It was in the summer of this year that my friend Geeta Datta, whom I had known from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for over four decades, proposed that we BARC girls should visit Iceland together. I immediately jumped at the idea since being with my dear friends would be icing on the cake for me, while checking off a bucket list item - seeing Aurora Borealis. Another BARC friend Sunita wrote to me saying that her husband will join us if Atish would and Atish willingly agreed. At this point, since it was no longer just the BARC gang, I asked Chitra, my dear friend from school. She said that because of all her other commitments, she will not be able to join us, but her husband Subs would love to join. Thus began the quest for the northern lights for the six of us.
Our tour company Gate 1 Travels had booked our air tickets from our city of preference in the US (NY, Chicago, and WDC) and we all arrived in Keflavik within an hour of each other, around 6 am. As soon as we came out of the baggage claim area, we were greeted by a Gate 1 agent, who connected us with our guide Gudrun Thorkelsdottir - Guðný for short, pronounced like “good knee” in English. We left the airport after 7:30 am, while it was still pitch dark. We reached our hotel, Hotel Klettur, in about 45 minutes. The hotel was conveniently located, very close to downtown Reykjavik and the main bustling business street of the city. Though our check-in time was 2 pm, the hotel was able to find us rooms as soon as we arrived. Guðný made sure we were all settled and then told us to be ready for our city tour by 10 am. We quickly had our breakfast of idlis (!), banana bread, and other goodies and some hot tea that we made in our room. We were told that food was very expensive in Iceland and were advised to carry some food with us, and it came handy.
Day 1
At the appointed hour, in the darkness, at below freezing temperatures, we set out for our day tour around Reykjavik. We donned all the layered warm clothes that we had carefully packed for the trip. The Northern Lights exhibition in Reykjavik was our first stop. It gave us a good idea of what to expect when we go chasing the northern lights. The guide there first told us some really juicy :) legends and myths that prevailed about the northern lights in various parts of the word. (I am sure these juicy can be found on the web.) Then, he showed us a film that explained the science behind Aurora Borealis. We understood that solar activity and cloud cover were two main criteria that affect our chance of seeing the northern lights and we kept our fingers crossed, hoping both would be in our favor. The guide then gave us some useful tips about how to set our cameras and what phone apps to use, in order to get the best photographs of the lights.
From thereon, we continued our tour of this interesting city, Reykjavík. It is the capital and largest city of Iceland. In Iceland, names of cities and towns often just describe them in the fewest possible words. Reykjavik means Smoky Bay. Named thus by first settlers who found hot springs here, from which steam and smoke were rising. Reykjavík is located in southwestern Iceland and at an altitude of 64°08' N sits at the edge of the Arctic Circle, making it the world's northernmost capital. It is the heart of Iceland's cultural, economic, and governmental activity. Of the country’s population of a little over 330,000, two thirds of the population live in the capital region in and around Reykjavik, The island of Iceland is roughly the size of the state of Virginia and has 130 active volcanoes. It is commonly referred to as the “Land of Fire and Ice”. A land of contrasts. More fire than ice, though the name of the land belies that. Only 10% of the country is ice, over 25% is volcanoes. They say that about 1/3 of the lava erupted since 1500 AD was produced in Iceland. Iceland is home to more than a 100 volcanoes, around 35 of which have erupted in recent history. Almost 60% of the world's regional fissure eruptions have been in Iceland. Then, why is Iceland called Iceland? It is the neighboring Greenland that is much colder and covered more with ice. Well, there is history behind how the names of the two lands got switched. Vikings, who discovered both these countries, had a tradition of naming places based on what they saw there. Ice core and mollusk shell data suggests that from A.D. 800 to 1300, southern Greenland was much warmer than it is today. This means that when the Vikings first arrived, the name Greenland was quite appropriate. But by the 14th century, maximum summer temperatures in Greenland dropped. Lower temperatures meant fewer crops and more ice that covered the land.
As for Iceland, in early ninth century, when the Norse Viking Naddod first landed on Iceland, he named the place “Snowland” because it was snowing when he arrived. Then, it was called Garðarshólmur (“Garðar’s Isle”) when the Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarosson arrived here. The next Viking to arrive here was Floki, whose daughter, tragically, passed away on their way to Iceland. Depressed and frustrated, when Floki saw a fjord full of icebergs from the top of a mountain, he named the place Iceland, a frigid name. (Though the ice he saw most likely drifted over from Greenland!) When Floki went back to Norway, he disparaged Iceland because of the fate that befell him during his voyage. But, after one of his crew members told everyone that the new island was rich and a land of opportunities, permanent settlement began in Iceland. Unfortunately, much to the locals’ chagrin, Floki’s cold and unwelcoming name “Iceland” stuck from then on.
Now on to our day tour of Reykjavik. :) I must say a few words about our guide Guðný here. She was a guide par excellence. She was a well-travelled Icelander and could speak five languages fluently. English was one among them. She had a delightful accent and unique style of speaking, which both amused us and enthralled us. She was a fountain of knowledge about Iceland, which she was very proud of. While on the bus, she spoke all the time, educating us about places we were about to visit and about Iceland in general, and its people. Most of what I have written here is based on what she told us.
Guðný took us next to the Hallgrims Lutheran Church. Dawn broke while we reached the church and the sun rose a while later. The Hallgrims church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson, who lived in the early 17th century and the church itself was built in the 20th century. It is situated at the center of Reykjavik and is an important landmark. The design reminds one of the mountains and glaciers of Iceland's landscape. Standing majestically tall at about 250 ft, it is among the tallest structures in Iceland and is the largest church. It was not initially designed to be this tall, but the leaders of the church of Iceland wanted the spire to tower higher than the largest Catholic Church in Iceland!
The current population of Iceland is overwhelmingly Lutheran, although Catholics and other Christian minorities exist. Most of the Catholics in Iceland are predominantly of Philipino descent. Though it is a Lutheran church, a dazzling stained glass window with Virgin Mary and baby Jesus adorns the church. Another prominent and beautiful feature of the church is the large pipe organ whose pipes are remote from the four manuals and pedal console.
In front of the church is a statue of explorer Leif Eriksson, which was a gift from the United States, to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD. Eriksson was a Norse explorer from Iceland who is considered the first European to have discovered continental North America over five centuries before Christopher Columbus. He discovered that the land was full of vines and grapes and had named the place Vinland.
To say Christopher Columbus "discovered" America is quite inaccurate because there were plenty of people already living in America when he set sail. There is also clear evidence that from Europe, the Vikings (Erikkson) arrived in what is now Canada and parts of New England, over 500 years before Columbus’s time. And while Columbus did arrive in the "New World" when he cast anchor in the Bahamas, he never even made it to the United States. And yet, he is credited with the discovery of America. Why? Here is a little history of how that happened.
As Italian-Americans began to settle in America's major cities, they often faced religious and ethnic discrimination. These anti-Italian sentiments occasionally led to brutal violence. One of the largest mass lynchings in the United States occurred in New Orleans in 1891. Because Italian-Americans were struggling against this hatred, many in the community felt that celebrating the life and accomplishments of Christopher Columbus would nudge mainstream Americans into accepting Italian Americans. Thus, the first official commemoration of Columbus' journey occurred in 1892, just a year after the New Orleans lynchings. That's when President Benjamin Harrison called for a national observance of Columbus Day, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival inti the US. The name "Columbia" soon became a synonym for the United States, with the name being used for various landmarks in America - the District of Columbia, Columbia University and the Columbia River are major examples.
After paying homage to Eriksson, who was short-changed by the Americans, we went to the Perlan building. Perlan means pearl in English and true to its name it’s a beautiful building on the cityscape of Reykjavik. The Perlan took shape in 1991, when a humongous hemispherical structure was added atop six huge geothermal water tanks, the hot water from which is used for heating and hot water supply for the city. Inside the dome, between the hot-water tanks, is a spacious multi-level atrium. The first and second level house a museum the Wonders of Iceland, which opened just a few months before we arrived. On the first floor, there is a Glaciers and Ice Cave exhibition, featuring a manmade ice cave that is 100 meters long and made out of 350 tonnes of Ice and snow. On the second floor is an interactive show on glaciers in Iceland, their awesome nature but bleak future and the effect of climate change. We did not visit the museum itself because it was not included in our tour. But, we went to the observation deck, which provides the best view of Reykjavík and its surroundings. On the circular viewing deck, there are 16 information signs strategically placed, providing information about the sights seen from the deck. From there, we could see mountains, volcanoes, geothermal areas, the ocean, and even a glacier.
On the floor above the observation deck, there is a restaurant called Út í bláinn under the beautiful spacious glass dome and it provides an amazing view of the city as you enjoy your food and coffee.
From Perlan, we went to Harp, a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík. The building features a distinctive and intriguing geometric shaped colored glass façade. Construction started in 2007 but was halted in 2008 due to the infamous Icelandic financial crisis. The completion of the structure was uncertain until the government decided to fully fund the rest of the construction costs for the half-built concert hall. This building is considered a true architectural beauty in all of Iceland.
During the city tour of all the sites mentioned above, Guðný pointed out the awe-inspiring landscape of the area, and showed us elementary schools, hospitals, rich neighborhoods, and not so rich ones. We returned to our hotel at about 4:30 pm, as darkness descended on the city. (The sun had set at 3:30 pm!) Guðný asked us to take a nap and be ready promptly at 8 pm, for the Aurora Borealis chase, She expected us to stay out at least until midnight and asked us to dress as warmly as we could. She said the solar activity was rated between 2 and 3 on a scale from 0 to 9, and there were areas near Reykjavik that had no cloud cover. She warned us that the weather in Iceland was most unpredictable and all this could change at any moment. But, she felt that our chance of seeing the famous Aurora was reasonably high. She asked us to stay positive and said that that’s the way Icelanders survive there, with the capricious weather.
We went to a nearby food court at about 6:30 pm in the evening and to our surprise, found 2 or 3 good dinner options for vegetarians and even vegans too. I picked up an organic tomato soup with toasted bread. The tomato soup was one of the best I have had and the bread was most delicious. So much so, that some of us purchased fresh loaves of bread, to take home.
By 8 pm, all 17 of us in our tour group were ready and excited about the adventure that night. A new guide Ingibjörg took us on this trip. (It is illegal for any company in Iceland to make its employees work for more than 8 hours in a day and hence Guðný could not be our guide on this trip.) Guðný was there to see us off, though. She said 7, 9, and 13 are lucky numbers for the Nordic people and since it was the 13th, she was hopeful we will see the northern lights. Ingibjörg was also a very upbeat person and was quite confident that we will see the Aurora Borealis and asked us all to share that positive energy too. We were all quite thrilled since it was the day when the Geminid meteor shower was to occur as well. And off we went beyond the city limits, away from the city lights, to minimize light pollution that could affect our viewing of Aurora Borealis.
We passed by the town of Hveragerdi , which is situated on a large geothermal area and is often referred to as the ‘flower village,’ because of the number of greenhouses there. Because it is situated on a 5,000-year-old lava field and is a hotbed of geothermal activity, the town is also called the ‘hot springs capital of the world.’ Hveragerdi has the highest concentration of greenhouses in Iceland. Its residents have been harnessing geothermal energy since 1920 to provide the country with much of its home grown produce, including exotic varieties like papayas and bananas. In recent years, Iceland has tried hard to become carbon neutral and has been growing all previously imported produce domestically and has become near self-sufficient. We were told by our guide that this town grows more bananas than any other country in Europe!! We finally reached a café called Café Aurora – the chosen venue that night to view the Aurora Borealis. The tour company took people to different spots on different days, mainly depending on the cloud cover in the area. Our guide figured that it would be good to stay warm and sip a hot drink while she watched out for the northern lights. Besides, there was a restroom at the cafe, which would be useful since we were expected to be there for hours. The café was to switch off all its lights at the first sighting of Aurora.
Well, we sipped our hot coffee in between trips outside to watch the sky. The sky was not very clear in that area anymore and I felt we saw more stars in our backyard than we did there. We caught an occasional shooting star, but saw nothing spectacular. As we were growing restless, our guide got news from another guide that they were able to view Aurora from near the ocean. Ingibjörg was the leader for all the Gate 1 tour groups assembled there and she decided to take us near the ocean. That took us about half an hour, a time period when things could change dramatically. Anyway, our driver tried to take us to an open field covered with ice in the middle of nowhere. It was interesting to see him navigate the “roads” with great aplomb. Before we got off, our guide asked us to slip crampons (spikes) over our shoes since the ground was icy and the chance of slipping was high. Nothing happened for about half an hour and then Ingibjörg saw a white vertical streak of light in the sky, which is supposed to be the harbinger of the northern lights. Soon, we saw green light bordering the clouds there and the guide was quite happy that we got to see that. The camera with long exposure caught the lights quite brilliantly. But the naked eye saw a somewhat green light – nothing breathtaking. Ingibjörg declared that we had had a “legal viewing” of the lights and added that seeing Aurora was a chancy affair and during that week, that was the only day when it was likely to show up.
We returned to the hotel at about 1:30 am, quite disappointed at the end of a day that had gone so well until the night.
Day 2
The major event on day 2 was the visit to the blue lagoon that we had heard so much about. The Blue Lagoon, which is located in a lava field, is a geothermal spa and is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. Its history is interesting. In 1976, a pool formed from the waste water of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant that had just been built. People started bathing in it and word of its healing powers spread across the country. In 1992, the Blue Lagoon company was established, which opened the bathing facility for the public. And now, it is called one of the 25 wonders of the world!
The temperature of the water hovers around 99–102 °F and is rich in minerals like silica and sulfur. Bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis. The Blue Lagoon also operates a research and development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water. The water in the lagoon is renewed every two days. The geothermal plant draws superheated water from 2to 4 kilometres below ground, from near the magma layer. The rich mineral content from the underground layers is pushed up to the surface by the hot water at very high (about 170 psi) pressure and 240 °C temperature. (Normal atmospheric pressure is around 15 psi.) The geothermal water has a unique composition, featuring three active ingredients – silica, algae & minerals. Because of its mineral concentration, water used at the plant cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in the nearby landscape. Hence, the water is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal use.
Guðný advised to hydrate ourselves while in the lagoon. Fortunately, there was a bar in the lagoon itself. :) We were also told to remove all jewelry since the sulfur in the water can corrode precious jewelry. Besides, if one loses a small piece of jewelry in the water, it would be very difficult to find it because of the opaque nature of the water. We were also advised that before entering the lagoon, we must take a shower for it is mandated in Iceland for hygiene reasons. We were also told to leave hair conditioner in our hair, to minimize the temporary damage caused by silica and sulfur in the water. Also because of the silica, we were told not to dunk our heads into the water.
Soaking in the blue lagoon was one of the most memorable experiences of our trip. After soaking in the lagoon for over 2.5 hours, we still did not feel like coming out. Such was the soothing and healing effect it had on us. Subs, who had a hairline fracture in his foot, said that he felt much relief in his foot after the soak.
The water was about 3 to 4.5 ft deep in the areas that we explored. The water in the blue lagoon is actually white! If you pour it into a transparent cup (like I did), you will notice that it has a milky white color. It is the reflection from the sky that makes it blue! We waddled along a large area of the lagoon and I made good use of the silica face pack that they supplied in the middle of the lagoon. We also enjoyed a good water massage under the warm water fall and the steam room in the lagoon. It was difficult to spot all our friends all the time because of the steam rising all around and because we had to perch our glasses on our heads :). We all met up after the soak in the Lava restaurant. The Lava restaurant is built in a stunning lava cliff and it combines modern design with the wild spirit of Icelandic nature. We relished it especially after the relaxing soak in the blue lagoon.
In recent years, several cosmetics companies have begun marketing skin care products using mud extracted from the Blue Lagoon. There is a store next to the restaurant where they sold these products, which some of our friends purchased.
When we returned to the bus feeling blissfully relaxed, our wonderful guide Guðný announced that she had prevailed upon the tour company to take us on a northern lights tour again that night. No words could have sounded sweeter than those at that time. She also told us that she would pray to the “little hidden people” around to make the aurora show up that night. It was Mohima’s birthday that day and I so…. wanted the Aurora to light up the sky for her birthday.
On the way back, she told us several interesting stories about Iceland. One fascinating tidbit was about Icelandic names. Icelanders have continued to use the traditional name system, originally used by all Nordic countries. Everyone here is known by his/her first name and even telephone directories are listed by first names. Women do not take their husband’s last name after marriage. Generally, a person's last name indicates the first name of their father or in some cases mother. Traditionally, Icelandic surnames end in -son or -dóttir with few exceptions. You will notice that all three members of the illustrative family tree below have different last names!
Before 1925, it was legal to adopt new family names. But since 1925, one cannot adopt a family name unless one explicitly has a legal right to do so through inheritance.
Another curious and astounding fact is that there is an Icelandic naming committee, which was established in 1991. It maintains an official register of approved Icelandic given names and it also governs the introduction of new given names into the culture of Iceland. A name not already on the official list of approved names, must be submitted to the naming committee for approval. This committee considers if the new name is suitable for integration into the country's language and culture and if it might cause the bearer any embarrassment. Gender-inappropriate names are normally not allowed. With some exceptions, names must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet. There are 32 letters in the Icelandic alphabet, out of which 14 are vowels. Icelandic uses the Latin alphabet and as you might have guessed there are some letters that are not found in the English language.
Guðný also told us that the Icelandic woman, like her Viking ancestor, is fiercely independent and very strong. It is illegal to pay a woman (or for that matter, even an immigrant) less than her male counterpart for the same job. The parliament in Iceland currently has about 40% women now and they are concerned because this is one of the lowest percentage that they have had in a long time. They recently elected a young 41 year old lesbian woman (Katrín Jakobsdóttir) as their prime minister. She is highly revered in the country. Icelanders are highly liberal folks. Regarding marriage and divorce, she said that the institution of marriage is not very important to them. Children born out of wedlock are not looked down upon. The rate of divorce is very high. After divorce, there are no long legal battles. In all cases, both parents have to care equally for the children and there is no concept of alimony.
Icelandic people are very interested in the country’s affairs and believe that each one can make a difference. That was quite a breath of fresh air for me! In 2008, after the financial crisis, people congregated and protested every day until the leaders abdicated their positions. In 2008, Iceland was hit heavily by the financial crisis when all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks went belly up. Relative to the size of its economy, the banking collapse was the largest experienced by any country in world history. Subsequent to the collapse though, Iceland pulled off a miracle economic escape. Disgruntled Icelanders forced their prime minister to quit. The new leadership diversified its industry from fish and aluminum to tourism, renewable energy and information technology. Its GDP, already among the highest in the world per capita, is now well above the pre-crisis level.
Why is the aluminum industry so popular in Iceland? On average it takes about 16 kWh of electricity to produce 1 kg of aluminum, making aluminum smelting a highly energy intensive process. In Iceland aluminum plants can be operated with hydropower or geothermal power rather than electricity that is generated by fossil fuels. This power is both cheap, renewable and leaves minimal, if any, carbon footprint. Icelanders, however, are not happy with the foreign-owned aluminum plants in Iceland because they do not pay any taxes, based on some political arrangement in the past.
Iceland is a socialistic country where the population pays 36 to 47% of its income in income tax. People earning up to $8000 per month pay 37% and those earning above pay 47% (To give an idea, most doctors work for the state and earn from 14000 to 16000 dollars per month. 1 US dollar is abour 105 Icelandic Krona, the Icelandic currency.) Education and health care are both provided by the state.
Education - Icelanders have four phases of schooling; playschool (under 6), elementary school (from 6-16), upper secondary (from 16 to 19/20) and college. Elementary school education is compulsory. Education is funded by the state, even up to university level. A few private schools and colleges exist in the country, where standard of education is not as good. Only those who can afford and need extra attention attend private schools. All learn 3 to 4 languages at school and are well equipped to go abroad where languages like English, Danish, German etc. are spoken. Many Icelanders go abroad for higher education. The US is a favorite place for higher studies.
Healthcare – Every family pays for their medial and medicines bill up to about $300 per year. Any expenditure beyond that amount are borne by the state. (Ingibjörg gave us this piece of information, but Guðný later told us that medical costs are higher than that. So, we had slightly contradicting inputs on this front.)
Most Icelanders are well travelled. They travel as much outside their country as they do inside. This is, perhaps, a reason for their impressive perspective of life. They treat immigrants with respect. I did not feel like an outsider even once during my stay. They know more about India and Indians than the average American. They seem to love Indians. They say we are very good at learning their language and adapting to their country. (Not sure if they said it to please us. But, I want to believe it’s true. :) )
After hearing all these stories from our guide, we returned to our hotel at about 2:30 pm and with permission from the front desk of the hotel, heated up paranthas, teplas, and paneer makhni that we had carried with us and had a fulfilling and delicious Indian lunch. At about 4 pm, we set out to explore downtown Reykjavik. We found our stroll along their main street quite interesting for many of the artefacts, signs, and graffiti that gave us a sense of how liberal people of the land are. It was an invigorating walk too since the winds were low, and the weather brisk. Atish and I also visited a beautiful art gallery with art by local artists – water color and oil paintings, pencil drawings, thread work and combinations of these. We quite enjoyed the artistry and display.
We returned and donned some more layers of clothing to get ready for the northern lights tour. Our guide Ingibjörg told us that the solar activity index was zero :( that night, but the skies were clear. She asked us to collectively wish for the lights. This time, she took us to a really dark place by a large lake. The setting itself was so beautiful and being under the dark cloudless sky filled with bright stars lit up our spirit. There was even something spiritual about it. As we were waiting there, we even saw several shooting stars. Atish held court there, explaining the various constellations to an inquisitive audience. This was a bonus trip for us and the probability of sighting Aurora was very low. Still somehow, I was confident that we will see the lights that night. And lo and behold, the solar activity index went up to 1 and we were able to see the aurora light up the sky. I was exhilarated and moved, in the knowledge that someone up above was looking out for us and wanted to definitely put up a special show for Mohima’s birthday. In gratitude, I teared up a bit.
I must say that our long exposure camera caught a more impressive photo than what we saw with our naked eyes. But, we were definitely happy with what we saw this time. It is perhaps difficult to fathom how satisfied and grateful we felt towards our tour company which went above and beyond the call of duty, to make it possible.
Day 3
This day was reserved for the 300 km long Golden circle tour. We set out on our golden circle tour, bright and early at 8:30 am in the morning. We first headed to the Hellisheidavirkjun geothermal plant. The power plant offers educational tours and presentations about sustainable energy. These geothermal plants use the heat that is continually produced in the layer of hot and molten rock, called magma below the Earth's crust. Highest underground temperatures are attained at ‘hot spot’ regions with active or geologically young volcanoes at tectonic plate boundaries. Iceland being one such region, the geology of the land makes it amenable for the generation of geothermal energy, which is fully renewable. There are five major geothermal power plants in Iceland, which produce over a quarter of the nation's electricity needs. The other three quarters are met by hydro power. Geothermal heating meets the heating and hot water requirements of practically all of Iceland. During winters, they run the waste hot water that was used to generate electricity under major highways to keep them clear of snow and ice. Cool, isn’t it?
This plant generates electricity by drawing a mixture of superheated water and steam from 2 kilometers below ground, near the magma layer. The location where it is optimal to drill is determined by geologists. The water rises automatically because of the high pressure at lower depths. The superheated water goes through turbines which turn the generators which that generate electricity. The plant we visited created about 300 MW of electricity.
Potable water is also drawn from underground, but from a higher level (about 500 m to 800m). Cold potable water is drawn from a high aquifer and hot water for homes from a few hundred feet below the cold-water aquifer. The steam and hot water mixture used to generate electricity then passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal water heating system. Hot and cold water come into homes in two different pipes. The insulated hot water pipe that we saw at the geothermal station was about 6 ft in diameter and we were told it lost only about 2 degrees C by the time it reached people’s homes. Water from drinking is simply run through filters and no other processing is required. Icelanders are very proud of their water, which indeed tastes very good. They say that the water from their faucets is cleaner and tastier than bottled water. (Water from the hot water faucets taste a bit of sulfur because it is drawn from a deeper level.) They say that their beer is one of the best because of the water it is made from.
Most of the used water is pumped back into the water, to replenish the water underground. We asked if there have been any major seismic or volcanic activity since the plant went functional. They said that there were minor earthquakes every day when they were drilling into the ground and that stabilized in a few months.
Electricity and water are quite cheap in Iceland and Icelanders take long hot water showers and baths, without feeling guilty. They keep their homes quite warm too.
From the geothermal plant, we drove to a horse farm, to see a horse show. The Icelandic horse is special and a breed developed indigenously in Iceland. To protect their horses from any disease that a foreign horse might be carrying, Iceland does not allow horses from other countries to enter Iceland, Even previously exported Icelandic horses are not allowed to return.
Icelandic horses though small, are still horses, not ponies. These handsome and gentle Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. These horses display two gaits (Tölt, and Pace), in addition to the typical walk, trot, and canter/gallop commonly displayed by other breeds. The Tölt is similar to the trot, but is a very smooth four-beat gait which, while reaching speeds similar to fast trotting, is much less jolting to the rider. In the horse show, the lady riding the horse demonstrated this by carrying a glass of water with the horse Tölting, when hardly any water spilled from the water glass she was carrying, while in the trot, a lot of water spilt out. In Pace, the hooves on the same side touch the ground together. Often called the Flying Pace, this gait can equal the speed of a full gallop and is used in Iceland for racing. To Icelanders, riding at the Flying Pace is considered the crown of horsemanship.
After the horse show, we were taken to the sheds where the horses were housed. We were allowed to pet the horses and take pictures with them. They offered to pick us up from our hotel the next day for an experience of riding these horses. Much as I wanted to, I deferred it for my next trip to Iceland.
From the horse show, we went to see the Stokkur Geysir, one of Iceland’s most famous attractions. Geysir has given its name to geysers the world over. While the main geyser on the site hasn’t erupted for years, its smaller yet still impressive cousin Strokkur dutifully shoots a stream of boiling hot water and steam up to 30 metres into the air every few minutes. Around the Stokkur, there are a myriad small geysers, hissing and bubbling. What was striking was that there were pools and streams of super hot water right next to beautiful frozen grass blades and frozen ground. Guðný had warned us not to touch the water in the streams, even if it looked placid. We confirmed this by the rate at which a piece of ice dropped in it melted :)
From the geyser, we went to Gullfoss (golden falls in English). The weather got quite cold and windy here and we were advised to wear the crampons. We walked over to the falls, admiring this massive, beautiful waterfall created by millions of gallons of glacial meltwater plunging into a deep crevice. Some of the falls had frozen in action, in the middle of other fast flowing water falls. This water fall and its surrounding area was once endangered by a proposed power station to be built by a British company. The falls were saved by the unrelenting efforts of a local peasant woman Tómasdóttir. Back then Tómasdóttir’s father — a sheep farmer named Tómas Tómasson from the nearby village of owned Gullfoss. While Tómasson declined to sell the rugged area to an Englishman who wanted to build a hydroelectric plant, he did agree to lease his land to generate power. This decision that deeply troubled his daughter, Tómasdóttir. She fretted over what might happen to her beloved falls. Though not formally educated, this woman dug into her savings and sought a lawyer (Sveinn Björnsson ) for help. (aside: Sveinn Björnsson, years later became Iceland’s first president.) The case dragged on for years and after all her struggles, eventually, the rental lease was canceled. There is a plaque honoring her at the falls. We bowed our head in front of her, to thank her for her tenacious and incessant struggle, to preserve Gullfoss. The last site on a Golden Circle route was Þingvellir (spelt Thingvellir in English). We drove on the mid-atlantic ridge. This is one of the two places in the world where Mid-Atlantic tectonic plate boundary is visible on land. The boundary was between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates. (the other is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Africa.) These two plates separate by about 2 inches every year, one inch towards America and one towards Eurasia. The landscape and the scenery were outstandingly striking and unique – nothing like what we have seen before.
It was around 24 million years ago that Iceland first rose from the ocean as a collection of volcanoes spewing lava and gas. Perched atop the rift between the divergent North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, the environment of this north Atlantic island is today still wrought by fire, ice and a tempestuous climate. Eruptions, earthquakes, mud pools, fumaroles and spouting geysers are all part of daily Icelandic life. There is an earthquake somewhere in Iceland everyday somewhere in the country. While the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland caused tens of thousands of international flights to be canceled, Icelanders were minimally disturbed by it and felt it was an over-reaction. Icelandic terrain might seem scary to outsiders, almost like a different planet. But, Icelanders across this primal land revel in its natural breathtaking beauty and feel blessed by the terrain for enabling cheap and climate-friendly energy production that the land offers. Nothing seems to make sense, but it all fits together perfectly.
Icelanders are very green conscious. The biggest pollutant for them is automobiles, for every family owns 2 or 3 cars. Electric cars like Tesla are getting slowly popular even though the battery life of electric cars is less than 50% at such cold temperatures. I noticed that they are much more conservative with the use of paper napkins, tissues and other paper products.
Þingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage site where the Vikings established the world’s first democratic parliament in AD 930. We took a 30-min walk in the national park. On a windswept winter's day, walking amongst the site's jagged boulders and soaring rock walls, it's not hard to imagine Viking chiefs convening here to settle disputes and govern the place. There is a flag post in the middle, where they believed the parliament building once stood. When I asked why they did not erect a monument to commemorate the first parliament there, Guðný told us that they refrained from doing so since they did not know the exact location. They just know it was within that half a kilometer radius. I was impressed with the honesty.
We were fortunate with the weather on all three days. Icelandic winter is in general said to be warmer than New York or Boston winter. It is the wind speed that can often reach 40 mph in the lowlands that makes one feel bitterly cold. Iceland is supposed to be the windiest inhabited place in the world. But, on all three days of our tours, winds were low, no snow, and no rain. Days were sunny. Our experience might have been different otherwise. We did not wear our snow pants even once, nor the hand and toe warmers which we purchased in the last minute. Layered clothing was the key.
Other things we learned about Icelanders
Their love for books - Guðný often talked about books and urged us to spend our free time in a bookstore. She said bookstores are open till late at night and we should not miss the opportunity. She was particularly proud of one author Halldór Laxness, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1955. He is the only Nobel laureate from Iceland to date. Guðný told us that he was a good friend of Ernst Hemingway and translated some of his works in Icelandic. She strongly recommended 2 books by him, “the Independent people” and “Fish can sing”, which are translations of his work in English.
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. Most of the books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November because it a national tradition to give books as Christmas gifts. They call this major sale of books around Christmas “Jolabokaflod” (the Christmas Book Flood). The culture of giving books as presents is very deeply rooted in how families perceive Christmas as a holiday. They give the presents on the night of the 24th and people spend the night reading. It is the backbone of the publishing sector here in Iceland.
The Sagas of Icelanders – These sagas are also known as family sagas and are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature. It is believed that sagas were conscious artistic creations, based on both oral and written tradition. Some of these are mandatory reading in the school curriculum. Guðný said that she still enjoys going to a book store and losing herself in reading one of the sagas. Six degrees of separation – In Iceland, it seems it is more like 2 or 3 degrees. They say that when two Icelandic strangers meet, they will figure out a connection within 1.5 minutes! Not a big surprise, given the small population and concentration of the population around Reykjavik. Atish says this finding a connection within 2 minutes is also true of Tambrams :)
Nature of people: I found the general populace of Iceland very liberal and accepting of other cultures. Not once did I feel that I was treated differently because of my skin color or my accent. I found them very genuine and honest and they usually did not sweat the small stuff. All business transactions were quick and straight forward, not much bureaucracy involved. All the people who I interacted with, came across as very genuine and honest people.
Climate and health – I went to Iceland with a cold and cough, but both disappeared in a day! I was worried that I was going to a cold country. But, I felt that as long as one knows how to protect oneself from the cold, the place is good for health. My experience was just anecdotal. But on this note, Guðný told us that Iceland has one of the top ranks for life expectancy and it has been steadily increasing in the past decades. Why? Guðný said that Iceland now has one of the highest per capita income, which enable well-funded public health programs and state-of-the-art medical care that have made a great impact on life expectancy charts.
Another factor could be their hardscrabble past too. For most of its history, Iceland was a very hard place to live in. From the time of Viking settlers, people constantly fought and killed each other. Even by the 19th century, Iceland was desperately poor and uneducated, with one of the highest infant mortality rates. Current day Icelanders may carry especially robust “survivor genes” bequeathed to them by ancestors who survived the country’s evolutionary crucible.
Time management and work ethics - I was very impressed by their time management skills. It reminded me of Germans who I had interacted with quite a bit professionally. Our tour guide and the bus driver were always on time or before time and managed to stick to the schedule with at the most 5 minutes delay (caused by us tourists from the USA). I noticed that all did their jobs diligently and were courteous to us at all times. I want to cite one example of their work ethics here. Atish lost his glasses in the blue lagoon, where about 2000 people visit every day. When we reported that the glasses were missing, they left no stone unturned to look for them in all plausible places. When they could not find, they asked Atish to fill up a form reporting the loss. Every day since then, they were giving us daily updates that they still had not found them. Four days later, voila, they found them. They sent us pictures and told us that the glasses were unscratched and in good condition. No sooner did we pay for the postage, they shipped the glasses to the US. I am very impressed with their work ethic and efficiency.
Day 4
This was the day we were to catch a flight back to the US. Some of our friends picked up fresh loaves of bread – hard on the outside and super soft spongy on the inside. We took it easy at the hotel. Atish played pool with one of our group members, while we chit-chatted.
We left for the airport by a bus at about 1:30 pm. We reached the airport well in time for our flight. Guðný went totally above and beyond the call of duty at the airport. She dragged our luggage in, checked us in in the highly automated machines at Keflavik airport. She then took our bags and placed them on the conveyor belt. We did not meet a single airport personnel during the check-in process. With the rising number of tourists to Iceland, the airport has improved self-service automation for passengers immensely.
As we boarded our flight to DC on schedule, we left with mixed feelings, very happy with the experience that we had in this wonderful country and feeling a bit sad to leave the place. I told myself that I must visit the land again in summertime and see parts of the country that we did not get a chance to visit.
Here is a link to the photos – enjoy!
Our tour company Gate 1 Travels had booked our air tickets from our city of preference in the US (NY, Chicago, and WDC) and we all arrived in Keflavik within an hour of each other, around 6 am. As soon as we came out of the baggage claim area, we were greeted by a Gate 1 agent, who connected us with our guide Gudrun Thorkelsdottir - Guðný for short, pronounced like “good knee” in English. We left the airport after 7:30 am, while it was still pitch dark. We reached our hotel, Hotel Klettur, in about 45 minutes. The hotel was conveniently located, very close to downtown Reykjavik and the main bustling business street of the city. Though our check-in time was 2 pm, the hotel was able to find us rooms as soon as we arrived. Guðný made sure we were all settled and then told us to be ready for our city tour by 10 am. We quickly had our breakfast of idlis (!), banana bread, and other goodies and some hot tea that we made in our room. We were told that food was very expensive in Iceland and were advised to carry some food with us, and it came handy.
Day 1
At the appointed hour, in the darkness, at below freezing temperatures, we set out for our day tour around Reykjavik. We donned all the layered warm clothes that we had carefully packed for the trip. The Northern Lights exhibition in Reykjavik was our first stop. It gave us a good idea of what to expect when we go chasing the northern lights. The guide there first told us some really juicy :) legends and myths that prevailed about the northern lights in various parts of the word. (I am sure these juicy can be found on the web.) Then, he showed us a film that explained the science behind Aurora Borealis. We understood that solar activity and cloud cover were two main criteria that affect our chance of seeing the northern lights and we kept our fingers crossed, hoping both would be in our favor. The guide then gave us some useful tips about how to set our cameras and what phone apps to use, in order to get the best photographs of the lights.
From thereon, we continued our tour of this interesting city, Reykjavík. It is the capital and largest city of Iceland. In Iceland, names of cities and towns often just describe them in the fewest possible words. Reykjavik means Smoky Bay. Named thus by first settlers who found hot springs here, from which steam and smoke were rising. Reykjavík is located in southwestern Iceland and at an altitude of 64°08' N sits at the edge of the Arctic Circle, making it the world's northernmost capital. It is the heart of Iceland's cultural, economic, and governmental activity. Of the country’s population of a little over 330,000, two thirds of the population live in the capital region in and around Reykjavik, The island of Iceland is roughly the size of the state of Virginia and has 130 active volcanoes. It is commonly referred to as the “Land of Fire and Ice”. A land of contrasts. More fire than ice, though the name of the land belies that. Only 10% of the country is ice, over 25% is volcanoes. They say that about 1/3 of the lava erupted since 1500 AD was produced in Iceland. Iceland is home to more than a 100 volcanoes, around 35 of which have erupted in recent history. Almost 60% of the world's regional fissure eruptions have been in Iceland. Then, why is Iceland called Iceland? It is the neighboring Greenland that is much colder and covered more with ice. Well, there is history behind how the names of the two lands got switched. Vikings, who discovered both these countries, had a tradition of naming places based on what they saw there. Ice core and mollusk shell data suggests that from A.D. 800 to 1300, southern Greenland was much warmer than it is today. This means that when the Vikings first arrived, the name Greenland was quite appropriate. But by the 14th century, maximum summer temperatures in Greenland dropped. Lower temperatures meant fewer crops and more ice that covered the land.
As for Iceland, in early ninth century, when the Norse Viking Naddod first landed on Iceland, he named the place “Snowland” because it was snowing when he arrived. Then, it was called Garðarshólmur (“Garðar’s Isle”) when the Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarosson arrived here. The next Viking to arrive here was Floki, whose daughter, tragically, passed away on their way to Iceland. Depressed and frustrated, when Floki saw a fjord full of icebergs from the top of a mountain, he named the place Iceland, a frigid name. (Though the ice he saw most likely drifted over from Greenland!) When Floki went back to Norway, he disparaged Iceland because of the fate that befell him during his voyage. But, after one of his crew members told everyone that the new island was rich and a land of opportunities, permanent settlement began in Iceland. Unfortunately, much to the locals’ chagrin, Floki’s cold and unwelcoming name “Iceland” stuck from then on.
Now on to our day tour of Reykjavik. :) I must say a few words about our guide Guðný here. She was a guide par excellence. She was a well-travelled Icelander and could speak five languages fluently. English was one among them. She had a delightful accent and unique style of speaking, which both amused us and enthralled us. She was a fountain of knowledge about Iceland, which she was very proud of. While on the bus, she spoke all the time, educating us about places we were about to visit and about Iceland in general, and its people. Most of what I have written here is based on what she told us.
Guðný took us next to the Hallgrims Lutheran Church. Dawn broke while we reached the church and the sun rose a while later. The Hallgrims church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson, who lived in the early 17th century and the church itself was built in the 20th century. It is situated at the center of Reykjavik and is an important landmark. The design reminds one of the mountains and glaciers of Iceland's landscape. Standing majestically tall at about 250 ft, it is among the tallest structures in Iceland and is the largest church. It was not initially designed to be this tall, but the leaders of the church of Iceland wanted the spire to tower higher than the largest Catholic Church in Iceland!
The current population of Iceland is overwhelmingly Lutheran, although Catholics and other Christian minorities exist. Most of the Catholics in Iceland are predominantly of Philipino descent. Though it is a Lutheran church, a dazzling stained glass window with Virgin Mary and baby Jesus adorns the church. Another prominent and beautiful feature of the church is the large pipe organ whose pipes are remote from the four manuals and pedal console.
In front of the church is a statue of explorer Leif Eriksson, which was a gift from the United States, to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD. Eriksson was a Norse explorer from Iceland who is considered the first European to have discovered continental North America over five centuries before Christopher Columbus. He discovered that the land was full of vines and grapes and had named the place Vinland.
To say Christopher Columbus "discovered" America is quite inaccurate because there were plenty of people already living in America when he set sail. There is also clear evidence that from Europe, the Vikings (Erikkson) arrived in what is now Canada and parts of New England, over 500 years before Columbus’s time. And while Columbus did arrive in the "New World" when he cast anchor in the Bahamas, he never even made it to the United States. And yet, he is credited with the discovery of America. Why? Here is a little history of how that happened.
As Italian-Americans began to settle in America's major cities, they often faced religious and ethnic discrimination. These anti-Italian sentiments occasionally led to brutal violence. One of the largest mass lynchings in the United States occurred in New Orleans in 1891. Because Italian-Americans were struggling against this hatred, many in the community felt that celebrating the life and accomplishments of Christopher Columbus would nudge mainstream Americans into accepting Italian Americans. Thus, the first official commemoration of Columbus' journey occurred in 1892, just a year after the New Orleans lynchings. That's when President Benjamin Harrison called for a national observance of Columbus Day, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival inti the US. The name "Columbia" soon became a synonym for the United States, with the name being used for various landmarks in America - the District of Columbia, Columbia University and the Columbia River are major examples.
After paying homage to Eriksson, who was short-changed by the Americans, we went to the Perlan building. Perlan means pearl in English and true to its name it’s a beautiful building on the cityscape of Reykjavik. The Perlan took shape in 1991, when a humongous hemispherical structure was added atop six huge geothermal water tanks, the hot water from which is used for heating and hot water supply for the city. Inside the dome, between the hot-water tanks, is a spacious multi-level atrium. The first and second level house a museum the Wonders of Iceland, which opened just a few months before we arrived. On the first floor, there is a Glaciers and Ice Cave exhibition, featuring a manmade ice cave that is 100 meters long and made out of 350 tonnes of Ice and snow. On the second floor is an interactive show on glaciers in Iceland, their awesome nature but bleak future and the effect of climate change. We did not visit the museum itself because it was not included in our tour. But, we went to the observation deck, which provides the best view of Reykjavík and its surroundings. On the circular viewing deck, there are 16 information signs strategically placed, providing information about the sights seen from the deck. From there, we could see mountains, volcanoes, geothermal areas, the ocean, and even a glacier.
On the floor above the observation deck, there is a restaurant called Út í bláinn under the beautiful spacious glass dome and it provides an amazing view of the city as you enjoy your food and coffee.
From Perlan, we went to Harp, a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík. The building features a distinctive and intriguing geometric shaped colored glass façade. Construction started in 2007 but was halted in 2008 due to the infamous Icelandic financial crisis. The completion of the structure was uncertain until the government decided to fully fund the rest of the construction costs for the half-built concert hall. This building is considered a true architectural beauty in all of Iceland.
During the city tour of all the sites mentioned above, Guðný pointed out the awe-inspiring landscape of the area, and showed us elementary schools, hospitals, rich neighborhoods, and not so rich ones. We returned to our hotel at about 4:30 pm, as darkness descended on the city. (The sun had set at 3:30 pm!) Guðný asked us to take a nap and be ready promptly at 8 pm, for the Aurora Borealis chase, She expected us to stay out at least until midnight and asked us to dress as warmly as we could. She said the solar activity was rated between 2 and 3 on a scale from 0 to 9, and there were areas near Reykjavik that had no cloud cover. She warned us that the weather in Iceland was most unpredictable and all this could change at any moment. But, she felt that our chance of seeing the famous Aurora was reasonably high. She asked us to stay positive and said that that’s the way Icelanders survive there, with the capricious weather.
We went to a nearby food court at about 6:30 pm in the evening and to our surprise, found 2 or 3 good dinner options for vegetarians and even vegans too. I picked up an organic tomato soup with toasted bread. The tomato soup was one of the best I have had and the bread was most delicious. So much so, that some of us purchased fresh loaves of bread, to take home.
By 8 pm, all 17 of us in our tour group were ready and excited about the adventure that night. A new guide Ingibjörg took us on this trip. (It is illegal for any company in Iceland to make its employees work for more than 8 hours in a day and hence Guðný could not be our guide on this trip.) Guðný was there to see us off, though. She said 7, 9, and 13 are lucky numbers for the Nordic people and since it was the 13th, she was hopeful we will see the northern lights. Ingibjörg was also a very upbeat person and was quite confident that we will see the Aurora Borealis and asked us all to share that positive energy too. We were all quite thrilled since it was the day when the Geminid meteor shower was to occur as well. And off we went beyond the city limits, away from the city lights, to minimize light pollution that could affect our viewing of Aurora Borealis.
We passed by the town of Hveragerdi , which is situated on a large geothermal area and is often referred to as the ‘flower village,’ because of the number of greenhouses there. Because it is situated on a 5,000-year-old lava field and is a hotbed of geothermal activity, the town is also called the ‘hot springs capital of the world.’ Hveragerdi has the highest concentration of greenhouses in Iceland. Its residents have been harnessing geothermal energy since 1920 to provide the country with much of its home grown produce, including exotic varieties like papayas and bananas. In recent years, Iceland has tried hard to become carbon neutral and has been growing all previously imported produce domestically and has become near self-sufficient. We were told by our guide that this town grows more bananas than any other country in Europe!! We finally reached a café called Café Aurora – the chosen venue that night to view the Aurora Borealis. The tour company took people to different spots on different days, mainly depending on the cloud cover in the area. Our guide figured that it would be good to stay warm and sip a hot drink while she watched out for the northern lights. Besides, there was a restroom at the cafe, which would be useful since we were expected to be there for hours. The café was to switch off all its lights at the first sighting of Aurora.
Well, we sipped our hot coffee in between trips outside to watch the sky. The sky was not very clear in that area anymore and I felt we saw more stars in our backyard than we did there. We caught an occasional shooting star, but saw nothing spectacular. As we were growing restless, our guide got news from another guide that they were able to view Aurora from near the ocean. Ingibjörg was the leader for all the Gate 1 tour groups assembled there and she decided to take us near the ocean. That took us about half an hour, a time period when things could change dramatically. Anyway, our driver tried to take us to an open field covered with ice in the middle of nowhere. It was interesting to see him navigate the “roads” with great aplomb. Before we got off, our guide asked us to slip crampons (spikes) over our shoes since the ground was icy and the chance of slipping was high. Nothing happened for about half an hour and then Ingibjörg saw a white vertical streak of light in the sky, which is supposed to be the harbinger of the northern lights. Soon, we saw green light bordering the clouds there and the guide was quite happy that we got to see that. The camera with long exposure caught the lights quite brilliantly. But the naked eye saw a somewhat green light – nothing breathtaking. Ingibjörg declared that we had had a “legal viewing” of the lights and added that seeing Aurora was a chancy affair and during that week, that was the only day when it was likely to show up.
We returned to the hotel at about 1:30 am, quite disappointed at the end of a day that had gone so well until the night.
Day 2
The major event on day 2 was the visit to the blue lagoon that we had heard so much about. The Blue Lagoon, which is located in a lava field, is a geothermal spa and is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. Its history is interesting. In 1976, a pool formed from the waste water of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant that had just been built. People started bathing in it and word of its healing powers spread across the country. In 1992, the Blue Lagoon company was established, which opened the bathing facility for the public. And now, it is called one of the 25 wonders of the world!
The temperature of the water hovers around 99–102 °F and is rich in minerals like silica and sulfur. Bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis. The Blue Lagoon also operates a research and development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water. The water in the lagoon is renewed every two days. The geothermal plant draws superheated water from 2to 4 kilometres below ground, from near the magma layer. The rich mineral content from the underground layers is pushed up to the surface by the hot water at very high (about 170 psi) pressure and 240 °C temperature. (Normal atmospheric pressure is around 15 psi.) The geothermal water has a unique composition, featuring three active ingredients – silica, algae & minerals. Because of its mineral concentration, water used at the plant cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in the nearby landscape. Hence, the water is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal use.
Guðný advised to hydrate ourselves while in the lagoon. Fortunately, there was a bar in the lagoon itself. :) We were also told to remove all jewelry since the sulfur in the water can corrode precious jewelry. Besides, if one loses a small piece of jewelry in the water, it would be very difficult to find it because of the opaque nature of the water. We were also advised that before entering the lagoon, we must take a shower for it is mandated in Iceland for hygiene reasons. We were also told to leave hair conditioner in our hair, to minimize the temporary damage caused by silica and sulfur in the water. Also because of the silica, we were told not to dunk our heads into the water.
Soaking in the blue lagoon was one of the most memorable experiences of our trip. After soaking in the lagoon for over 2.5 hours, we still did not feel like coming out. Such was the soothing and healing effect it had on us. Subs, who had a hairline fracture in his foot, said that he felt much relief in his foot after the soak.
The water was about 3 to 4.5 ft deep in the areas that we explored. The water in the blue lagoon is actually white! If you pour it into a transparent cup (like I did), you will notice that it has a milky white color. It is the reflection from the sky that makes it blue! We waddled along a large area of the lagoon and I made good use of the silica face pack that they supplied in the middle of the lagoon. We also enjoyed a good water massage under the warm water fall and the steam room in the lagoon. It was difficult to spot all our friends all the time because of the steam rising all around and because we had to perch our glasses on our heads :). We all met up after the soak in the Lava restaurant. The Lava restaurant is built in a stunning lava cliff and it combines modern design with the wild spirit of Icelandic nature. We relished it especially after the relaxing soak in the blue lagoon.
In recent years, several cosmetics companies have begun marketing skin care products using mud extracted from the Blue Lagoon. There is a store next to the restaurant where they sold these products, which some of our friends purchased.
When we returned to the bus feeling blissfully relaxed, our wonderful guide Guðný announced that she had prevailed upon the tour company to take us on a northern lights tour again that night. No words could have sounded sweeter than those at that time. She also told us that she would pray to the “little hidden people” around to make the aurora show up that night. It was Mohima’s birthday that day and I so…. wanted the Aurora to light up the sky for her birthday.
On the way back, she told us several interesting stories about Iceland. One fascinating tidbit was about Icelandic names. Icelanders have continued to use the traditional name system, originally used by all Nordic countries. Everyone here is known by his/her first name and even telephone directories are listed by first names. Women do not take their husband’s last name after marriage. Generally, a person's last name indicates the first name of their father or in some cases mother. Traditionally, Icelandic surnames end in -son or -dóttir with few exceptions. You will notice that all three members of the illustrative family tree below have different last names!
Before 1925, it was legal to adopt new family names. But since 1925, one cannot adopt a family name unless one explicitly has a legal right to do so through inheritance.
Another curious and astounding fact is that there is an Icelandic naming committee, which was established in 1991. It maintains an official register of approved Icelandic given names and it also governs the introduction of new given names into the culture of Iceland. A name not already on the official list of approved names, must be submitted to the naming committee for approval. This committee considers if the new name is suitable for integration into the country's language and culture and if it might cause the bearer any embarrassment. Gender-inappropriate names are normally not allowed. With some exceptions, names must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet. There are 32 letters in the Icelandic alphabet, out of which 14 are vowels. Icelandic uses the Latin alphabet and as you might have guessed there are some letters that are not found in the English language.
Guðný also told us that the Icelandic woman, like her Viking ancestor, is fiercely independent and very strong. It is illegal to pay a woman (or for that matter, even an immigrant) less than her male counterpart for the same job. The parliament in Iceland currently has about 40% women now and they are concerned because this is one of the lowest percentage that they have had in a long time. They recently elected a young 41 year old lesbian woman (Katrín Jakobsdóttir) as their prime minister. She is highly revered in the country. Icelanders are highly liberal folks. Regarding marriage and divorce, she said that the institution of marriage is not very important to them. Children born out of wedlock are not looked down upon. The rate of divorce is very high. After divorce, there are no long legal battles. In all cases, both parents have to care equally for the children and there is no concept of alimony.
Icelandic people are very interested in the country’s affairs and believe that each one can make a difference. That was quite a breath of fresh air for me! In 2008, after the financial crisis, people congregated and protested every day until the leaders abdicated their positions. In 2008, Iceland was hit heavily by the financial crisis when all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks went belly up. Relative to the size of its economy, the banking collapse was the largest experienced by any country in world history. Subsequent to the collapse though, Iceland pulled off a miracle economic escape. Disgruntled Icelanders forced their prime minister to quit. The new leadership diversified its industry from fish and aluminum to tourism, renewable energy and information technology. Its GDP, already among the highest in the world per capita, is now well above the pre-crisis level.
Why is the aluminum industry so popular in Iceland? On average it takes about 16 kWh of electricity to produce 1 kg of aluminum, making aluminum smelting a highly energy intensive process. In Iceland aluminum plants can be operated with hydropower or geothermal power rather than electricity that is generated by fossil fuels. This power is both cheap, renewable and leaves minimal, if any, carbon footprint. Icelanders, however, are not happy with the foreign-owned aluminum plants in Iceland because they do not pay any taxes, based on some political arrangement in the past.
Iceland is a socialistic country where the population pays 36 to 47% of its income in income tax. People earning up to $8000 per month pay 37% and those earning above pay 47% (To give an idea, most doctors work for the state and earn from 14000 to 16000 dollars per month. 1 US dollar is abour 105 Icelandic Krona, the Icelandic currency.) Education and health care are both provided by the state.
Education - Icelanders have four phases of schooling; playschool (under 6), elementary school (from 6-16), upper secondary (from 16 to 19/20) and college. Elementary school education is compulsory. Education is funded by the state, even up to university level. A few private schools and colleges exist in the country, where standard of education is not as good. Only those who can afford and need extra attention attend private schools. All learn 3 to 4 languages at school and are well equipped to go abroad where languages like English, Danish, German etc. are spoken. Many Icelanders go abroad for higher education. The US is a favorite place for higher studies.
Healthcare – Every family pays for their medial and medicines bill up to about $300 per year. Any expenditure beyond that amount are borne by the state. (Ingibjörg gave us this piece of information, but Guðný later told us that medical costs are higher than that. So, we had slightly contradicting inputs on this front.)
Most Icelanders are well travelled. They travel as much outside their country as they do inside. This is, perhaps, a reason for their impressive perspective of life. They treat immigrants with respect. I did not feel like an outsider even once during my stay. They know more about India and Indians than the average American. They seem to love Indians. They say we are very good at learning their language and adapting to their country. (Not sure if they said it to please us. But, I want to believe it’s true. :) )
After hearing all these stories from our guide, we returned to our hotel at about 2:30 pm and with permission from the front desk of the hotel, heated up paranthas, teplas, and paneer makhni that we had carried with us and had a fulfilling and delicious Indian lunch. At about 4 pm, we set out to explore downtown Reykjavik. We found our stroll along their main street quite interesting for many of the artefacts, signs, and graffiti that gave us a sense of how liberal people of the land are. It was an invigorating walk too since the winds were low, and the weather brisk. Atish and I also visited a beautiful art gallery with art by local artists – water color and oil paintings, pencil drawings, thread work and combinations of these. We quite enjoyed the artistry and display.
We returned and donned some more layers of clothing to get ready for the northern lights tour. Our guide Ingibjörg told us that the solar activity index was zero :( that night, but the skies were clear. She asked us to collectively wish for the lights. This time, she took us to a really dark place by a large lake. The setting itself was so beautiful and being under the dark cloudless sky filled with bright stars lit up our spirit. There was even something spiritual about it. As we were waiting there, we even saw several shooting stars. Atish held court there, explaining the various constellations to an inquisitive audience. This was a bonus trip for us and the probability of sighting Aurora was very low. Still somehow, I was confident that we will see the lights that night. And lo and behold, the solar activity index went up to 1 and we were able to see the aurora light up the sky. I was exhilarated and moved, in the knowledge that someone up above was looking out for us and wanted to definitely put up a special show for Mohima’s birthday. In gratitude, I teared up a bit.
I must say that our long exposure camera caught a more impressive photo than what we saw with our naked eyes. But, we were definitely happy with what we saw this time. It is perhaps difficult to fathom how satisfied and grateful we felt towards our tour company which went above and beyond the call of duty, to make it possible.
Day 3
This day was reserved for the 300 km long Golden circle tour. We set out on our golden circle tour, bright and early at 8:30 am in the morning. We first headed to the Hellisheidavirkjun geothermal plant. The power plant offers educational tours and presentations about sustainable energy. These geothermal plants use the heat that is continually produced in the layer of hot and molten rock, called magma below the Earth's crust. Highest underground temperatures are attained at ‘hot spot’ regions with active or geologically young volcanoes at tectonic plate boundaries. Iceland being one such region, the geology of the land makes it amenable for the generation of geothermal energy, which is fully renewable. There are five major geothermal power plants in Iceland, which produce over a quarter of the nation's electricity needs. The other three quarters are met by hydro power. Geothermal heating meets the heating and hot water requirements of practically all of Iceland. During winters, they run the waste hot water that was used to generate electricity under major highways to keep them clear of snow and ice. Cool, isn’t it?
This plant generates electricity by drawing a mixture of superheated water and steam from 2 kilometers below ground, near the magma layer. The location where it is optimal to drill is determined by geologists. The water rises automatically because of the high pressure at lower depths. The superheated water goes through turbines which turn the generators which that generate electricity. The plant we visited created about 300 MW of electricity.
Potable water is also drawn from underground, but from a higher level (about 500 m to 800m). Cold potable water is drawn from a high aquifer and hot water for homes from a few hundred feet below the cold-water aquifer. The steam and hot water mixture used to generate electricity then passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal water heating system. Hot and cold water come into homes in two different pipes. The insulated hot water pipe that we saw at the geothermal station was about 6 ft in diameter and we were told it lost only about 2 degrees C by the time it reached people’s homes. Water from drinking is simply run through filters and no other processing is required. Icelanders are very proud of their water, which indeed tastes very good. They say that the water from their faucets is cleaner and tastier than bottled water. (Water from the hot water faucets taste a bit of sulfur because it is drawn from a deeper level.) They say that their beer is one of the best because of the water it is made from.
Most of the used water is pumped back into the water, to replenish the water underground. We asked if there have been any major seismic or volcanic activity since the plant went functional. They said that there were minor earthquakes every day when they were drilling into the ground and that stabilized in a few months.
Electricity and water are quite cheap in Iceland and Icelanders take long hot water showers and baths, without feeling guilty. They keep their homes quite warm too.
From the geothermal plant, we drove to a horse farm, to see a horse show. The Icelandic horse is special and a breed developed indigenously in Iceland. To protect their horses from any disease that a foreign horse might be carrying, Iceland does not allow horses from other countries to enter Iceland, Even previously exported Icelandic horses are not allowed to return.
Icelandic horses though small, are still horses, not ponies. These handsome and gentle Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. These horses display two gaits (Tölt, and Pace), in addition to the typical walk, trot, and canter/gallop commonly displayed by other breeds. The Tölt is similar to the trot, but is a very smooth four-beat gait which, while reaching speeds similar to fast trotting, is much less jolting to the rider. In the horse show, the lady riding the horse demonstrated this by carrying a glass of water with the horse Tölting, when hardly any water spilled from the water glass she was carrying, while in the trot, a lot of water spilt out. In Pace, the hooves on the same side touch the ground together. Often called the Flying Pace, this gait can equal the speed of a full gallop and is used in Iceland for racing. To Icelanders, riding at the Flying Pace is considered the crown of horsemanship.
After the horse show, we were taken to the sheds where the horses were housed. We were allowed to pet the horses and take pictures with them. They offered to pick us up from our hotel the next day for an experience of riding these horses. Much as I wanted to, I deferred it for my next trip to Iceland.
From the horse show, we went to see the Stokkur Geysir, one of Iceland’s most famous attractions. Geysir has given its name to geysers the world over. While the main geyser on the site hasn’t erupted for years, its smaller yet still impressive cousin Strokkur dutifully shoots a stream of boiling hot water and steam up to 30 metres into the air every few minutes. Around the Stokkur, there are a myriad small geysers, hissing and bubbling. What was striking was that there were pools and streams of super hot water right next to beautiful frozen grass blades and frozen ground. Guðný had warned us not to touch the water in the streams, even if it looked placid. We confirmed this by the rate at which a piece of ice dropped in it melted :)
From the geyser, we went to Gullfoss (golden falls in English). The weather got quite cold and windy here and we were advised to wear the crampons. We walked over to the falls, admiring this massive, beautiful waterfall created by millions of gallons of glacial meltwater plunging into a deep crevice. Some of the falls had frozen in action, in the middle of other fast flowing water falls. This water fall and its surrounding area was once endangered by a proposed power station to be built by a British company. The falls were saved by the unrelenting efforts of a local peasant woman Tómasdóttir. Back then Tómasdóttir’s father — a sheep farmer named Tómas Tómasson from the nearby village of owned Gullfoss. While Tómasson declined to sell the rugged area to an Englishman who wanted to build a hydroelectric plant, he did agree to lease his land to generate power. This decision that deeply troubled his daughter, Tómasdóttir. She fretted over what might happen to her beloved falls. Though not formally educated, this woman dug into her savings and sought a lawyer (Sveinn Björnsson ) for help. (aside: Sveinn Björnsson, years later became Iceland’s first president.) The case dragged on for years and after all her struggles, eventually, the rental lease was canceled. There is a plaque honoring her at the falls. We bowed our head in front of her, to thank her for her tenacious and incessant struggle, to preserve Gullfoss. The last site on a Golden Circle route was Þingvellir (spelt Thingvellir in English). We drove on the mid-atlantic ridge. This is one of the two places in the world where Mid-Atlantic tectonic plate boundary is visible on land. The boundary was between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates. (the other is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Africa.) These two plates separate by about 2 inches every year, one inch towards America and one towards Eurasia. The landscape and the scenery were outstandingly striking and unique – nothing like what we have seen before.
It was around 24 million years ago that Iceland first rose from the ocean as a collection of volcanoes spewing lava and gas. Perched atop the rift between the divergent North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, the environment of this north Atlantic island is today still wrought by fire, ice and a tempestuous climate. Eruptions, earthquakes, mud pools, fumaroles and spouting geysers are all part of daily Icelandic life. There is an earthquake somewhere in Iceland everyday somewhere in the country. While the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland caused tens of thousands of international flights to be canceled, Icelanders were minimally disturbed by it and felt it was an over-reaction. Icelandic terrain might seem scary to outsiders, almost like a different planet. But, Icelanders across this primal land revel in its natural breathtaking beauty and feel blessed by the terrain for enabling cheap and climate-friendly energy production that the land offers. Nothing seems to make sense, but it all fits together perfectly.
Icelanders are very green conscious. The biggest pollutant for them is automobiles, for every family owns 2 or 3 cars. Electric cars like Tesla are getting slowly popular even though the battery life of electric cars is less than 50% at such cold temperatures. I noticed that they are much more conservative with the use of paper napkins, tissues and other paper products.
Þingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage site where the Vikings established the world’s first democratic parliament in AD 930. We took a 30-min walk in the national park. On a windswept winter's day, walking amongst the site's jagged boulders and soaring rock walls, it's not hard to imagine Viking chiefs convening here to settle disputes and govern the place. There is a flag post in the middle, where they believed the parliament building once stood. When I asked why they did not erect a monument to commemorate the first parliament there, Guðný told us that they refrained from doing so since they did not know the exact location. They just know it was within that half a kilometer radius. I was impressed with the honesty.
We were fortunate with the weather on all three days. Icelandic winter is in general said to be warmer than New York or Boston winter. It is the wind speed that can often reach 40 mph in the lowlands that makes one feel bitterly cold. Iceland is supposed to be the windiest inhabited place in the world. But, on all three days of our tours, winds were low, no snow, and no rain. Days were sunny. Our experience might have been different otherwise. We did not wear our snow pants even once, nor the hand and toe warmers which we purchased in the last minute. Layered clothing was the key.
Other things we learned about Icelanders
Their love for books - Guðný often talked about books and urged us to spend our free time in a bookstore. She said bookstores are open till late at night and we should not miss the opportunity. She was particularly proud of one author Halldór Laxness, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1955. He is the only Nobel laureate from Iceland to date. Guðný told us that he was a good friend of Ernst Hemingway and translated some of his works in Icelandic. She strongly recommended 2 books by him, “the Independent people” and “Fish can sing”, which are translations of his work in English.
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. Most of the books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November because it a national tradition to give books as Christmas gifts. They call this major sale of books around Christmas “Jolabokaflod” (the Christmas Book Flood). The culture of giving books as presents is very deeply rooted in how families perceive Christmas as a holiday. They give the presents on the night of the 24th and people spend the night reading. It is the backbone of the publishing sector here in Iceland.
The Sagas of Icelanders – These sagas are also known as family sagas and are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature. It is believed that sagas were conscious artistic creations, based on both oral and written tradition. Some of these are mandatory reading in the school curriculum. Guðný said that she still enjoys going to a book store and losing herself in reading one of the sagas. Six degrees of separation – In Iceland, it seems it is more like 2 or 3 degrees. They say that when two Icelandic strangers meet, they will figure out a connection within 1.5 minutes! Not a big surprise, given the small population and concentration of the population around Reykjavik. Atish says this finding a connection within 2 minutes is also true of Tambrams :)
Nature of people: I found the general populace of Iceland very liberal and accepting of other cultures. Not once did I feel that I was treated differently because of my skin color or my accent. I found them very genuine and honest and they usually did not sweat the small stuff. All business transactions were quick and straight forward, not much bureaucracy involved. All the people who I interacted with, came across as very genuine and honest people.
Climate and health – I went to Iceland with a cold and cough, but both disappeared in a day! I was worried that I was going to a cold country. But, I felt that as long as one knows how to protect oneself from the cold, the place is good for health. My experience was just anecdotal. But on this note, Guðný told us that Iceland has one of the top ranks for life expectancy and it has been steadily increasing in the past decades. Why? Guðný said that Iceland now has one of the highest per capita income, which enable well-funded public health programs and state-of-the-art medical care that have made a great impact on life expectancy charts.
Another factor could be their hardscrabble past too. For most of its history, Iceland was a very hard place to live in. From the time of Viking settlers, people constantly fought and killed each other. Even by the 19th century, Iceland was desperately poor and uneducated, with one of the highest infant mortality rates. Current day Icelanders may carry especially robust “survivor genes” bequeathed to them by ancestors who survived the country’s evolutionary crucible.
Time management and work ethics - I was very impressed by their time management skills. It reminded me of Germans who I had interacted with quite a bit professionally. Our tour guide and the bus driver were always on time or before time and managed to stick to the schedule with at the most 5 minutes delay (caused by us tourists from the USA). I noticed that all did their jobs diligently and were courteous to us at all times. I want to cite one example of their work ethics here. Atish lost his glasses in the blue lagoon, where about 2000 people visit every day. When we reported that the glasses were missing, they left no stone unturned to look for them in all plausible places. When they could not find, they asked Atish to fill up a form reporting the loss. Every day since then, they were giving us daily updates that they still had not found them. Four days later, voila, they found them. They sent us pictures and told us that the glasses were unscratched and in good condition. No sooner did we pay for the postage, they shipped the glasses to the US. I am very impressed with their work ethic and efficiency.
Day 4
This was the day we were to catch a flight back to the US. Some of our friends picked up fresh loaves of bread – hard on the outside and super soft spongy on the inside. We took it easy at the hotel. Atish played pool with one of our group members, while we chit-chatted.
We left for the airport by a bus at about 1:30 pm. We reached the airport well in time for our flight. Guðný went totally above and beyond the call of duty at the airport. She dragged our luggage in, checked us in in the highly automated machines at Keflavik airport. She then took our bags and placed them on the conveyor belt. We did not meet a single airport personnel during the check-in process. With the rising number of tourists to Iceland, the airport has improved self-service automation for passengers immensely.
As we boarded our flight to DC on schedule, we left with mixed feelings, very happy with the experience that we had in this wonderful country and feeling a bit sad to leave the place. I told myself that I must visit the land again in summertime and see parts of the country that we did not get a chance to visit.
Here is a link to the photos – enjoy!
