for us to walk between ice walls.
It was so cool!
We took several breaks when hiking up and we dug out the ice during one of the breaks.
I had a taste of it and it was really nice!
I was thirsty too and it was a refreshing take on the glacier.
It was time to head down and it is way scarier than climbing up.
Natalia told us to micro bend our knees and lean back when going down
to prevent us from falling due to the steep incline.
If you are scared, you can always use your ice axe as a hiking pole!
After hiking for close to 2 hours, we finally arrived back at the starting point.
I enjoyed myself a lot despite fearing for both our lives.
I would do it again if I get a chance!
If you are afraid after seeing this, just bear in mind that my mum did it at 55 years old (:
We headed back to the bus to drop off our equipment.
Famished, we took a quick lunch at a rest stop before driving to the last
stop in our tour, black sand beach.
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| Black Sand Beach |
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| A flock of birds flying in the sky |
Before leaving to explore the beach, our guide talked
about how dangerous the waves could be and reminded us not to walk along
the parts of the beach with no footprints.
Black sand beach was really beautiful with all the rock columns.
It was packed with lots of tourists when we arrived.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time there!
We checked into Hotel Leifur Eiriksson when we arrived back in Reykjavik.
The hotel was located just opposite the church and our twin room
was located in the building next to the reception.
After a little unpacking, we walked to the famous hot dog place in Reykjavik:
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur.
Each hot dog costs 470 isk if I am not mistaken.
The sauce was really unique and the onion crisps added a different texture to it!
We finished our hot dogs within the next few minutes and we walked towards Bonus supermarket.
However, the supermarket closes at 1730 on most days.
I couldn't believe it as I was craving for my appelsin drink :(
So instead, we headed back to our hotel for the night as we were exhausted from the hike.
That's it for day 4!
Each hot dog costs 470 isk if I am not mistaken.
The sauce was really unique and the onion crisps added a different texture to it!
We finished our hot dogs within the next few minutes and we walked towards Bonus supermarket.
However, the supermarket closes at 1730 on most days.
I couldn't believe it as I was craving for my appelsin drink :(
So instead, we headed back to our hotel for the night as we were exhausted from the hike.
That's it for day 4!
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