Most of us have travel aspirations to touch the ends of the world. At Kosha we are lucky to meet people who are following their passion. In conversation with Parag and Nidhi we discover the magic of Iceland.
WHY ICELAND?
Parag had started following the Icelandic National football team when they were just coming up. What fascinated him was that the population of Iceland was less than 5 lakh people and it already had a team which almost qualified for the world cup.
They also saw a beautiful video shot by NASA from the satellite where the Northern Lights are on the North Pole. They used to watch this TV show called Sense 8. One of the characters is from Iceland and many beautiful shots were shot across Iceland and since then they wanted to see the Northern Lights.
FINALLY… IN ICELAND
Parag and Nidhi visited Iceland in the last week of March to watch the Northern Lights because from April the summer starts so the chances of seeing the Northern lights are less.
EXPERIENCING THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Parag and Nidhi went to catch the sighting of Northern Lights twice; both the times they went by Sterna Travels. Nidhi says, “They give you hot chocolate at 12/ 12:30 in the middle of the night which feels really nice.”
The first time the tours took them deep inside the national park about one and a half hour from Reykjavík and there it was very cold. It was an open area – one side there were the mountains and the other side there was a lake and almost for an hour and a half, there was no activity. Finally, they spotted some activity at a far- off distance. The tour guides got to know that there is a better sighting at another place. When they reached the other place they couldn’t see it properly as there was a lot of light.
The second time the forecast was quite high. They were quite confident about catching the sighting. The tour took us to a small place which was surrounded by small hills. So they had to climb on top of the hill. When they reached the top that’s when it started. Northern Lights were from one end to the other. It was like that for hours. That is when they understood the magic of Northern Lights.
BLUE LAGOON EXPERIENCE
Ideally one should go to Blue Lagoon as soon as one has landed in Iceland or while leaving as this place is closer to the airport. So Parag and Nidhi booked a slot online and reached Blue Lagoon at around 5’o clock. It was like one hot water pool.
When they reached Blue Lagoon, it was about 4 degrees outside. The extremely low temperature makes the journey from the shower until the hot water pool torturous. On entering the hot water they felt that it was just divine. Natural body masks are kept around so that you can apply it on your body.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN AT BLUE LAGOON
They were advised that they must come out of the water every 1 hour or so or else they would get dehydrated.
WHAT TO PACK
Their biggest concern was buying the correct winter clothing for Iceland. They believe that in order to enjoy the place they have to be in the right clothes. They found it extremely difficult to find the right winter clothes. And their quest ended when they came across Prrems. “When we visited the store we were relaxed and chilled and now we felt prepared for the trip,” said Parag.
SNOOZE TIME
They always book an Airbnb to experience the local culture and the local place.
ADVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME TRAVELLERS
The weather in Iceland is extremely unpredictable. You always have to wear layered clothes and be prepared for sunshine in one minute and it could rain or snow in another 5 minutes. Plan your activities after checking the weather for the next 4/5 days. Especially the Northern Lights. There is a forecast every day and the travels operate only if there is a chance of catching the Northern Lights.
WHAT TO EAT
Nidhi is a vegetarian. The climate in Iceland is not conducive to grow vegetables naturally. Vegetarian food was difficult to find and it was very expensive as compared to nonvegetarian. When they went outside to eat they mostly found Burgers and cold sandwiches. Eventually, they thought that they could make better than this at home so Parag and Nidhi started making Sandwiches at home. Reykjavik also has 5 – 7 Indian restaurants and there are a lot of Vegan restaurants as well.
Most of their local cuisine is bland. Parag being a non-vegetarian tried the fish, meat, etc. and the taste is different as the food does not have spices. It was not as tasty as the food in India. Parag wouldn’t rate the food in Iceland very highly.
FAVOURITE LOCAL ICELANDIC FOOD
They have something called Skyr. It is a milk product. It is like flavoured yoghurt with very high calcium, and proteins etc. it is very tasty.
OTHER TOURS
In total Nidhi and Parag did 3 tours. One of the longest tours took them to 2 waterfalls and a beach in the south of Iceland. At Skogáfoss falls they could go behind the waterfall but they didn’t go because it was very cold.
Then they went to the black beach. “For me, it was the highlight of the tour,” says Parag. It has fine black sand and is an untouched beach. This tour covered large distances across Iceland
One of their tours included glacier walk. It had snowed that night and when they had stepped out of the house they stepped directly on the snow. Parag and Nidhi had never seen a snowfall. They have 2 photographs from Skogáfoss taken from the same spot; one is green in colour and the second is in white in colour.
In Iceland, there are a lot of geysers. Golden Circle tour covers Strokkur geyser, Gullfoss waterfalls and Thingvellir National Park. And that day it was cave walking. This tour covers a lot of waterfalls, volcanoes and glacier that’s why it is called ICE AND FIRE.