Episode 04 – Iceland

Iceland was absolutely stunning. Tune in to the latest episode for some 360 views of waterfalls, rainbows, geysers, glaciers and lava fields

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The most common way to get around is by car. You could just start driving in any directions and it was impossible not to stumble upon something beautiful. As a solo traveler I made friends and was able to join in some road trips. During my stay I explored the South, the West Coast and the Golden Circle.

Secret Solstice

When I initially booked my stay at Kex hostel, I only booked my first two nights. I figured that I would wing it from there. What if I want to move around or go to the next town? Turns out there was a huge music festival happening in Reykjavik that weekend called Secret Solstice, with Radiohead as one of the headliners. People from all over Iceland had come to Reykjavik and all the tourists were flocking in as well. As a result everything was booked up and I wound up homeless. I found a place on Airbnb for Saturday but didn’t have a plan for Friday night. I had a hammock and a sleeping bag with me but that wasn’t very helpful as there are practically no trees in all of Iceland. The cheapest places were close to 300$ and you couldn’t rent a tent for a single night. I ended up getting a ticket to the festival and decided to stay up until I could check in to my Airbnb at 3pm the next day. It was actually an easy thing to do in Iceland because it never gets dark during the summer. It’s light out all night – that can really play tricks on you mind and body. I ended up watching netflix for a good part of the early morning to keep myself occupied. After my night at the Airbnb I returned to Kex where I remained for the rest of my trip. It was a little stressful not know where you would sleep from night to night, and there was a lot of moving around involved. I’m gonna leave you with a sneak peek of the concert (not in 360 unfortunately)

 

Chasing Puffins

On Sunday I took a day trip to the South of Iceland. It was a very eventful day and I got to see a lot. But I had an ulterior motive for going down south that day – I wasn’t going to leave Iceland without seeing a Puffin, and I had heard that this was the place to go to find them. I wound up at Black Beach, a beautiful beach covered in black sand which takes its color from all the lava in the area. On the beach there were enormous cliffs where the puffins were perched. They were so high up that it was hard to snag a picture or even to get a good look at them. I kept wandering on the beach until I saw him. This little puffin was sitting on a low part of the cliff right in front of me. Needless to say I grew incredibly motivated to get up close with the fellow. And I started what was perhaps a little too ambitious of a climb. You see, the bottom end of the cliff was increadibly steep and really just covered in sand and small rocks. You wouldn’t know if you could put your weight on a rock without it sliding all the way down to the bottom of the beach. I meticulously began my ascent, being very careful with each step and handhold. I got maybe about half way up to where my little friend was. But then the unthinkable happened. He flapped his little wings and flew away. It happened so fast, and both my hands were occupied keeping me on the cliff that I wasn’t even able to get a picture. I was quite disappointed and frankly a little angry at the creature and began my descent. I quickly realized that compared to this, the climb up was a piece of cake. I could not test rocks before putting my weight on them. Things became tricky. I slid a couple of times but got lucky and would catch a rock on my way down. I came back to the group of people I came with covered in black dust, both shoes drenched in water and with dirt everywhere. When asked about what had happened all I could answer was “A goddamn Puffin happened that’s what!”