By Uma Iyer
As a travel outfit, it prides us, when one of our travelers come back with exciting stories from the land they have visited. Uma Iyer is just back from Iceland and she has put down her experience in an enticing way! She actually touched the very chord of Iceland: it being a land of paradox. Adorned with abstract nature, it is a photographer’s paradise. Ms. Iyer brought home many such images (of course, all of them are copyright protected and any reproduction of any sort will attract penalty!). Enjoy her words and snapshots of happiness!
Over to Uma Iyer:
A misnomer of Iceland being all ice while Greenland is all green – came out to be quite true during my recent visit to Iceland on a fortnight’s trip to the South and West of this beautiful and geologically diverse country.
The trip was organized by my agent, Farzana Haque from The Wanderers Leisure Travel Pvt. Ltd. and the entire tour of this magnificent country was seamlessly planned from the day I landed in Reykjavik till the day I left the country (with a heavy heart of course).
It makes you wonder why when you look at the globe, Iceland is more oddly green while Greenland is covered in ice. This is for many reasons and most importantly geographically being thanks to the Gulf stream, Iceland’s sea temperatures are 6 degrees Celsius warmer than Greenland. Which then means that Icelandic summers are intensely green throughout Iceland, even though 11% of that country is covered in ice.
So, like most travellers (especially from the Tropics), exploring a new country, I opted for the summer to visit this beautiful country –imagining that the summer would be the ideal given the maximum temperatures reaching up to 18 /19 degrees Celsius while minimum could be around 5/6 degrees. That was manageable.
As luck would have it, the country welcomed me with warm sunshine throughout my entire trip except for one day where it rained a bit (if you had a jacket – you would do fine). This country is a land of sharp contrasts – FIRE AND ICE – it’s simmering hot springs or geysers, lava fields, volcanoes, vast sand deserts contrasted with thundering waterfalls, mountains, glaciers, and fjords. Last but not the least – those who want are interested in the flora and fauna can be rest assured, they won’t be in the least disappointed – be it whale watching or the hundreds of species of birds or the variety of plant species. It is also a hikers paradise.
I had the choice between Iceland and Norway – and am glad I finally opted for Iceland as I wouldn’t have seen such diverse topography as I did when I travelled far South and then to the west right up to the western most tip of Europe. One of the highlights of my visit to Iceland is exploring the Westfjords. Very few tourists opt for this part of Iceland given its remoteness and unspoiled wilderness. That’s what visiting this place made it even more special. I would recommend everyone travelling to Iceland – not to miss this part of the country if you want to experience true Icelandic wilderness.
The summer’s midnight sun allows you to spend the entire day and night outdoors and enjoy all the wonderful treats of its Viking heritage, food and beautiful ‘scapes’ it has to offer.With global warming threatening to diminish the ice cover everywhere and thereby bringing catastrophically geological and climatic changes, I would recommend everyone who loves nature, to visit Iceland. Talk to ‘The Wanderers’ – they will guide you and give you a memorable experience.
PS: I am going back – for a winter experience. It is a country that beguiles you and casts you under a spell. Once is not enough. There is still so much to see and experience from this tiny, isolated but breathtaking country. The northern lights beckon and its wish shall be fulfilled hopefully soon.