One rainy afternoon, Aysha and I rented a dune buggy to drive around the island. It must’ve cost something like €40 for the day, I can’t be too sure, but it wasn’t very pricey. I have to say we did well in terms of exploring the small island – we rented a jeep and circled pretty much the whole island one day, and cycled over 30km on another! Oh and also did a boat tour.

Do you think I passed as ‘looking cool’? I tried!

It was grey that day but still warm enough. Pretty good for the end of October, really.

We had so many funny mishaps with the buggy!

First of all.. we tried to ascent a too-steep bend and the engine died multiple times. Seeing no other way, we took turns going behind the buggy to push it, whilst the other stayed behind the wheel to navigate.

It was just so stupid, because there I’d be, huffing and puffing and pushing with all my might, but the buggy would move NOT ONE INCH. We laughed so much and nearly had a stomach ache.. and actually, I can’t remember how we got it up in the end..

Anyway. Along the way we spotted this sign.. so we followed it and found a really scenic place for a snack/drink.

With a menu like this, who could resist??

But really, I love rabbit and I LOVE octopus.
Please, meat is meat.. rabbit is no different from chicken. 

I apologise for the terrible quality of pics.. (compact cam)

Although it was – as you can see – rather a grey day.. it was in fact super lovely. The island was quiet as it was off-peak in in regards to the tourist calendar.. and we had a relaxing drink overlooking the sea. The blue, blue sea!

I remember for some reason I was really craving chips that day. Well, I crave chips pretty much every day…

We drove town into the little town square, which was quite empty on a weekday afternoon.

I thought my parking was pretty good. Under the tree, because it was starting to rain. See, I can be sensible too!

There was a small market nearby and we went to see what sorts of things they sold in Greek markets.

The answer is: GIANT ONIONS. (or possibly garlic..?)

And just so you can get an idea of their size..

Isn’t it fascinating?? (by that I mean ‘what the f’)

I had never seen white pea pods before!

Oh one of my favourite vegetables ever – okra! Or ‘ladies fingers’, as we call them back home (Malaysia). Though the ones I’m used to are a darker green, slimmer and longer.

I liked the pink tips on these ones..

Aysha is absolutely in love with baclava, so we stopped by a corner-store bakery so we could pick her up some.

The rest of our journey continued to be hilarious…

It started to rain. And we got stuck in peak-hour traffic – when everyone had finished work. Our little buggy went so slowly relative to all those REAL cars. So on an uphill stretch, we went along like a tortoise with only three legs, and held up all the traffic.

At times like this, what can you do really, other than.. snap a picture of your own face??!

All in all, I had a fantastic day. Everything was spontaneous (as it mostly is in my life) and it didn’t even matter that we were under the rain half the time. Time with Aysha is always super funny and we end up in so many ridiculous situations together.

Like the time we almost missed our cruise ship back from Spain, having to use the disabled persons’ ramp to get in since the normal-people-ramps had closed. With everyone watching from the deck, knowing that we had caused the delay. This was after hitching a ride from strangers (forcing ourselves into their car) and her having peed herself a little from the excitement/anxiety. Haha!

🙂

We ended the night with wine and some kinda of UNO game.. don’t ask me.. I’m not very well versed with card games. I just bring the masks.

Boo!

I haven’t been back to Greece since and that was my first and only time in the country. I think I’ve been missing out, haven’t I?

Perhaps it could be my next obsession (my current one is Portugal – duh – and previously it was Italy).

You can book holidays to Greece via Thomas Cook (don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it, right? Haha).

They’ve got pretty good deals for lots of resorts on all the different islands. Perhaps something to consider for the next year.. Greece 2014 here I come!

*This post was brought to you in collaboration with Thomas Cook! 🙂

The post Zakynthos – Our Dune Buggy Adventure! appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

I booked a place for myself on a desert safari.. and here are my photos from it!

You’ll have to excuse the poor quality of the images since I was using some kinda crappy compact camera of that.. era.

Looking back, I can’t believe what an amateur traveller I was.. but I’m also amazed at how much I’ve grown and changed since. I’ve invested so much in myself! This is what I tell my parents or people who question the amount of time and money I spend on travelling: “It’s an investment in MYSELF. Personal development!”

I am now awesome – I am confident, happy, and I can speak to anyone about anything.

Anyway, back to this desert safari.. I chose this day to write about as it was my favourite thing about my trip. Something I loved much more than the skyscrapers and all the other modern, shiny stuff that’s normally associated with Dubai.

^
^Just a scene along the way to the desert

I was amazed by how… ORANGE it was!

Once we arrived at the desert, the tyres of the cars (or jeeps?) had to be deflated before we could do the ‘dune bashing’, a.k.a. driving around the soft mounds of sand in a ridiculous, crazy way to produce as many jerky, rollercoaster-like movements as possible. Supposed to be fun!

See! I’m not the only crazy one.. I was so pleased to see these people rolling down the hill, without a care about sand getting into their clothes.. or even their mouths.

We had a chance to explore the area before the ‘dune bashing’ began.

I wandered around taking a few photos before sitting down with my own thoughts; shoes off. I remember thinking that just 24 hours before, I had been with my family. I don’t know why I thought that, because obviously it just made me sad again as I started missing them and wishing they were there to enjoy the beautiful view with me. But hey.. homesickness, it really takes over your mind (and your heart) when you have it.

I was lucky to have Dino as company.. his bright pink body really helped liven things up a little!

I can’t remember how long the ‘dune bashing’ segment lasted, but it was indeed really fun. It wasn’t as crazy as I’d hoped it to be, but then again, I AM kind of a crazy person who can endure a lot of.. motion, so… (the other people in the car said it was ‘mad’)

After the ride, there was a stop for camel rides.

I’d ridden one in Egypt before so it wasn’t such a novelty, but of course I went and had a go anyway..

I remember that a Brazilian couple kindly took these photos for me. How kind of them! I was a bit shy to ask back then, and they noticed I was alone so they offered their help with the camera.

Riding a camel is like riding a tall and wonky horse. It feels more unstable.. but it’s fun, cos you’re higher up! Also, you get to sit on what looks like a carpet.. Haha

Soon, the sun started to descend and we were driven to a place where everything was already set up for us to have a nice BBQ dinner and watch some belly dancing.

I had the opportunity to befriend a bird.
But I was shy even to speak to birds, especially as I didn’t speak Bird (I still don’t).

See THIS is why I take pics of food! I was trying to remember what the food was like.. and simply couldn’t. But then this picture popped up and I was like ‘Aaaaah THAT’S what I ate’.

I can’t remember if it was amazing or not, but I know I didn’t complain.

Music was playing all evening and the sky was clear. I sat next to a French family. I think the thing that made this experience so ‘intimidating’ for me was that there were no other solo travellers in the group. It was mostly families and couples, and maybe some groups of friends. I totally felt like the odd one out.

I sat quietly and ate my meal alone, while taking the occasional video of the entertainment around me. I remember being annoyed at my non-iPhone phone having such terrible reception that I couldn’t even call or text my friends.

I let myself wallow in my own loneliness for a few minutes.

And then I looked around and up at the stars, realising what a GREAT day I’ve had and what a beautiful night it was. There I was, having dinner, in a desert, somewhere in the Middle East, with a bunch of strangers. It was fab and I told myself to refocus my mind on the NOW.

It was tough, but I tried my best (I’m a pro at it now).

Plus, I got to enjoy a most magnificent sunset.

Obviously, if I were to have this experience now, in 2013, I would’ve ended up with a bunch of new friends and a collection funny photos!

I do plan on re-visiting Dubai, this time armed with ME V2 and a better camera. Emirates operates flights to Dubai from all over the world. I could easily stop there for a few days on the way to Malaysia. In fact, I’ve recently booked my flights for January with them – they’re my preferred airlines to go home with because I quite like breaking up the travel time into two halves. AND Dubai airport is quite an enjoyable place to be spending one or two hours – good shopping, and free wifi 😉

I might also add that Emirates uses the A380 for that route and offers in-flight wifi..

Have you been to Dubai before? What did you think? 

The post Dubai – Braving the Desert Safari Alone appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

^That’s the visitor info/ticket office building on the right.. isn’t it cute?

^ I think perhaps this is where the boats would’ve gone from..

It was all very quiet.. barely anyone else around. You could HEAR the icebergs sometimes! They clicked as they touched each other.

Or.. it could be your idiot friend trying to hurl giant ice blocks into the lagoon:

Or trying to use one as a headpiece

We are all idiots really..

^ I – C – E ???

And then I lost my iPhone…

I only realised my phone was missing when we were getting in the car. You know that momentary PANICKY feeling you get when you’ve just realised something’s missing?? I hate that!

I ran back and had to comb the whole shoreline looking for it.. hoping that it’d be there. Trying to find a WHITE iPhone at a glacier lagoon full of.. ice. Great. Eventually, to my BIG relief, I did find it. Lying there all wet and cold.. because us dumbos were too busy playing a game of ‘see who can throw stones onto the icebergs and have one land there without slipping into the water’.

In our defence it was a really fun game. I didn’t realise how BOUNCY ice was. The stones would bounce and skip off the icebergs so enthusiastically. Obviously I had thrown one so vigorously (excited haha) that my phone fell out..

It’s so funny because in the photo above, you can see my phone lying next to me on the ground as I made another throw -_-

‘Til next post! 😉

The post Iceland Day 4 – Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Winter appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

I love the blackness of the basalt sand. Above you can see a couple of basalt rock fingers/stacks in the distance, which are leftovers from a sea-battered cliffline that was once there.

The sea was rough and the waves were strong. We all stood watching it for a long time.. sort of absorbing its energy and marvelling its power. I imagined what it would be like swimming there. Or surfing there. I couldn’t decide what would kill me first – drowning or hypothermia.

^Here’s a video I took so you can get more of a feel!

The waves would bash the shore so hard that there would be such a huuuuge area of foam each time.

Sometimes, we would be so engrossed in our awe that we don’t realise the foam creeping up to TOUCH us. We’d suddenly realise and run away screaming.. it was so much FUN! It’s like playing catch with the sea. It’s a game I regularly enjoy at the beach, but I have to say, this one in Vík was my fastest and most exciting opponent yet.

DINNER AT HOTEL PUFFIN/HOTEL LUNDI

Following tips on TripAdvisor, we went to Hotel Puffin to eat. There wasn’t much choice in Vík really, especially since it was winter/off-peak season as well.

There are two main meats in Iceland – fish and lamb. By this time we were accustomed to most restaurant menus offering either one of these as a main. I think the menu is also more limited during winter season.

NOT that it bothered me – because Icelandic lamb is HEAVENLY. So soft, so tender, so juicy, so effing delicious!

^Dessert was apple crumble (pretty good). I also tried Lava Beer, a strong, pitch black beer with an alcohol content of over 9.4% (yesss). It had a rather chocolatey aroma. I liked it!

DAY 4 – DRIVING EAST

The next morning, we checked out of Volcano Hotel – which we LOVED – and started our journey to Jökulsárlón (the famous iceberg lagoon!) early. As we were passing Vík again, we stopped by to pick up supplies, like food… and an amazing wolf tail that I found at a souvenir shop, of course.

SOOOO this is what the place looks like in the daylight..

^This reminded me of Table Mountain in South Africa!

^Do you love the bits of ice on the ground? I did!

^Getting out photos.

The landscape was so vast and so empty. So strange and so overwhelming. So open and so exciting!

^Me with Zorro

^Iceland’s everchanging, ever-so-beautiful landscape.

^Jayna, the camera and photography enthusiast in our group.

She brought some fancy schmancy analog camera that opened up like a lunchbox. Or a jack-in-a-box. My eyes nearly popped out when she said it cost her £1000.

^Birds.. I thought this shot was rather National Georgraphic-esque? Don’t you think? Except that I took it with my iPhone and there probably needs to be more birds present..

^I LOVE THESE TWO PICS ABOVE

What kind of ALIEN landscape is that, right??  I was in a car on a road that was pretty much mine, staring at this STRANGE scene with the icy cold wind in my face. For a few short moments, I had left the planet and found another.

Laufskálavarða

One of Iceland’s oldest farms used to be here.. until it got disintegrated by the eruption of Katla (nearby volcano) in 894. That is, by the way, 1119 years ago..

*bimbo moment – sometimes I can’t quite grasp the fact that there were PEOPLE on this planet THAT long ago.. what more doing activities like FARMING. Didn’t they just live in caves and doodle on the walls?*

Laufskálavarða, the lava mound, was named after the farm. The tradition is that if you’re passing through for the first time, you add a stone to one of the bazillion stone cairns for good luck on your journey.

Honestly, they looked like piles of poo.

^I tried to ‘be one’ with Laufskálavarða.

^Erm..

^Here’s a video of us goofing around on an ice puddle 🙂

ICELANDIC HORSES

We passed by some of these curious horses loitering around the fence and stopped to say hello.

I patted a couple of them. But I don’t really understand Horse.. what more Icelandic Horse, so I wasn’t sure what they tried to say to me. We left them a bite of an apple. I’m not sure if they ate it in the end.

^Remnants/steel beams of a bridge that was DESTROYED by glacial floods caused by a volcanic eruption in 1996. Can you believe the bridge was demolished by a bunch of GIANT ICE BLOCKS?

Next up: Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon.

Want more tips on how to make your trip to Iceland AWESOME? Check out TinyIceland! It’s one of my favourites.

The post Iceland Day 4 – Vík Black Sand Beach / Laufskálavarða / Driving East appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

People always ask me, ‘WHY? HOW?’ What did you DO?’ with immense curiosity. Here’s how.

When I arrived at the rather rural Castelnaudary train station, Blanche, the woman who owned the farm, came to pick me up with her car. From the moment we met, I knew she took a certain disliking to me. I could tell by the way she looked at me and by her body language. You know when you just KNOW?

She clearly wasn’t interested in me or in getting to know me. I endured a super awkward car ride that lasted 20 minutes. Nevertheless, I filled my mind with only positive thoughts and convinced myself that she simply wasn’t the talkative type.

When the car pulled up in the driveway, she got out and.. left me there. Again, no matter.

“I have arms and legs.. it’s fine I’ll carry all my bags up myself!”

I was then distracted and struck by how eccentric and pretty the whole place was (click here for more). I met Bernard, her French/Moroccan husband. He had been a chef for over 30 years and was quite the quirky man. He was friendly and funny and warm, unlike Blanche the iron woman.

I felt slightly disappointed that there were no other volunteers like myself at the farm. BUT, after unloading my things in the bedroom upstairs I sauntered down to get familiar with the house and surroundings; and Bernard introduced me to a German guy called Axel.

Axel was sort of a long-term volunteer who helped out at the farm in exchange for food, water, and electricity. He was a nomad. He lived in a caravan happily planted on a plot of land next to the farmhouse with…… his donkey, with whom he had travelled over 10,000km through Europe on foot!!

He also had quite a bushy beard and so I couldn’t help thinking of him as ‘Jesus’ in my mind…

Anyway, Axel was so friendly and accommodating, you would think that HE was the host. He showed me around the whole area and pointed out important things I should know. I met the two resident cats, the dog, and the old horse who lived close by.

After my ‘orientation’ was over, I got changed into some bathers (it was a sizzling 35 degrees celcius) and went along with Axel to take his donkey for a walk up and over a nearby hill. It was fun! I’d never walked a donkey before..

Eventually we reached a medium-sized lake. It wasn’t the most picturesque lake, but good enough for a quick swim while the donkey grazed on.. dried up shrubbery nearby. In that heat, getting into the water was like heaven!

On the way back, Axel told me more about his donkey (whose name I’ve clearly forgotten..so I’ll just call him Donkey) and the places they had been together. We had a nice chat about some serious things (like his decision to live nomadically) and some nonsense things (donkey poop). According to him, all he needs is himself and Donkey. He later showed me the little enclosed area he had built for Donkey near his caravan, and how Donkey would sometimes be cheeky and try to break through the fence… which was not even a real fence unless you consider two horizontal strings a fence, haha.

DAY 2

The next morning, as instructed by Blanche, I woke up and got ready very early. Had a rather awkward breakfast in the kitchen where she expected me to know where everything was. Luckily, I was saved by a cheerful Bernard who joined in soon.

I spent my first day working on one of the vegetable patches with everyone.. and boy was it hard work.  Hard, sweaty work. And who knew there were such a thing as gardening gear? Special rubbery shoes, gloves, hats, etc.

By the end of the afternoon, I was freaking knackered. I felt totally beaten down by the blazing sunshine. Like the sun had taken the form of a giant HOT shoe and stamped on me. ME, the sun-lover..

Anyway, sensing that I must’ve been a bit lonely without other young people around, Axel suggested that we walk to town to grab a drink, with Bernard. By ‘town’, it literally means one street, with an all-in-one cafe/bar/restaurant, one shop, and some essential amenities. It was the kind of place where everyone knew each other.. and their families. The cafe owner was really friendly and quite the entertaining clown 😉

We ate and drank and talked and stared into the night sky. As Blanche was rather cold and Bernard spoke little English, I spoke mostly with Axel. He liked to read a lot. He enjoyed the sound of thunder. He liked cold showers. He told me a bit more about his caravan and his nomadic life. He didn’t know where he was going next – I loved this fact about him. I was slightly envious. The four of us also shared a joint (this is an honest blog!), and so I have to say: it was a very nice night.

DAY 3 – KICKED-OUT DAY

On this morning, the men had gone away with the car to do some shopping. It was about 10am and I was working on the same vegetable patch, when Blanche comes up to me and abruptly tells me that she wanted me to leave.

In shock, I asked her why. She said some rather odd things, like ‘I don’t think you’re enjoying it’, and ‘You’re not doing it right’. I figured that they were all excuses for the simple fact that she didn’t like me, so I agreed that I would go by the afternoon (her terms). But who knows, maybe she was right – maybe I WAS really terrible at farm work! When the men returned, I could hear them having an argument with Blanche, questioning her actions. It was a little dramatic, and traumatic.

I admit I did cry a little in my room. I felt dejected, confused, and I didn’t know the answer to the most important question: WHERE TO GO/WHAT TO DO NOW?? 

My return flight was two weeks away and I had never really travelled solo before.

I logged into the one house computer with an internet connection and started researching. I emailed my close friends and looked at nearby farms I might be able to move to, but without much luck.

I later found comfort in Axel’s caravan. He’d invited me there so we could discuss the situation privately. He said he was sorry that this happened and that he was also as puzzled as I was.

Sensing that I was deflated, he started pulling out various maps and spread them all out on the table. I noticed that he kept a LOT of maps with him (well of course). We considered a number of options: I could travel farther inland up to Toulouse and then Bordeaux. Or I could go the coast, to Narbonne, down through Perpignan into Spain. He shared with me places he had been before where you could stay for free – such as a yoga/meditation retreat somewhere.. or a monastery. He knew heaps of things and lots of names of places I hadn’t even heard of! He was so kind, calm, and encouraging.

As I listened to him talk about my options, I realised something. I realised that.. THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY.

Suddenly, it became exciting. It was still a bit sh*t, but exciting. I saw the bright side.

I was free. I didn’t have to spend every day doing farm work. 
I could go off an EXPLORE!

^It was just you and I from here on, Goliath!

That afternoon, I packed my bags and said goodbye. Bernard gave me a long hug and whispered, ‘i’m really so sorry’. I told him I wouldn’t forget all those nifty cooking tips he’d given me. I thanked Axel being such a wonderful presence in my short-lived farm experience and wished him lots of luck on his next journey, wherever it might lead to.

At Castelnaudary train station, I politely hugged Blanche goodbye and thanked her for having me.

THE NEXT TWO WEEKS

I spent the first night in nearby Carcassonne.

^I went on a canal cruise and stopped to take pictures at a vineyard.

^I stopped in Marseilles for a while.

^I ended up in beautiful Nice, where I was fortunate enough to stay at the most fantastic hostel, Villa St Exupéry Gardens (thank you Ulf for having me).

^I learnt how to bake macarons (now a forgotten skill).

^I went canyoning in the Verdon Gorge (amazing).

^I went swimming by the Promenade des Anglais

^I made a day trip to Eze Village, one of the prettiest little towns in Europe.

^I went scuba diving at St Jean Cap Ferrat.

^I made friends and partied with three Australian girls.

^I sunbathed and swam in Cap D’Ail, a cute little beach just west of Monaco.

^I visited Monaco for the second time in my life.

^I finally got to see the leaning tower of Pisa.

^I fell in love with Florence (can you believe this is part of the riverbank there?).

^I met Tania and Ana, two South Americans whom I asked to please share a 1kg Bistecca Fiorentina (Florentine steak) with me.

^I went to Siena and watched the town prepare for Il Palio

^I climbed up a hill in San Gimignano, which was also home to ‘the best gelato in the world‘

Thank You Axel

The post The Summer I Found Myself appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

Tools I Used

I used two apps on my iPhone – Aurora Buddy and Aurora Forecast. I found the latter to be more useful – which explains why Aurora Buddy is now no longer existent.

Aurora Forecast is developed by TINAC and is available on both iOS and Android. It can be used for both northern and southern hemispheres and it’s great because it gives you hourly predictions of solar activity. This is part of what determines whether there are ‘lights’ in the sky or not. However, cloud cover is also an important element as obviously.. what’s the point of level 10 activity when it’s hidden away behind a thick blanket of crappy ol’ CLOUDS? This website by the Icelandic Met Office provides a good cloud cover forecast.

SADCars, our car rental company, also has a concise guide to hunting the Northern Lights in Iceland.

I don’t want to bore you with a bazillion photos, so here is a small selection of my favourites taken that night. All photos were taken using my old Olympus PEN or my friend’s Panasonic Lumix, not any fancy SLR camera.. hence why they might not look that awesome ;p

^Just at the entrance of the hotel.

I was lying on the cold hard ground whilst taking this photo. I remember staring up into the sky, camera tucked away, just enjoying the moment and thinking what a beautiful wonderful world it was (it IS).  And how fortunate I was to be there. Fortunate for the luxury of sight and happy to be alive.

It was all around us.. up above the hotel building, down towards the sea, and back beyond the mountains.

Sometimes they would disappear for a while, and then reappear when you least expect it. Almost like a tease!

We watched the lights dance – yes they really constantly move and change shapes.. like.. magic. There’s no better word, sorry 🙂

^Stars.

I couldn’t believe how incredibly lucky we were.. we stood in the freezing cold watching this magic for HOURS (about 3-4 hours I think), in the company of our fellow hotel guests. We were all mostly silent throughout, as if out of respect for the greatness that was happening in the sky.

Some people indulged themselves with large tripods and giant cameras planted firmly on the ground, creating videos using time-lapse photography (as each frame needs to have a long exposure).

The Camera vs. Your Eyes

It’s important to note that what you see with the naked eye is NOT like what you see in photographs of the aurora. The colours are much more vivid in a photo due to the long exposure and so they appear greener than they really are. What I witnessed that night was mostly a milder, more washed-out shade of green. Sometimes, the camera can even pick up bits of the rarer red or purple colours when actually you couldn’t see them in real life.

But the beauty of what you see with your own eyes is that you can experience the lights while they are ALIVE. Alive as they move, breathe, and dance for you!

I made sure not to spend too much time behind the camera. I wanted to watch, smell, feel, and listen with the best tools I had – my own mind and body.

Note from TinyIceland: When the forecast looks good like above 4-5 then you will see the green colors bright+other colors if lucky with the naked eye:)

[On the night these pics were taken, the forecast was about 3-4]

^Here is the one crappy pic that we managed to get with me in it.. haha

Final Tip

I want to stress that when I planned this trip, I constantly reminded my friends that seeing the northern lights was NOT the purpose of visiting Iceland. I wanted it to simply be a BONUS if we did see it, and if we didn’t, it would be completely fine because we would’ve made the best and most of our time there.

I made sure our itinerary was full of activities that did not include chasing down these lights. However, since we were driving the whole Ring Road, most nights were spent in ‘middle-of-nowhere’ locations where there were almost no light pollution (you need the sky to be as dark as possible, to increase the visibility of any solar activity). I also timed the trip to happen during the new moon (i.e. no moon), so as to at least give ourselves the best chance possible!

Have you seen the Northern Lights before? Tell me where and how much you LOVED it!

*For the rest of my Iceland posts, please see my Travel Log.

The post Iceland – Seeing The Northern Lights! appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

While he was up there, we were trying to descend a steep slope to meet him at the bottom of the wall. That was quite challenging and a bit scary.

Jayna (in purple/blue) decided she would try to move down slowly on her bum.

Meanwhile, Óskar had finished prepping and was coming down the wall.

I’m not sure what we were doing here, but I’m guessing we were talking about.. the wall. Haha!

Another shot of the steep slope we had to walk on earlier.

One of the other girls in our hiking group went first. I think she only made if a third of the way up before giving up and asking to be lowered back to the ground.

I decided that I would go second, so I could show her how it’s done. I’d never ice-climbed before but I mean.. how hard can it be really. It’s just kicking into ice and like.. walking up!

It turns out, it was BLOODY FREAKING HARD. After a (short) while, my arms were all wobbly.

Those ice picks are HEAVY! You should’ve seen me pathetically knocking them against the ice trying to get a grip.

But.. no matter. I made it to the top in the end!! Only two people in our group – Jason and I – managed to ice-climb to the top. I was proud of myself! Although.. there was never any doubt in my mind that I would make it ;p

My toes were completely battered and bruised after that. You need so much force to get the spikes to really dig in so they can hold your weight!  It was almost like torture.

After this experience, I put ‘ice-climbing’ into my mental list of ‘things only super strong and talented people do’.

I hope Óskar was proud of me… haha

He was such a great guide.. really friendly, informative, and most importantly.. FUNNY 😉

I’m going to overwhelm you with (beautiful) photos I took next to the ice wall now:

Everyone was knackered after their own attempts at ice climbing.. they were also all in awe of the beautiful sunset upon us and were all geekily snapping a bazillion photos per second..

..while I behaved like a moron.

Double Rainbow

How fortunate were we that day, because not only did the sun show itself after the rain, but nature produced for us a DOUBLE RAINBOW! It was difficult to capture on my camera.. but if you look carefully you can spot it!

I was really happy 🙂

Rainbows seemed to be a common sight in Iceland.. !

Zorro and I.. we were left to wander about for a bit on a large plain of glaciery ice. I felt like my parents had left me alone in a playground. So much fun! I kept breathing in deeply so as to try to ‘take in the SMELL’ of the day.

There were a few crevasses to cross over on the way back to the car park.. and yes, danger excites me.
I tried lean over as far as I could manage to get the best view of ‘what’s down there’. Well. There’s nothing down there. It’s all blackness. Reality disappoints.

See.. I took a photo to show you.. I even kicked some ice in for effect! Haha.

Look at the beautiful patterns on the shiny ice! When staring at it in real life it was almost like an optical illusion. At times, I found that my eyes lost focus and I was staring beyond it. It made me feel rather
wonky.

We had gotten so used to – and in my case, a little emotionally attached – to our crampons that when we had to remove them, walking suddenly seemed so.. WEIRD. I guess it’s the same weirdness you feel when you walk in normal shoes after rollerblading/ice skating/skiing etc 😉

It was such an amazingly fun day.. I loved it so much. Recollecting it now, I really miss walking crunchily on that ice. If you’re ever in Iceland, you simply HAVE to try glacier hiking!

As mentioned before, I booked the glacier hike tour via Arctic Adventures and it costs ISK21,990 per person. That’s roughly.. USD170.

The post Iceland Day 3 – Ice Climbing on Sólheimajökull Glacier appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier on Katla, a large, very active volcano in southern Iceland. They say that the last violent eruption from Katla was 95 years ago but that there were probably a couple of eruptions more recently that didn’t manage to break the thick ice cover – these are called subglacial eruptions. The famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano that caused the giant ash cloud in 2010 is smaller than Katla.

What really fascinates me is that Eyjafjallajökull has had three recorded eruptions in the last 1000 years, and each one was followed by a Katla eruption! True to tradition, apparently Katla had a small eruption in 2011, producing a subglacial meltwater flood that destroyed a road bridge along the Ring Road.

Can you tell that volcanoes excite me?
[read about my experience climbing a volcano and watching it erupt]

I booked the five of us onto a 3-4 hour hiking tour of Sólheimajökull Glacier (called Blue Ice) via Arctic Adventures for about ISK22,000 per person. That’s about 125 Euros or 170 USD. Yes, Iceland can be rather pricey! The price includes transfers from Reykjavik, but since we had our own car (thanks SADcars!) and were staying nearby, we didn’t need it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean you get to pay less.

I did contemplate doing the hike on Vatnajökull at Skaftafell National Park instead (it’s the largest glacial mass in the whole of Europe), but thought against it as it’s much farther east and didn’t fit in with my winter driving itinerary very well. It was tough trying to do so many things in only 7-8 days!

The meeting time was 11.20am at the foot of the glacial tongue. It’s about 5 minutes in through a gravelly path after you turn off the main road (Ring Road). After a delicious breakfast of smoked lamb (hangikjöt), bread, cereal etc, we set off early enough to stop and take some pictures in the barren-land beauty. But too bad it was so cloudy that morning that most of the photos turned out rubbish!

I actually have a video of the drive (before turning off the main road):

We ended up being the first to arrive at the meeting point, but within minutes of waiting, other participants started turning up and so did our guide, Óskar (seen in orange above).

Each person was provided with a harness, a helmet, crampons, and an ice pick. The crampons are fitted to your shoes on the ground before the hike begins, from which time you’ll have to carry them with your hands until you reach the ice.

I was already having the time of my life just holding that ice pick. I’d never held one before.

^^ in the far distance beyond the white in this photo is where our car was parked, a.k.a the starting point. The water you see is a glacial lake formed by the retreating ice due to climate change.

Before we reached the ice, Óskar had everyone stop to put on their crampons, following his instructions. I remember it started to RAIN as we sat down but instead of dampening my spirits, it made me even more excited because I could SMELL the adventure!

My backpack was drenched and I had to stuff my camera into my jacket. But I snuck a photo anyhow.

We were given advice on how to walk confidently with the crampons and how to put the ice pick down without it slipping and sliding away. I thought it was really fun to stamp your foot down to get a good grip with each step.

Once I got used to it, I sped ahead of the group and trailed Óskar. I like to be in front. ;p

Óskar gave us some interesting pieces of information about the glacier – how it’s formed, the surrounding volcanoes, etc.

In the video below, he talks about British school children coming to Iceland and doing all sorts of excursions.

Yes I admit.. I wasn’t paying attention for a while >.<

I often had one glove off…. so I could use my iPhone to snap some pics. HMM.

Óskar led us to a small stream of glacial water flowing through the ice. We were encouraged to lean in and have a taste.. which of COURSE I did (and enjoyed). Jason did one better and ice-picked a piece of ice and crunched away.

Apparently the ‘blue ice’ taste the best since they’re more pure in the sense that they have no air bubbles trapped inside.

Now I’ll let the pictures do the talking:

Yes I HAD to do a jump when walking on a glacier with crampons on! 😉

I love this photo of Jason being a goon.

^^My flutterpony and Linda’s Icelandic Puffin (she had bought it at the tourist centre in Geysir).

I loved the sound of the metal cleats digging into the ice with each step I took. This was my second time visiting a glacier, the first being the Pasterze Glacier in Austria, but I’d never got to use crampons before. I loved running on the ice with them! It was especially fun when the terrain was uneven or when you had to cross over crevasses.

NEXT UP: More Sólheimajökull – Ice Climbing and a Double Rainbow

*For more Iceland posts, please see my Travel Log*

The post Iceland Day 3 – Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

Well it turned out to be lots of fun in the end. At Hólmasel Farm we were greeted by two guides – one American and one German (unfortunately I can’t remember their names.. for some reason I forgot to note them down >.< ). It was dusk by the time we arrived.

We were fitted with huge jumpsuits – to go over everything we were already wearing e.g. waterproof pants (to my British friends, read: ‘trousers’), jackets, etc – as extra protection against the wind and cold we’d be experiencing shortly. And yes, the jumpsuits did kinda smell like ‘dog’……haha. You were wondering, no??

The first part of the tour saw us being introduced to the dogs on site. The dog team consists mainly of the Greenland Dog, formerly known as the Eskimo Dog (the ‘original husky’). They are powerfully built, strong, hardy dogs with thick fur that prevents frostbite. They also have the Alaskan Malamute, and, unintentionally, some hybrids.

The dogs are all systematically named using the first letter of their names as a marker for which generation they were born in. For example, dogs born to parents whose names started with F would be given names beginning with G.

This is Maguyak and he’s almost two years old!
The dogs were feeling a little down as they were dying to get on the snow but  it wasn’t snow season (yet).

This is one of the only photos I took (via my iPhone fitted with Aquapac) during the ride as the light was too low and during the second half of the journey, I was about to be windchilled into an ice block.

There were two guides with us the whole time, one on the kart (the musher) and the other on a bike staying ahead of the kart with the dogs. Those dogs were really clever! They listen for and understand instructions to stop, accelerate, turn left/right, and so on. After some observation, you could tell which dogs were the lazy ones (and hence why they’re not lead dogs).. they’d be the one cruising along not pulling much weight and dragging their feet a little. You could also tell which ones were were more obedient/brainy.

There were 6 adults (although SOME people might say I’m half-an-adult -_- ) on the kart. I was surprised at how much power the dogs had! Although.. I have to admit that once I got used to the speed, I was willing them to go FASTER. I kinda wished there was a boost button.. like in those car-racing movies/games.

At the halfway point, the dogs had a rest stop and I got the opportunity to HUG some of them. I’d wanted so much to hug a BIG DOG and especially sled dogs, ever since I first saw Balto (I’ve seen it a bazillion times since).

The following four photos were taken from the www.dogsledding.is website and edited by me. They document a similar experience to ours that evening.. but with less clouds :p

It was completely dark when our ride was over. We de-suited in the barn and had a hot chocolate each to warm up. With marshmallows. God damn it was freaking cold out there!!

There was an Icelandic horse nearby.. someone snapped a quick photo hehe. Doesn’t it look so funny and cute at the same time?

Drive to Vik

Our next stop was Volcano Hotel, which is on the way to Vik, the closest town to it.

Here are some photos from our diesel refill stop.

On the way there, we saw some faint, streaky white lights in the distance to our left. I won’t mention names so as to not embarrass a certain person, but this person was SO convinced that those lights were in fact THE Northern Lights that he tried very hard to make us believe it too. Turns out, it was actually Skógafoss Waterfall with some spotlights shone towards it (as it’s a tourist attraction) -_-

Watch out for my next Iceland post.. it’s gonna be a super awesome one!

The post Iceland Day 2 – Dog ‘Sledding’ & Drive to Vik appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

Also, the weather made a complete turnaround. Woke up to monotone grey out the window and lots of rain!

Our plan for the day was to drive the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is one of Iceland’s most popular things to do – It’s basically a driving route that takes you through to three main attractions in southwest Iceland, namely Þingvellir National Park (pronounced ‘thing-vetlir’ – ll is said as tl), Geysir, and Gullfoss Waterfall.

Just LOOK at the landscape! Like big pillows of moss that you can bounce on.

This is me hard at play.

It was extremely overcast that day and so the photos turned out a little dull.. even though it was FAR from a dull day! I had so much fun it didn’t matter if it rained all day.

In fact, at one point as we were driving towards Þingvellir and wanted to stop to take photos/sightsee.. we had to turn the car JUST to accommodate the wind direction. Or we could only wind down the windows on one side of the car, because the wind was so SUPER STRONG that the rain was whizzing by completely sideways. Like tiny water bullets! I was pelted like mad (so fun!).

There was a lot of ice on the way.

Go figure! (crappy pic taken from moving car using iPhone)

Þingvellir National Park

OK – this section will no doubt be the lamest section of my Iceland posts because.. here’s what happened:

We arrived at the car park of the Þingvellir tourist information centre, picked up maps and everything. I don’t know what – maybe SHEER DETERMINATION – made us think that we could beat the rain + wind and take a walk around the park to see sightsee. EVEN THOUGH the visibility was so low!

Spent ages layering and gearing up. I put my phone in my nifty Aquapac case. Fleece on. Beanie on. Hood on, tightened, and zipped up fully. Laces re-tied. Waterproof gloves on.

Went out.. and got BLASTED by the freezing wind and rain! We lasted about 5 minutes before realising that our ‘nice walk to explore the national park’ was.. RATHER POINTLESS. So we ran back into the car and left.

This was one of the only pics taken during the ‘walk’ (via iPhone in Aquapac case) – the shittiness of the weather was not captured..

Oh and there was this too – from the shop in the info centre. Imagine! Doing yoga in a glacier lagoon. Is that really relaxing?? HMMM I’m uncertain.

Anyhow, I’m not too bummed that I ‘missed out’ on this part of the trip. I think this national park is probably best seen in the summer anyway. 😉

Geysir

Ok, first of all, Geysir is a geyser which forms part of the Haukadalur geothermal area. It’s not the only geyser present in this area, and it’s also known as ‘The Great Geysir’ or Stori-Geysir. However, Geysir eruptions are very infrequent and sometimes you may even wait YEARS for the next one. In Haukadalur there are also the Litli Geysir and Strokkur geysers.

Strokkur is located just 50m south of Geysir.

I MUST take a moment to mention the amazingly delectable LAMB SOUP that was served in the tourist centre across the road! I’ve never had such tasty lamb soup in my life… I think I might have gone to heaven as I ate.

We were in the cafeteria to wait out the rain before going out to explore. The great thing about winter season is that there weren’t many people around and the atmosphere was rather relaxing. Can you imagine if the whole place was inundated with tour buses and a bazillion people, and you had to queue up to buy food, pay for souvenirs, use the toilet, etc?? Hehe

This is Strokkur geyser.

The ground was just steaming everywhere.. I call them Earth farts. Yeah they smell too (sulphur).

Me with my trusty Aquapac. Half of the photos in this post were taken using it.

Some people had their tripods set up around the geyser. Everyone stood in a circle around it, watching and waiting.

This was a RELIABLE geyser! We saw it spurt out hot water like a water volcano a number of times.

Unfortunately, I underestimated the size of the eruptions and stood too near the hole each time to get a better photo..  (also, I was maybe a bit over-excited and wanted to go as close as possible).

The novelty of an erupting geyser wears off pretty quick. For me, anyway, especially since I’d seen them in New Zealand before (last year).

Then the most happy thing happened – there was a break in the clouds, the sun shone through, and a huge RAINBOW appeared!

As the sun began to go down, the ice on the ground began glistening brightly. It was so beautiful!

Super-charged with new sunshine + rainbow ENERGY, we took jumped around and took some fun photos (it’s become a recurring theme on all my holidays now).

Gullfoss

Gullfoss waterfall is arguably Iceland’s most popular waterfalls. It’s located in the canyon of Hvítá river and it is.. rather huge and incredible-looking.

We didn’t stop for too long here.. I mean. You see the waterfall, you take some pics.. what.. else.. right? Plus it was freeezing :p

Stay tuned for the nextttt post.. where we meet some Greenlandic sled dogs!

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