I had been planning to visit this country since 2008 but couldn’t find a flight that could accommodate me when I was in Europe that year. So the destination was put on hold until I finally decided to resuscitate my long-shelved plan last June after researching the best time for me to go (yes, I was already researching for public holidays 2012 then). A senior at school who’s based in London wanted to join in so we exchanged emails (I even called her twice!), held discussions, and did further research before I finally bought my air ticket to London. I cancelled my earlier booking for a single room and booked a double room (I also booked a triple room as another friend wanted to join but she rescheduled her visit so I had to cancel the triple room booking). Then after further research and cost-benefit analysis, I found another hotel right smack in the city (and along the city’s shopping street!) at better value so another cancellation was made.
And finally, I was good to go.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
I arrived at KLIA at 6 pm and only found out that my Etihad flight scheduled for 2030 hours was re-timed to 2200 by the people over at the UAE. There were a lot of Middle Eastern flying that night (most were parents of small children) so the flight was quite full. I watched Moneyball before trying to sleep (I always try to sleep on flights but sleep always manages to elude me).
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
We landed at Terminal 3 of Abu Dhabi International Airport at 0140 hours and I had just about 50 minutes to make it to my connecting flight. In my haste, I left behind my spectacle case (with my contact lens case inside). Boo hoo. I told a ground officer and a stewardess about it but I don’t think I’ll be reunited with them. Oh well... good thing I packed an extra pair of contact lens.
I was not happy to find that I was assigned seat 45H for the flight bound for Heathrow and true enough, when we landed at 0630, I had to hurry out of the plane and even then, queued for close to an hour before I cleared immigration. Strewth!
After freshening up, I made my way to the tube station, topped up my Oyster card and took the tube to Earl’s Court station where I was to rendezvous with my senior. Europe was (and still is) in the grip of a freezing cold spell and I felt it while walking to our rendezvous.
We met up before 10.30 am and walked to Hotel Ibis at Lillie Road for our easyBus to Gatwick. We made it in good time and sat in the hotel lobby while waiting for the bus (it didn’t make sense to expose ourselves unnecessarily to the cold). Our 11 am bus arrived promptly on time and we left within minutes. We reached Gatwick about an hour later and checked in.
Our flight took off before 1.30 pm and less than three hours later, we landed at Keflavík International Airport. We had earlier arranged (among others) for a pick-up to our hotel that will stop en route at the Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa and the lagoon is a pool of seawater naturally heated by the geothermal activity beneath the surface. A nearby power plant pumps up mineral-laden water from up to two km beneath the surface at a temperature of 240C; this water passes through a dual process (to generate electricity and heat fresh water) and by the time the water emerges at Blue Lagoon, it has cooled down to 38C. It was not a cheap experience but hey, when in Rome and all that. We brought our own towels (you can rent at €5).
We left Blue Lagoon and the bus was ready to bring us to the city, about 39 km away. I had finally booked Hotel Fron on Laugavegur, Reykjavík’s main shopping street. We settled in for the night. Ahh, finally time to lie down!
Thursday, 2 February 2012
We woke up early today as we thought our tour today would start at 8 – when pick-up was only at 9, duh! – so we continued breakfast when we discovered this. We were picked up at 9 and sent to Grayline office nearby to ‘check-in’ and exchange our vouchers for tickets. We departed at 9.30 and arrived at the Laxnes horse farm after a 25-minute drive. Then the lady set about kitting us up in the proper gear for horse-riding. Yes, we were going riding today and not just any horse but the Icelandic horse, a breed that has remained virtually unchanged since the Vikings brought it to Iceland in the ninth century.
And finally, I was good to go.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
I arrived at KLIA at 6 pm and only found out that my Etihad flight scheduled for 2030 hours was re-timed to 2200 by the people over at the UAE. There were a lot of Middle Eastern flying that night (most were parents of small children) so the flight was quite full. I watched Moneyball before trying to sleep (I always try to sleep on flights but sleep always manages to elude me).
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
We landed at Terminal 3 of Abu Dhabi International Airport at 0140 hours and I had just about 50 minutes to make it to my connecting flight. In my haste, I left behind my spectacle case (with my contact lens case inside). Boo hoo. I told a ground officer and a stewardess about it but I don’t think I’ll be reunited with them. Oh well... good thing I packed an extra pair of contact lens.
I was not happy to find that I was assigned seat 45H for the flight bound for Heathrow and true enough, when we landed at 0630, I had to hurry out of the plane and even then, queued for close to an hour before I cleared immigration. Strewth!
After freshening up, I made my way to the tube station, topped up my Oyster card and took the tube to Earl’s Court station where I was to rendezvous with my senior. Europe was (and still is) in the grip of a freezing cold spell and I felt it while walking to our rendezvous.
We met up before 10.30 am and walked to Hotel Ibis at Lillie Road for our easyBus to Gatwick. We made it in good time and sat in the hotel lobby while waiting for the bus (it didn’t make sense to expose ourselves unnecessarily to the cold). Our 11 am bus arrived promptly on time and we left within minutes. We reached Gatwick about an hour later and checked in.
Our flight took off before 1.30 pm and less than three hours later, we landed at Keflavík International Airport. We had earlier arranged (among others) for a pick-up to our hotel that will stop en route at the Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa and the lagoon is a pool of seawater naturally heated by the geothermal activity beneath the surface. A nearby power plant pumps up mineral-laden water from up to two km beneath the surface at a temperature of 240C; this water passes through a dual process (to generate electricity and heat fresh water) and by the time the water emerges at Blue Lagoon, it has cooled down to 38C. It was not a cheap experience but hey, when in Rome and all that. We brought our own towels (you can rent at €5).
We left Blue Lagoon and the bus was ready to bring us to the city, about 39 km away. I had finally booked Hotel Fron on Laugavegur, Reykjavík’s main shopping street. We settled in for the night. Ahh, finally time to lie down!
Thursday, 2 February 2012
We woke up early today as we thought our tour today would start at 8 – when pick-up was only at 9, duh! – so we continued breakfast when we discovered this. We were picked up at 9 and sent to Grayline office nearby to ‘check-in’ and exchange our vouchers for tickets. We departed at 9.30 and arrived at the Laxnes horse farm after a 25-minute drive. Then the lady set about kitting us up in the proper gear for horse-riding. Yes, we were going riding today and not just any horse but the Icelandic horse, a breed that has remained virtually unchanged since the Vikings brought it to Iceland in the ninth century.
After we were ready, we were assigned our horses (my mare is named Madonna). We were given basic instructions on how to control our horses before we set off. At first, we set off on a leisurely stroll and I enjoyed the surrounding landscape. I even managed to snap some pictures while riding. Then we moved to different terrains: we crossed rivers (when Madonna decided to take her time drinking), then we ascended the ground, descended and next thing I knew, the horses were all trotting. It was quite scary as I felt Madonna was going too fast. I tried to rein her in but she either disobeyed me or breathed out noisily (in displeasure?) so after a while, I decided to just trust her. All the while, I entertained thoughts of falling off the horse while trying to maintain my balance on the horse. Indeed, there were a few times when I felt like I was losing my balance and it was all I could do to stay on the horse.
Then the horses started flying. I mean, they were flying. So not only did I have to try even harder not to be thrown off or fall off the horse, but it was beginning to snow so I also had to control my helmet and my muffler which were both slipping off. I also had snot running. Yes, I know. Too much information but do you now know what we were up against? That it wasn’t just a joy ride?
Just as I thought my hands could no longer hold on to the rein, we neared the farm. Thank God. I got down on shaky legs and only moved after a couple of minutes. Did the others feel the same too?
We staggered inside and struggled out of our gear. We then rested and had a light lunch – some soup and bread and tea.
Our next pick-up arrived just before 1.30 pm and we struggled out of comfort of the cosy indoors to the slippery snow and ice outside.
We drove to the National Park Þingvellir with its remarkable geological features, passing Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake of Iceland. The Icelandic Parliament - Alþingi - was founded on the site in 930 AD. We stopped for a brief while to have a look at the area; here you can see the constantly shifting North American and Eurasian plates. Then we drove further to Gullfoss (Golden Falls), two waterfalls located in the canyon of Hvítá river. It was such a bitterly cold day today, and the strong winds made it worse. We walked slowly, not wanting to risk a fall (and because I had fallen twice in Turkey) and then hopped back on the bus to the top to view the other waterfall. Oh my God, the wind was so much stronger, I felt blown this way and that. I’m serious. If I was alone, I think I could easily move without walking, propelled by the gale.
We made our way to the gift store-cum-café and browsed the store until it was time to leave.
Next up, was the geysers. In fact, geyser comes from the Icelandic word geysir. We stopped here for 45 minutes, observing and marvelling at the geysers and the antics of Strokkur (the Churn) which fires off a thirty-metre-high spout every few minutes.
We left just before 6 pm and drove back to Reykjavík.
To be continued
Then the horses started flying. I mean, they were flying. So not only did I have to try even harder not to be thrown off or fall off the horse, but it was beginning to snow so I also had to control my helmet and my muffler which were both slipping off. I also had snot running. Yes, I know. Too much information but do you now know what we were up against? That it wasn’t just a joy ride?
Just as I thought my hands could no longer hold on to the rein, we neared the farm. Thank God. I got down on shaky legs and only moved after a couple of minutes. Did the others feel the same too?
We staggered inside and struggled out of our gear. We then rested and had a light lunch – some soup and bread and tea.
Not me. I was only too happy to get down
Our next pick-up arrived just before 1.30 pm and we struggled out of comfort of the cosy indoors to the slippery snow and ice outside.
We drove to the National Park Þingvellir with its remarkable geological features, passing Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake of Iceland. The Icelandic Parliament - Alþingi - was founded on the site in 930 AD. We stopped for a brief while to have a look at the area; here you can see the constantly shifting North American and Eurasian plates. Then we drove further to Gullfoss (Golden Falls), two waterfalls located in the canyon of Hvítá river. It was such a bitterly cold day today, and the strong winds made it worse. We walked slowly, not wanting to risk a fall (and because I had fallen twice in Turkey) and then hopped back on the bus to the top to view the other waterfall. Oh my God, the wind was so much stronger, I felt blown this way and that. I’m serious. If I was alone, I think I could easily move without walking, propelled by the gale.
We made our way to the gift store-cum-café and browsed the store until it was time to leave.
Next up, was the geysers. In fact, geyser comes from the Icelandic word geysir. We stopped here for 45 minutes, observing and marvelling at the geysers and the antics of Strokkur (the Churn) which fires off a thirty-metre-high spout every few minutes.
We left just before 6 pm and drove back to Reykjavík.
To be continued
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