Iceland is the land of mighty geysers, waterfalls, glaciers, lava fields and lagoons with icy mountains. You can see whales ad puffins there, bathe in the thermal springs and get to experience the upright character of the locals.
It is a country set on an island in the northern Atlantic Ocean, between Greenland and Great Britain. To the north-west you will find the Faeroe Islands. The best and most practical way to reach the island is by an airplane, but once there, it’s best to travel by car. It’s the only mode of transport that allows you to stop at whichever point of interest you find. To reach the island you can also use the ferry, but the sea can be rough. This makes us admire the Viking sailors, of many centuries ago, all the more, as they have reached this remote island and settled it. The sea route is still not very good, as there is only one connection a week between Iceland and mainland Europe – through a Danish port. The journey on the rough sea takes up to three days. But there are also cruise ships that stop in Iceland, but the prices for a cruise are really astronomical.
Fire and ice
Iceland is on the north-Atlantic ridge and it was formed due to the tectonic movements of the North American and Euro-Asian plates that cause the Atlantic Ocean to expand. As the country lays very north, glaciers formed and under them, just like under the most of the country, the ground is not stable yet. This often allows us to see the sharp contrasts of fire coming out of an icy landscape. There are many cracks along the island, where lava streams with volcano cones form. The soil is so hot in places that the locals still bake bread in it. They also use this heat source in numerous ways. The entire country uses only the geothermal energy for heating and there are many hot water spas across the island, but also this is a tourist attraction. Iceland also has five glaciers, which cover 11% of the island. The largest among them - Vatnajökull covers a greater area than all the European glaciers combined! The forces of nature, however, do have their dangerous side as well. Since the settlement there have been over 150 volcano eruptions and that’s why the country got nicknamed the island of fire and ice.
From a desert to a waterfall
The country has a great variety of natural sights and apart of glaciers and volcanos it also has many waterfalls, a desert, and a very interesting coastline, with much of still perfectly unspoiled nature inland. Many waterfalls are easily accessible and thus very popular tourist destination. The biggest crowds come to the most advertised waterfalls like Gulfoss, Dettifoss, Selfoss and many more. A sharp contrast to the waterfalls is the desert, which may not look like a typical one with sand dunes, but is sand covered nevertheless and due to lava also much darker. Many inactive volcanos left various formations in nature, which also attract visitors from all over the world. But the greatest attraction is the most famous Icelandic word – Geyser. It’s a hole in the ground, from which steaming hot water bursts out in timed intervals. It’s the biggest Icelandic attraction of the all.
Fairness of the people
It is really hard to find any other nation with so many fair and law abiding citizens. Icelanders. The people are famous for growing plants in greenhouses heated by geothermal energy. But how to they sell their produce? They simply place them in wooden booths and just place a box for dropping money in next to the vegetables. This is how other people can buy their vegetables. It’s part of their lives and the people respect this rule and are extremely fair to one another. Otherwise there are great differences in the lifestyle during the summer and during winter. There is a lot of depression and alcohol in the winter months, which is due to the fact that the winter is very dark, cold and full of snow. Many wish, therefore, to leave the island permanently.
The people are really strict to themselves and their land, but do respect the nature, especially their horses, the Iceland ponies. If a horse leaves the island it may never return, as they are afraid of various illness that could spread. They organize many horsing events, but never take their best horses abroad to any competition. They are not proud only of their horses, but also on their history, which was built by the Vikings and the people still respect their ways by demonstrating the ship building crafts and keeping an open air museum with simple settlements made of ground and grass where the Vikings used to live.
Iceland is a land of ice, fire, waterfalls, geysers and fair people. You can see many wonders of nature there and always place your trust in the local people not to deceive you.
