Just Another Clumsy American Tourist in Iceland

On my way from the United States to the United Kingdom, I decided to take a four-day vacation in Iceland. As much as I would like to believe in my ability to do research and remain organized, I was terribly unprepared for my trip to Iceland.

My plan was simple - use a campervan (a van with picnic materials, a bed, and the ability to drive of course) to circle around Iceland in four days. In retrospect, I recognize how audacious and inconceived the idea sounds. There was no room for unexpected delays or accidents.

Everything Goes Wrong

Not surprisingly, things started to go wrong just about as soon as I landed in the airport. I landed in Keflavík Airport on the morning of September 14 - sleep deprived, jet lagged, and too early for my rental van pickup. In my zombie-like state, I stumbled around the arrival lounge until I found a coffee shop.

Things went very wrong as soon as I was picked up by my campervan rental agency. I was picked up with two other American tourists. Upon arrival at the agency, one of them brought up the very salient point that they could only drive an automatic car. To my horror, I remembered that I had never checked the transmission of the campervan I rented (it was manual).

Upon some minor pleading by the agency, I decided to try learning how to drive a manual car in the parking lot. If the fact that I chose to learn how to drive a manual car for the first time in an empty parking lot in a country that I had never visited before strikes you as odd and ill-conceived, then you are definitely brighter than me. In my sleep-deprived state, I used the 4G modem provided with the campervan to look up two online videos that demonstrated the basics of driving manual. I learned a few important things that day:

1. Online videos are actually pretty darn good at teaching you new things
2. Driving a manual car is extremely hard
3. Stalling a manual car is scary - doing it multiple times in front of others is very embarrasing

Needless to say, I went back to the agency and requested an automatic campervan. I was in luck - an automatic campervan was being serviced that very day and was available in a few hours for me to drive. After that fiasco (which cost me the entire morning), I decided to go to one of the destinations I had been looking forward to - an active volcano!

At Fagradalsfjall, which was only a short drive from Keflavík, I enjoyed my very first hike in Iceland. The walk to the base of the volcanic crater was beautiful, with views directly to the Atlantic Ocean. From there, the hike became very intense. I climbed upwards for around 45 minutes before reaching the plateau at the top.

At this point, I expected paved paths and fences surrounding the volcano. To my surprise, I could walk up directly to the lava!

After enjoying the feeling of being near a volcano - feeling the ground actively rumble near me, watching lava erupt in short bursts out of the main crater, and seeing the molten rock bubble around as it flowed down the crater - I realized that I had to make it to Akureyri that night since I had a COVID-19 test booked for the next day. I started an approximately 8 hour drive from the volcano to my first campsite. In addition to the fact that I was sleepy from the jet lag, I had to deal with another disaster - the 4G modem provided by the agency was not charging with the cord provided. After losing data and my GPS, I had to buy a SIM card from a remote gas station to have some emergency data. I did not even have the pin required to open the SIM slot in my phone - this I jerryrigged from a clip (and nearly broke my phone in the process).

Overall, I felt extremely tired after a long day of painfully time-consuming obstacles. However, I was also equally enthralled by the natural beauty around me throughout the drive.

Waterfalls

My second day was much more peaceful. Iceland’s campsites are very well stocked - the one I stayed at had an electric kettle that I could use to make some coffee. I bought a cord for the 4G modem (which finally gave me some data to use for my GPS for the rest of the trip).

On my way to Hverfjall (a volcanic crater), I happened to notice a parking lot with a lot of tourists. I could tell because there were a bunch of campervans parked there. I got a beautiful view of a set of waterfalls just off the road.

Hverfjall itself is a geological wonder - a huge volcanic crater that is hiked directly. I got amazing views of the crater at the top. Even better were the views of the surroundings from the altitude gained from the hike.

My next stop was a huge waterfall called Dettifoss. Although I knew it was huge, I was not prepared for the sheer size of the waterfall - although I could hear the water hitting the bottom, the mist created from the fall obscured the true height of the waterfall. The mist was so voluminous that it created a double rainbow in the sunny conditions!

My last destination was a canyon hike. Unfortunately, upon reaching the location, I realized that the rains and subsequent release of water from a dam had flooded the canyon and made the trek impossible.

I ended the day at Borgarfjörður Eystri. This was a beautiful town on the East end of Iceland. The campsite itself was beautiful - seated between two snow-capped mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. I decided to celebrate another successful day by eating out at a restaurant, where I enjoyed some traditional Icelandic fish stew.

Best Day in Iceland

My third day in Iceland was definitely the best day by far. The drive out of Borgarfjörður Eystri began with a glorious coastline drive, with mountains on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Along the way, I found a random hiking spot and took a chance. After a challenging 1.5 hour hike up the mountain, I was greeted with a spectacular view of snow-capped mountains. I also met some friends along the way.

I had another exciting location lined up for this day - Fardagafoss. This waterfall is an easy 30-minute hike from the parking lot and features a cavern behind the waterfall that allows you to get behind the waterfall. After a lovely hike and some adventurous bouldering to get behind the waterfall, I was ready to take a long drive to the southern tip of Iceland.

I had been warned that Iceland’s weather can change without warning. I didn’t take it seriously until I hit some of the craziest fog and rough roads on the East side of the country. I hit a patch of gravel roads and could not see 10 feet in front of the campervan. Needless to say, I was happy to finally get on to regular pavement after 2 hours.

I finally arrived at a location I had been looking forward to all day - a glacial lagoon. This is a body of water formed downstream of a glacier, containing chunks of ice that had come from the glacier. I also enjoyed some amazing fish and chips!

On the way to my campsite - the beautiful Vatnajökull National Park - I had an amazing opportunity I didn’t realize I would have in Iceland. I got to go up to an actual glacier! I most definitely did not take the “official” route to get to the glacier, but I got an AMAZING view of the glacier descending from the mountain.

The Final Hurrah

On the final day, I had to make it back as close to the airport as possible. I chose a campsite close to Reykjavík in a town called Eyrarbakki. Before leaving Vatnajökull, I took a small hike to another glacier called Skaftafellsjökull. After a quick and hearty salmon sandwich for breakfast, I drove almost 5 hours to Eyrarbakki. The campsite itself was out of season at the time and I was the only one there that night. I decided to treat myself to lingoustine soup at a high-end restaurant to celebrate the end of an amazing trip!

As Just Another Clumsy American Tourist™ in Iceland, I thoroughly enjoyed the natural beauty of the country! Considering how ill prepared I was for the journey, I sincerely have to thank both the amazing people that helped me throughout my four days there and the forgiving weather that allowed me to make it back to the airport on time.