In Iceland, I took day-tours using Reykjavik Excursions (RE), which is like I would say the top tour company in Iceland, and also Iceland Horizon for one of my trip. I would love to travel in Iceland by my own (there is such programme called Iceland On Your Own by RE) but since I only have less than a week, I decided to get the most out of Iceland and go ahead with the day tours. Besides, I think it's a great way of traveling in a short time.
What I love about RE is that first, they have awesome and informative guides. Secondly, the day tour is not like those "typical" tour where you'll go to a spot for a few minutes, which the guide will talk for a long time to explain about the place and yeah. Sure you do have a limited time but I think (for me) it's enough time. And also the guide does all the explanations inside the bus before we arrived at the area so it was great. Plenty of time to take photos, absorb the surroundings and so on, provided you're smart with your time of course heh.
If I were to spend 2 weeks in Iceland I'll definitely go and explore it with a rental car though.
Was on cloud 9 being here, seeing this sight :')
Anyway on the 1st of August, I arrived at Keflavik airpor at 4 PM, took a bus to Reykjavik and arrived at 5 PM ish. Checked into my hostel, which is Loft Hostel. Everything was smooth and easy. Went to my room and put down my bags etc and went ahead to explore Reykjavik. So happy to finally be in Reykjavik, this city which I've been dreaming of visiting for years! I went to the famous Hallgrimskirkja church first to take a bird's eye view of the city, then to Cafe Loki in front of it for dinner.
Smoked salmon, sheep head jelly, mashed fish pie
I had the Icelandic plate number 2 which consists of smoked salmon, mashed fish pie and SHEEP HEAD JELLY, all on rye bread. The sheep head jelly taste like lamb which gamey-ness is increased by 89.7%. I love the mashed fish pie though, and the rye bread is divine. Pity I didn't get the chance to eat there again. After dinner I went to 12 Tonar which is a famous record store in Reykjavik. It is like the best music store ever. You can pick the CDs you're interested to listen to, the store keeper may make you coffee if you want, and you can chill and listen to your CDs. Bought all my favourite Icelandic artists albums, and also discovered a new band called Low Roar which is awesome too.
Searched for a phone SIM card at 10-11 (the Iceland version of 7-11) and got myself some snacks and drinks, then headed back to my hostel at 9 PM cause I was damn tired. And I had to wake up early the next day for my day trip to Snæfellsnes peninsula. Which... I couldn't sleep any longer at 5 in the morning probably thanks to jet lag. I had Kleina (Icelandic twisted doughnut, which I bought last night) for breakfast at the hostel dining area with a fellow Korean backpacker from my dorm too. She's leaving for Vik though, and then to Akureryri for trekking.
The view on the way to Snæfellsnes peninsula
Snæfellsnes peninsula is located on the western part of Iceland. It takes about an hour to travel there. Our first town stop was Stykkisholmur, which is a harbour town that is so beautiful! There is a cliff near the harbour where you can climb to get a beautiful view of the town, and the sea across it. We spent about 1.5 hours here and I was just enjoying myself taking photos and sitting on top of the cliff enjoying the view and the silence. It's so beautiful over there, really.
Stykkisholmur harbour
Next we stopped by Kirkjufell mountain along the way to Olafsvik. I love that mountain a lot, looks very beautiful, and also... It's in the cover of Sigur Ros Heima DVD HAHAHA. But it's pretty though! Just look at the photo haha. Didn't make a full stop at Olafsvik, it was just for toilet break. But I was so happy to see that venue which Sigur Ros played at during their Heima Tour. It was the opening concert for Heima DVD too. So excited to see it heh.
Kirkjufell mountain!
After Olafsvik we went to Djupalon which is a beach that is covered in black basalt stones! It's a pretty serene beach. And before the beach there's a mossy lava field that's quite breathtaking to see as well. The beach is located with the Snæffelsjokull volcano behind it. It's the famous volcano from Jules Verne's Journey To The Centre of The Earth. Sadly there were clouds covering the volcano but seeing its grandeur and majesty feels quite emotional too.
Djupalon beach
After Djupalon was Hellnar, which is a small fishing village lined with summer houses. There are still some residents there while other houses are summer houses for vacations owned by people. There's a big cave near the beach where lots of birds can be found. Probably an awesome place for these birds to make love and ensure its continuation. I love Hellnar. It's pretty quaint and serene but the birds made the place alive and kicking! There was a cafe there as well, should be run by locals.
Hellnar, see the cave?
Then comes my favourite place in this peninsula - Arnastapi. It is located a few minutes drive away from Hellnar. It is like the most beautiful place I've ever been to! Beaches, cliffs and blue skies. It was such a wonderful day to be in Arnastapi. We were given ample time to walk along the coastline (along the cliffs!). Spent a great amount of time sitting down writing on my journal while listening to Sigur Ros. There was a moment where I was listening to Ara Batur and I almost cried. Because everything around me (and in my ears) are so beautiful. They just touch your heart.
Arnastapi
Our last stop for the day was Ytri Tunga. It's a place where we can see seals! And... Well we were "lucky" to find one although it is like 20 metres away from us haha. I was just enjoying the serenity of the beach which is filled with huge rocks. The sky was blue, the sea breeze blowing. Perfect way to end this trip at the peninsula. The weather was very kind because it was raining in Reykjavik before I left. But at the peninsula it was blue sky all day every day! :P
Ytri Tunga. The seal was on the other side in front! Heh
And then we made our way back to Reykjavik and that's all for day 2.
Snæfellsnes peninsula is my favourite place in Iceland so far. It is beautiful, and it combines the things I love in this life - beaches, blue skies and empty spaces. It is definitely a place you want to visit if you love seeing landscapes and nature. A great place for a walk too, to forget about life. I would love to visit it again by myself in the future, probably in a camper van where I can enjoy all these great sights of nature fully, and to my fill. Missing Snæfellsnes peninsula so much now.
Alright continuing to day three in the next post! :) Hope you enjoyed reading this day 1.5!
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