All the way north: chasing Aurora (Iceland)
Days: 5 days
Time: March
Per capita: 15000 yuan
With whom: with parents
Play: free walking, photography, self driving, hiking
The author went to these places
Iceland
Reykjavik
Geyser.
Golden falls
Serialand falls
Watner Glacier National Park
crater
Singhville National Park
Skaftafell
Published on 16:15, June 28, 2016
Opening
Iceland, the northern corner of the earth, is the best place to describe the ends of the earth. Take a look at the map and pull apart all the continents and the debris islands connected with the continents, which is the pure, extremely cold, charming island with ice and fire. Having lived in Sweden for so many years before, one of the biggest regrets was that I didn't take the time to go to Iceland at that time. Even if it is near the water, but from the Nordic continent to Iceland flight prices have been stable and expensive. This family trip decided to remove Iceland from the edge of the world, so our trip to Iceland started.
Icelandic contents
Reykjavik, capital
Golden Circle
Glacier walk
Black beach and watner ice sheet
Chasing Aurora
Ice cave exploration
Chasing Aurora again
Itinerary:
We arrived at Reykjavik International Airport in Iceland in the middle of the night, a very small airport. Because we arrived at 11:00 p.m. on March 25, then I calculated the money when I reserved the car. If we chose to pick up the car that night, we would have to pay several hundred yuan more for the car rental, which is far more than the cost of the five of us for the airport bus tickets. So when I made the reservation, I chose to pick up the car at the apartment at 8:00 a.m. on March 26, Then it's good to return to the airport before 8:00 on the 29th (our plane is at 7:40 in the morning), which can save a lot of money. But when we were connecting in Denmark, we suddenly got a call from our car rental company in Iceland, asking if we could arrive at the airport on March 25 to pick up the car. Because their company is very close to the airport, it's very convenient for them, and the cost doesn't increase at all. Wow, of course I'd like to. I agreed very soon and told them our flight number and landing time. The car rental company would send someone to wait for us at the airport. As a result, there was a small episode when we arrived at the airport. The luggage of five of us only arrived at three of us... The error rate is too high. One of them left his luggage in Copenhagen and missed the plane. The other's system didn't find it... Airline staff told us not to worry, they find luggage will be sent to our hotel, helpless, tossed for an hour out of the airport, car rental company brother is still waiting for us, too moved. I got out of the airport, picked up my car and went to our apartment in the capital for the first night.
Reykjavik airport buses can be reserved online at the following website:
https://airportexpress.is/ This one is a little more expensive, it seems
https://www.re.is/flybus/ This is the most common airport bus, 2200 kroner to the capital bus terminal, 2800 kroner to your hotel or apartment.
The exchange rate of Krona to RMB is basically as follows:
1 isk = 0.0525767 CNY, 1 CNY = 19.0198 isk (exchange rate on June 1, 2016)
I would also like to mention that many friends may be concerned about the sunset time in Iceland at the end of March. In fact, we went to Iceland on March 25th, which is past the vernal equinox. The higher the latitude is, the greater the variation of the time difference between sunsets every day. When we were in Iceland, the sunset time was about 8 p.m., so it was very suitable for sightseeing. After the end of May, the time of night will be shorter, and the time of summer solstice will be day. Here for your reference.
The following is our three-day self driving route in Iceland:
The English letters on the blue line are cities / place names. In the picture, there are three groups of a - * representing the cities / places for three days. Then the English letters in the shape of water drops are the names of all the scenic spots. Next, I have a specific introduction below.
Reykjavik, capital
There are only 320000 people in Iceland. The capital is Reykjavik. There are about 200000 people in the capital and its surrounding areas, accounting for two-thirds of the country's population. Therefore, Reykjavik is the absolute center of Iceland.
Our apartment is very close to the seaside and the bus terminus
The wind by the sea is very strong... You must wear a thick hat and windbreaker, or you will be blown to death. The most admirable thing is that there are many local people running along the seaside walk... Nordic people really advocate natural and healthy outdoor... On our way to the seaside, we also passed a gray building. When we had a close look, it turned out to be the Chinese Embassy in Iceland. We immediately rushed forward to take a group photo...
In addition, if you don't walk by the sea, you will pass the sun Voyager. It's a fish bone shaped Viking boat sculpture, which symbolizes the dream and the praise of the sun. Because of the strong wind, your hands are frozen and your mobile phone is frozen to death. You can see that you haven't taken any good-looking photos. Please mend them by yourself~
Then we ran away from the windy seaside and went downtown. Halgoryms Cathedral, the tallest building in Reykjavik, looks like a rocket inspired by the columnar basalt in Iceland. The biggest attraction of the church is not the building itself, but the observation platform on the top floor, which can see the whole urban area of Reykjavik.
The capital also strolled for less than 2 hours, then we went to the supermarket to buy food and started to go to the golden circle. Here's a reminder. When you go to the Golden Circle, you'd better buy some dry food in the capital. There are no cities in the golden circle. They are all natural scenic spots, and there are service centers for scenic spots. You can eat very little and it's super expensive. If you have more money, you can buy some dry food in the capital. There is a KFC in the capital, Before, my friend also suggested buying two family barrels to lead the way to eat... ha-ha. It is estimated that this is the only KFC in Iceland.
Golden Circle
The golden circle is a circle of tourist attractions very close to the capital, which is basically the rhythm of one-day tour. There are many one-day tour groups in the area. The Golden Circle concentrates the typical landscape of Iceland, so it is basically a must visit circle.
This is our route for the first day. Let's start with the blue letters:
A: It's Reykjavik, the capital
B (on the left): the top B is Icelandic International Airport, and the bottom B is blue lagoon, a hot spring place. We didn't go here because of the time constraint.
B (top right): This is Singh villier（ Þ Ingvellir is the site of pingvellir National Park.
C: It's Geysir, the geyser
D: It's Gullfoss: the location of golden falls
E: It's Seljalandsfoss, another famous waterfall site...
Starting from the capital, we went to singville first. Along the way, there was a scene of ice and snow, and we were the first to pass by Þ Ingvallavatn is a lake area. Because it is covered with ice and snow, it can't be seen.
Then you arrive at singwedley National Park (B on the right), the most important historical spot in Iceland. In 930 ad, the Vikings established the world's first democratic parliament, airping. It is located on the edge of a huge crack caused by the division of the North American plate and the Eurasian plate, and has a beautiful natural scenery. Singer Wadley was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2004. Let's feel it
As the owner's luggage had not arrived that day, although he was wearing assault suits, his pants were still ordinary pants, so he was almost killed by the wind, so he probably strolled around and quickly got into the car. Follow the road in the middle of the cliff to the parking lot at the foot of the mountain. There is a small waterfall over there. When we drove to the next scenic spot, we would go around the parking lot behind the mountain, so we took a look at the waterfall in the car and went on to Geysir geyser (c).
Geysir means intermittent eruption of spring, the English word geyser is derived from the Icelandic geyser word. The whole geothermal area includes many geysers and hot water bogs, and the largest geyser geyser in Iceland, which was first discovered, has stopped erupting. Today, the most famous geyser in Iceland is the strokkur geyser, which erupts every 10 minutes or so, with a water column as high as 20 meters and a water temperature as high as 100 degrees. We didn't see a 20 meter high eruption when we went there, but it's quite accurate to spray every 10 minutes...
There is a service station in geyser (there seems to be no service station for tens of kilometers around), where you can have lunch. The service station provides hamburger salad and fried chicken nuggets, but the price is very expensive. A hamburger is almost more than 100 pieces... After lunch, we continue to another key scenic spot in the Golden Circle - golden waterfall.
The original name of golden waterfall is Gullfoss. In fact, in Icelandic, FOSS means waterfall. In this way, it should be translated as ancient waterfall... ha-ha. The source of gufoss waterfall is the Baihe River formed by glacial melt water. The waterfall is actually magnificent. It falls into a deep valley and is one of the most powerful waterfalls in Europe. Down to the observatory, there is a strong wind (Iceland should be renamed wind Island), and the wind is accompanied by water drops splashing from the waterfall. It's really a spectacular waterfall from a distance.
After seeing the golden waterfall, we saw all the scenic spots in the basic Golden Circle. Then we drove to Highway 1 and went to Vick Town, where we stayed for the day. Of course, along the way there will be several famous waterfalls (h place).
The first one is Seljalandsfoss, which is located on the side of No.1 highway. It is 100 meters away from the road around the island. It is very conspicuous. It is one of the famous waterfalls in Iceland. The waterfall is very long, about 60 meters high. There is a cave behind the waterfall. You can walk around the waterfall to the back of the water curtain.
Keep going east along Highway 1 and you'll see another waterfall, SK ó gafoss
On the right side of H in the road map), this huge and spectacular waterfall is only a little farther than the Serialand waterfall. The height of the waterfall is about the same as that of sailyaran waterfall, about 60 meters, but much wider than that of sailyaran waterfall, about 25 meters, with abundant water. In addition, there is a mountain road beside the waterfall. Tourists can walk along the road to the top of the mountain and watch the waterfall from there. It's also known as Fimmv? R ð The starting point of the uh á LS hike takes you to Eyjafjallaj ü kull. My little friend and I struggled about climbing down the mountain. Later, we thought we might not have enough time, so we gave up and just took a picture in front of the waterfall at the foot of the mountain.
Keep going east for Vick. On the way, they will pass through the wrecked airplane. On November 24, 1973, a US Navy plane (c-47skytrain, also known as Dakota) was forced to land on s ó lheimasandur's black beach in southern Iceland. All the crew survived, while the wreckage of the plane remained in the forced landing position, becoming a special attraction for self driving tourists. The boundless black sand beach and the turbulent North Atlantic Ocean are at the bottom of our eyes. The wreckage of the plane has painted the black desert with the color of the end of the world, attracting countless photographers and tourists who come here to seek the alien scenery of Iceland.
When we went, we navigated to the wreckage of the plane, and then we arrived at a parking place by the side of the road. It's fenced around. Cars can't get in. As soon as we looked at the location map, it showed that we were walking for 15 minutes, and many people were walking forward, so we decided to walk to the coordinates. But after walking for 15 minutes, we have reached the coordinate position, still can't see the wreckage of the plane, and people are still walking towards the endless wasteland ahead, so we continue to bury ourselves in the front...
After walking for half an hour, it's still like this... My mother has broken down, giving up and going back. My father still went straight ahead, but my little friend and I had to keep on walking, thinking that we've been walking for so long, and we should be approaching... Then he went on walking for half an hour. Finally, he seemed to see the sea. He saw a little white dot in front of him, so he went on walking. After walking for a while, he finally saw the legendary wreckage of the plane... So many people have been here on the Internet before, and no one mentioned that it would take more than an hour to see the wreckage of the plane!!! If we had known this, we would never have come here... Later, my little friend searched the Internet, and there was news that we could drive to the wreckage of the plane before, but the tourists caused great damage to the vegetation of the land. Moreover, the vegetation in Iceland did not grow in a day or two. It was basically moss, which grew very slowly. So the owner of the land decided to protect the land, If you want to see the wreckage of the plane, you can only walk 4 kilometers to...
Enjoy the white ghost left on the black beach!!! It's so different, you must go in person（ I've been walking back and forth for more than 2 hours. I must recommend this scenic spot
I came back to the car by the side of the road from the black beach alive. I suddenly felt that it was a sunny day. If it snowed and the weather was bad, if there were no people around, I would be lost... After a short rest, we went to the last destination of the day, Vick town.
Staying at the house in Vick town at night, the enthusiastic hostess recommended the most popular restaurant in the area to us. So we went to have a good meal and ate Icelandic lamb chops. As my former friend said, it was very tender and didn't smell like mutton. Generally speaking, the price performance of the meal was good, and the restaurant seemed to be more popular in the area, There are a lot of people in the queue. It's very late.
Glacier Walking
Glacier walking is the most popular tourism project in Iceland, which can be carried out all year round. 13% of Iceland's territory is covered by glaciers. The three major glaciers in Iceland are: vatna glacier (Vatnaj ﹣ kull super large), langj ﹣ kull glacier (langj ﹣ kull full of adventure) and hofsj ﹣ kull glacier (the most dangerous).
"Watner glacier is located in the watner Glacier National Park in southeast Iceland, covering about 8% of the total area of Iceland. It is the largest glacier in Iceland and geographically the largest glacier on the European continent, weighing 300 billion tons. Many craters, hot springs and lakes are covered under the glacier, such as gr í mSv ó TN volcano. The recent eruption of the gr í mSv ó TN volcano in May 2011 has brought a lot of troubles to international flights. Langer glacier (long glacier) is the second largest glacier in Iceland after watner glacier, located in the inland highlands of Iceland. The glacier didn't generate any nearby rivers, and scientists found that the water from the melting glacier flowed down the surface of the glacier and gathered in Lake Council Þ ingvallavatn。 Parliament lake is in the Golden Circle, singville National Park Þ Ingvellir is the largest lake in Iceland. Lake Council is 50 kilometers away from Langer glacier. Hofsj ü kull glacier is the third largest glacier in Iceland, which is located in the inland high area between the first two major glaciers, watner glacier and Langer glacier（ From the Internet, more information can be found in this connection: https://site.douban.com/145183/widget/notes/7337704/note/207301769/ ）”
The main glaciers in the south are the solheima glacier (the branch glacier of the midals ice sheet) and the watner glacier (the location of the interstellar crossing). When booking a glacier walk, I consulted the staff of guide to Iceland. Watner glacier is undoubtedly the most famous because of the interstellar crossing, but the staff herself recommended the solheima glacier. The glacier is black and white, which is worth seeing, and it's less than 30 minutes' drive from Vick town where we live, Watner glacier, on the other hand, is close to the glacial lake in the East, which is far away by car. Because of my parents, I chose solheima glacier, where the walking project is easier and more suitable for the elderly. There are many walking projects in watner glacier, from elementary to advanced, so young adventurous friends can try them. It is suggested that those who want to take part in the glacier walk should book in advance as far as possible. If they go to the scene on the same day, they may not be able to get a seat. Glacier walking is led by local professional staff, so the basic team is less than 20 people.
A few photos of the solheima glacier, the intersection of black and white, are very special. The black ones are volcanic rocks, White is snow.
We ordered a walking group at 9:30 in the morning, so we had to arrive at the assembly site 15 minutes in advance to check in. Then the staff will give each participant the equipment to walk on the glacier. Here's a reminder: you don't need to bring too much equipment for easy glacier walking. When you sign up, you will include ice pick, ice claw, helmet and climbing belt. So as long as you wear warm and windproof clothes, you should also bring sunglasses, because it will be very dazzling when you go up to the glacier. It's best to carry your shoulders, because sometimes you climb... When we're dressed up, we're ready to go.
The leader first leads us to the gathering place at the foot of the glacier. Then we put on our claws and get ready to go up the mountain. Before going up the mountain, the leader will give us the knowledge of glacier and the safety instructions. The picture below is from the gathering place to the gathering place at the foot of the glacier... If you don't sign up for the glacier walk, you can also walk here to see the glacier, but if you go up again, you need to be led by the leader.
The team leader explained the wearing of ice claws, and popularized the knowledge of glaciers and safety instructions
"Glaciers, commonly known as glaciers, can be divided into two parts: the snowy basin at the source and the ice tongue flowing out. The glacier has accumulated snow for many years, which is formed by compaction, recrystallization and refreezing. It has a certain shape and level, and has plasticity. Under gravity and pressure, it produces plastic flow and massive sliding. In the mountains, the glacier flows down the valley, and its velocity varies from a few meters to hundreds of meters per year. Glacier is the largest fresh water resource on the earth and the largest natural reservoir after the ocean（ "From leader and network)"
An ice pick is used when climbing. One end of the ice pick is pointed, and the other end is T-shaped. Usually walking is holding the T-shaped end, using the ice pick as a crutch, until the time of ice climbing will use the T-shaped end. We sign up for easy walking, so the basic ice pick is a crutch. Under the leadership of the leader, we went to the glacier.
You should follow the path of the person in front of you when you go up the mountain, because there will be hidden cracks on the glacier. We came to a hole and the leader stopped to explain. This is the ice cave. Some ice caves are very deep. The ice cave is a vortex formed by the water inside the glacier melting and rotating.
How to use ice pick...
Keep going up to a plain.
The equipment for measuring glacier change is installed here. The leader told us that the glacier has dropped more than 100 meters due to global warming in the past decade... So we should protect the environment. After a little rest, we went back another way. When you go down the mountain, you can see the lakes and rivers formed after the melting of the glaciers. With the black and white glaciers, the scenery is really wonderful.
The last one is near an ice cave under the glacier. Then we went back to the gathering place, took off our paws and went back to the camp.
Black beach and watner glacier
After the glacier walk, we continued to move east. The day's accommodation is close to the glacier lake, so we will pass Vick Town, black beach and watner ice sheet.
After we passed Vick town again, we followed the navigation guide to the black beach. There was a signpost indicating that we could drive to the mountain.
"Dihorari is a small peninsula protruding from the southernmost tip of the Icelandic continent. Because there is a huge passage like a door in the demonstration, it is named" cave stone. " It's not far from Vick town. You can drive directly to the lighthouse on the top of the mountain and watch the black beach from the high cliff. The white waves beat on the black beach. It's black and white. It's a wonderful scenery（ The pictures can be more beautiful. There is a lot of cancer. I don't have time to deal with the pictures. I just post some pictures on my mobile phone. I hope you can watch me
The wind on the top of the mountain is so strong that it makes people unstable. If the weather is good, you can see the mildas glacier (that is, the solheima glacier) to the north, the renich DeLange basaltic rock column group to the East, and the long coastline of cerfoss to the West. The waves in the black beach area are very fierce. There have been many cases that can be swept away by the waves, and some of them are killed. So don't take risks and stay away from the waves!
After blowing near the black beach, we continued to walk east. During this period, I passed a special volcanic landform.
It's like this is near Eyjafjallaj“ Eyafala volcano and Fimmv? R in 2010 ð A volcanic eruption in uh á LS caused a sensation and paralyzed the European aviation industry for weeks. One of Iceland's most powerful volcanoes, Katla, lies beneath the ice cap of the midals glacier. The eruption cycle of Katla volcano is about 40 to 80 years old. Its last eruption was in 1918. Icelandic scientists have predicted that the next eruption of Katla is not far away
After the volcano erupted, a large number of lava formed huge current, eroded the ground and flowed to the low-lying land. After the meandering lava cooled and solidified, a large lava landform was formed. Lava accounted for 11% of Iceland's territory. For the first time, I saw such a lava landscape. There are bryophytes in frigid zone growing on the lava, which are as green as tumors of the earth. It takes more than 20 minutes to drive through this lava landscape. We can see the area affected by the volcanic eruption in that year. It's terrible!
Continue eastward, and at about 5 p.m., we come to the largest glacier in Iceland, the watner glacier. In fact, on the way, we have been walking around this huge ice sheet for a long time. When we drive along Highway 1, we can definitely see a huge white ice sheet. After parking, we walked to the watner glacier. Icelandic wind is not really built... Walk to the foot of the glacier for about 20-30 minutes, during which the wind is just collapsing. We must take protective measures, or we will be blown to death...
We went to the lake at the foot of the glacier, it was blown, and we had half a life left... So I took a picture near here. I really didn't have the courage to go to the Glacier... The landscape on the way back, the plant of Iceland - moss. Because the plants in the frigid zone grow very slowly, the moss is basically n years old, so the official tourism bureau also hopes that tourists will not damage the local vegetation, because once it is damaged, it will take a long time to recover. The hairy moss is really lovely.
Chasing Aurora
After visiting watner Glacier National Park, we drove to the hotel in skafota. As the itinerary is arranged to visit the ice cave at 9:30 the next morning, and the meeting place is in the parking lot of the glacier lake, we need to find a hotel not far from the glacier lake. Unfortunately, the glacial lake is not in front of the village but behind the shops. The hotels in the nearest two towns (within 10 kilometers) are all full. We started to book hotels two months in advance, but we didn't even book a hotel near the glacier lake... So after searching for a long time, Skaftafell, 17 kilometers away from the glacier lake, is the best choice. But that place is a hotel, opposite a gas station, and there seems to be no town within a radius of 7 kilometers. Skaftafell hotel should be a transit station to the vatna glacier and the glacier lake, because there will be some gathering places for glaciers to walk here.
Skaftafell Hotel: there are so many horses around...
At 7 p.m., we checked in and asked the front desk staff about the aurora index and cloud index this evening. It seems that the aurora index is 4, but there are clouds. We asked the staff if we could see the aurora if we drove to the area with less cloud? Considering that we will return to the capital to live in, tonight is the last wild night, so we plan to try our luck. The staff suggested that we drive to the glacier lake to try our luck in the evening. Originally, we planned to drive to the glacier lake to see the sunset, but the staff told us that it's more than 7 o'clock now, and it will take 40 minutes to drive to the glacier lake, so it should be sunset by the time we get there, and once it's sunset, there is nothing to see near the glacier lake. After discussion, we decided to follow the staff's advice and have a rest after dinner in the hotel, and then go to the glacier lake to chase the aurora at night.
By the way, here is the website and information about Aurora prediction. The website is: http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/ Here you can find out the aurora index and cloud situation in the next five days, and it is divided by hour, so it is of great reference significance. Whether or not the aurora can be seen mainly depends on two indicators: one is the aurora index (0-9, 0 is absolutely invisible, 9 is absolutely explosive), the other is the cloud index (0-7.5, or white to dark green, white is cloudless, dark green is absolutely invisible). Take the following figure as an example:
This is today's aurora forecast. Aurora forecast in the upper right corner is the aurora index. Generally, if the aurora index is above 3 and the weather is fine, it can be observed with the naked eye. The picture in the middle is the cloud index. You can see that only the southwest corner of Iceland is cloudy or sunny, and most of them are dark green, which means that the clouds are thick and there is no aurora. We just refer to this picture. Although the aurora index was 4 that night, the cloud layer in our area was thicker (similar to this picture), but we could see that the green near the glacier lake was lighter, so the staff at the front desk suggested that we try our luck there. This is the so-called chasing the aurora. From the information above, we can see the sunset of the day, Now it's Midsummer, so the sun is not setting in Iceland.
After the buffet dinner, we took a break in the room and drove off at about 10 o'clock to chase aurora. Before I saw it on the Internet, other friends said that watching aurora is an individual work, and we should keep warm. In Iceland, we should keep warm, windproof, windproof! Windbreak（ When we set out at 10 o'clock, you can see the photo of the hotel posted above. There are no horses around. When we go out, it's dark. It's like being blind... I've had night driving experience before, and I'm not afraid of the dark. But this time, I really realized what is the darkness of swallowing everything... There are no lights, no moonlight, no people. In the middle of the night, in the wilderness, even the roads are black. And although our car has lights, it's really like lighting with a match for the whole darkness around us.
It feels like we've been driving for a long time, but in fact it's only ten minutes. The feeling of darkness has made our sense of time no longer work. After ten minutes, our eyes get used to the darkness, and then suddenly feel that the sky is brighter, and we can see the junction of some clouds and the sky. This makes us very excited, because if the aurora is 4, we should be able to see without clouds. As we drove on, we felt the mountains on the left, and the sky began to clear. Suddenly I saw a white cloud in the sky on the left, so I asked my friends to watch it together. My mother said it was Aurora, and other friends said it was cloud. But it's dark. How can you see white clouds? My mother said that it should be the aurora. In her memory, someone said that the light Aurora looks like a cloud. I also remember that before I came here, another friend of mine said that she had seen the aurora. At first, she thought it was a cloud. Later, she knew that it was the aurora. But because none of us has ever seen the aurora, we have been arguing in the car until the navigation shows that we are approaching the glacier lake. When we look at the white clouds, we find that they are not white, but green in the dark. At this time, I am sure that it must be the northern lights!
We were so excited that we could see the glacier lake. At that time, many cars were parked there, and people put up tripods to shoot. After a good car, we look at the ridge across the lake, which is the aurora borealis! Although not particularly green, but a long wisp, with a faint green. Everyone is very excited, but because the glacier lake is a vast lake, the wind there is not as big as that at watner glacier, and it is almost as big, especially at 11:00 in the middle of the night, the temperature is lower, and the wind is almost as strong as a knife. Since my friends didn't bring professional cameras, I was the only one carrying SLR and tripod. They gave me all the shooting tasks
My father helped me set up the tripod, and then he was blown away to get on the car, leaving me alone in the night wind, waiting for 25 seconds of exposure... Because the wind is so strong, I need to hold the tripod to stabilize the camera. Although I am wearing gloves, I will freeze in 5 seconds when the wind blows... I really tried my best. Before I went out, I learned how to shoot aurora and starry sky from a photography classmate. So I have the following photos:
The best one:
This is the aurora index 4 with clouds. In fact, the naked eye can not see the color of purplish red, green is not so obvious, see more like white clouds, but a little green light. The aurora can only be seen when it's completely dark. It usually appears around 11 o'clock and ends at 12 o'clock. In some cases, it can last longer. After seeing this ghostly Aurora, we didn't go for nothing!
Ice cave exploration
The next morning, we left the hotel and went to the glacier lake to participate in the ice cave exploration, which is also one of the most anticipated projects of this trip to Iceland. It has also been mentioned before that the project may be cancelled due to the melting of ice caves due to the temperature rise at the end of March. The night before departure, I wrote an email to inquire and was happily informed that the activity was normally held. So we drove back to the glacier lake where we had chased Aurora last night.
Driving during the day, you can see the surrounding scenery clearly. It's very beautiful. On the left side, there are continuous snow mountains. Then, the black road is in good condition and the signs are very clear. You open a section of no man's road. Looking at the snow mountains and mosses on the left, you decide to stop and take photos.
Glacial lake, also known as jagulon glacial lake, is a glacier lagoon at the edge of watner glacier. The deepest part of the lake is equivalent to 75 stories high. There are icebergs floating on the lake all year round. Before drifting into the sea, a series of blue icebergs, like ghosts, floated across 17 square kilometers of glacial lagoons. This scene constitutes a natural film set, such as "Batman: the mystery of chivalrous shadow" and "007: choose the day to die", which are all based on this location:
The broken ice on the glacier lake fell from a tributary of the watner ice sheet. For example, the water in Haikou flows very fast, and many of the large ice blocks floating down with the water are impacted by the waves and stranded on the black beach, forming a unique landscape. Occasionally, we can see some seals playing in the water on the lake, but it's very difficult to capture. I just saw one, sticking out its head in the lake, which is very fun.
Simply look at the glacier lake, it's time for the ice cave. We met at the cafe in the ice lake parking lot, the guide called the roll one by one, and then distributed the cars. Here is a brief introduction to the ice cave. The ice cave in Iceland, also known as the Blue Cave, is formed naturally and hidden at the edge of the glacier. Glacier melt water flows from the bottom of the glacier, which takes several years or even months to form, but the existence cycle of the ice cave is very short, and it may collapse at any time. So every year, ice caves disappear, and every year new ice caves are formed.
Ice cave exploration is a very popular tourist project in Iceland, because only two shifts are organized every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and each time there are 26 people in two cars (super Jeep cart). Therefore, it is suggested to book online in advance. If you want to take a chance on the spot, it is basically impossible. Because ice caves are usually formed at the foot of glaciers and frozen by rivers formed by glacial water, the locations of ice caves are different every year. Professionals need to look for them in advance, mark the coordinates after finding them, and then drive super SUVs to get there (because there is no road...). Moreover, non professionals are really unable to get there. Vehicles are driving on the ice sheet, and there are hidden rivers everywhere in the ice sheet. The ice layer of some underground rivers is very thin. If we don't explore the road in advance, people and cars are very easy to fall down. Some underground rivers are very deep, and basically fall down...
All the way along the coordinates, the driver led us to the ice. The entrance of the ice cave will be blocked by wind and snow every night, so we need to dig the entrance again the next day. While the staff dig the hole, they will issue safety helmets to every tourist And non slip shoe covers. The entrance is very narrow. You can only walk down by yourself.
From the dazzling ice field to the ice cave, I can't see clearly the situation inside for a moment. I follow the people in front of me and use both hands and feet to climb down. Many low places really need to crawl forward... Climb... Climb... Climb....
Finally, I passed through the low passage and came to a relatively open place. When I looked up, it seemed that the whole river was frozen above my head, while I was in the underground dragon palace, I think of the picture when I was a child watching the robot cat. After yebi entered the Dragon Palace, the water was on the top of my head.
At the entrance of the ice cave:
In fact, the ice cave is not as big as expected, so we can understand why we need to control the number of people. We don't feel cold inside the ice cave, but it's warmer than outside. When we come out, we can already feel that the ice in the ice cave begins to melt and drip. Therefore, if the temperature rises again, the ice cave will easily collapse, which is really unimaginable. Before we came here, the first entrance was due to the collapse, so the staff had to dig out a new entrance.
Well, the pictures above are all taken with mobile phones... But also very close to the actual situation, the real ice cave is just like that blue, quiet beauty ~
Chasing Aurora again
After the end of the ice cave, we went to the seaside to visit the black sand beach and sea scattered with broken ice. All our planned tours in Iceland ended, and then we drove back to the capital reykjave in half a day. Here's an episode. Before, we had two bags delayed. One of them was delivered to Vick's hotel in the middle of the night the next night, but the other one was still not found. On the third day, the airline contacted us and said it had been found and would be sent to us. However, our hotel was too far away that night, So it can only be delivered to our last night's residence in the capital. Therefore, my poor little friend, Iceland didn't use her cattle B equipment all the way...
We are driving all the way: it's like shooting advertising blockbusters for Toyota
When we were in Iceland, the weather was very good. Apart from the wind blowing dead people, we didn't catch any rain or snow. Although high latitude Iceland should be very cold, due to the warm current in the Gulf of Mexico, the ice and snow world here is much more relaxed than people think. The confluence of warm and cold air has created the ever-changing weather in Iceland. Icelanders like to say: "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.".
On the way back, the weather changed suddenly and the sky was white. When we passed Vick town again, it was covered with snow and wind, which was totally different from what we saw on a sunny day before.
In the evening, I went back to reykjave and stayed in the apartment we ordered. Little partner checked the aurora index that night, or 4! And the clouds show less cloud around the capital. So we decided to continue chasing aurora tonight! Asked the hotel staff about the location of the view, he suggested that we stay away from urban light pollution and go to a small town north of the capital to watch. We write down the place names, set up the GPS, and then stroll around the capital at night. After it's all dark, we drive to catch up with Aurora~
Street View of the capital in the evening
At 10 p.m., it was dark. We drove north, hoping to catch the aurora borealis again. Buoir, north of the capital, is the place called black church. It's circled in the picture below. It's far away from the city, and it's a wasteland. There should be a play~
To move from the capital to buoir, we need to go through a cross sea tunnel, which is the only paid road we have spent so many days in Iceland. This tunnel is called hvalfjaroargong undersea tunnel. It's a shortcut. To save time, we paid 1000 kronor (one way). After passing through the tunnel, we saw the aurora borealis in front of the tunnel. This time, because of our experience, we can easily identify it as the aurora borealis. At the same time, the driver suddenly realized that we seem to be running out of gas...
In fact, the effect of this aurora is more obvious than that in the glacier lake. We can see the green aurora with naked eyes, floating in the sky and changing its shape. Therefore, we can only make up for the scene of Aurora appearing over the black church~~
When we returned to our residence in the capital, it began to snow again. When we went to the airport the next morning, there was already a winter view at the gate~
Iceland's trip has come to a successful end. Generally speaking, all the tours are very good and the schedule is reasonable. Here's a reference for those who want to go. My only small regret this time is that I didn't have a close contact with the Icelandic horse. In fact, in the Golden Circle, there are many pastures. Icelandic horses are standing beside the road and behind the fence. Tourists can have close contact with Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses have a good personality and temperament. Friends who are going to visit can have a try.
(end of Icelandic article)
