Trip date: July 2021
It was my first trip back in Iceland in 3 years.
After getting through airport immigration procedures, we bypassed baggage claim as we had no bags. Then, you had to show your registration barcode before proceeding to the arrivals hall. This was where we presented our passports (again) as well as our vaccination certificates to avoid quarantine. In addition, the officials scanned your barcode. You can learn more about the procedures here.
Once this was all done, it was time to get to the city. Sadly, our hotel room wasn’t ready. We went for a great lunch at Yuzu just around the corner. It’s a great burger place with an Asian-inspired menu. Check out the “Sjoppu” burger with fries and yuzu mayo dip at 2,190 ISK (US$17).
The Hike
As this was our first day, we decided to take it easy, and only booked a short tour of a volcano hike to the Geldingadalur Volcano just outside Reykjavík. This volcano began erupting on 19 March of this year, and it’s been almost 800 years since the last eruption.
Well, we thought it was an easy hike.
Once we arrived at the volcano, the winds picked up. Then some sprinkles. We also realized that we should have worn proper shoes (they were at the hotel). Our tour guide and the driver were both pointing at our feet, probably debating whether they should say something. They didn’t.
So we began the hike. It was quite flat at first. Then it became steep. There were no “paths” to speak of.
Then somehow we made it to the top… of something. And that is where we could see the lava field in the valley below. The lava covered a huge area. As our tour guide was talking, we saw bits of red in the distance.
It was a volcano (mini) eruption!
I remember not going to see the active lava flow on the Big Island back in 2018. This just made up for it.
We didn’t continue the walking path as it was getting cloudier by the minute, and then headed back down to the lava field below. We’ve never seen a “live” lava field, and certainly nothing this close.
We could see some of the heat coming from the bottom layer, as new lava pushes the old to the top. It was definitely an experience to see an active volcano, and history in the making.
By the time we got back to our bus around 9pm, everyone was tired.
Quick Dinner
We were so ready to bed, but we haven’t had dinner. We walked over to Bæjarins Beztu for some Icelandic hot dogs at 11pm. The hot dogs cost 550 ISK (US$4.40) each. That made us happy.
