Iceland: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon

We were on to the most defining chapter of the trip – a full-day cross country excursion to the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoons on the Eastern coast of Iceland. There can be few better sights than that of snow-capped mountains and I have been lucky enough to view the Himalayas and the Alps which have innumerable snow capped peaks.
Hence I wondered that I was about to have one of the better experiences as a traveler. In fact it was not only snow-capped mountains but full mountains of snow that we were about to view. Add to that rocks, glaciers and sea all together at one place. We were to drive through all that for one whole day.
This was a long fifteen hour trip and hence the pick-up time from Hotel Skuggi opposite our place of stay was at 7 AM. This was quite early in Iceland as the sun only rose at 8:30 AM in March. This was in a way great for us as we could catch up on a few winks in the bus as there would be nothing to view outside in the dark. As the bus drove through the deserted roads of Reykjavik picking up the other tourists, I did exactly that.

An hour and a half later I was woken up by the first rays of the sun and was greeted to a white blanket of snow shimmering under the rising sun. This would surely be a busy day for the cameras. And by God’s grace it turned out to be the perfect day as far as the weather would be concerned. The journey gave us more thrills as we stopped for breakfast. Getting off on a cold morning, walking around and then sipping some coffee can be best kick one can get on such a trip.
As the day became brighter, we got to view the gorgeous Icelandic countryside most of it, as the name of the country suggests, covered with ice. Despite the white blanket all around, the temperature was a highly comfortable 4-6 degrees, not once going sub-zero.

Our next stop would be the Skogafoss waterfalls. We were itching to get off the bus and somewhat breathe the countryside and there could not be a better place than this. Mountains, waterfall and a brook flowing. The brook is actually the river Skoga flowing by and surely worthy of a pose.

We resumed the drive and as we looked out of the window, we viewed these volcanic rocks which are formed by the molten lava.

We reached the eastern coast of Iceland passing through the town of Vik. This is a town of around 350 people identified by this church, which is the most prominent and probably its only landmark. The sea was on the other side though we would get off and get a better view of it on our return journey. Probably for the first time I would view a snow capped mountain and sea together in the same frame.

I would soon run out of words as we traveled more and more into our journey. This was a thick blanket of snow out of which peeped out some homes. It can be quite possible that on another day, these homes will completely go under the blanket.

We could not just go on without taking photo-breaks during the journey. Our guide is kind enough to oblige despite a long haul ahead. We steal a few clicks as the guide summoned us back

We got more lucky as we noticed that the place where we were supposed to break for lunch is like this. Within a moment we forgot all the hunger and set-off on a mini trek. We crossed the road shown above and started a uphill climb where we viewed a mountain of snow standing tall right in front of us. We trekked further, clicked a number of photos and even slow-motion videos before it dawned upon us that we needed to grab a bite before proceeding with our journey. We somehow stuffed ourselves with a burger and boarded the bus reluctantly as our guide gave us and other equally fascinated passengers a few dirty looks. Our final destination, the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon would not be far off.

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon

We reached our destination and this was one of the first sights of the great Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. It was an absolutely mesmerizing sight with the blue sky in the background. This would be our long break where we would have enough time to live the place. On one side was the glacier lagoon and on the other side was a black beach, also famously known as the diamond beach. What a place to be, I wondered. I had not seen anything of this sort before and it seemed like living in a dream world from one of those fairy tale stories. The sight was comparable to the clouds viewed through the aircraft window during on a day time flight . The ice made you feel you were flying in the clouds.

The glacier lagoons were spread over a large area and we could even spot a helicopter there which meant that the place had a helipad. It also had the basic tourist facilities like toilets and souvenir shops. We walked a bit to feel the place, clicking photos and videos on the way. The views got more and more breathtaking by the minute with the changing position of the sun and the approaching dusk. Probably the only thing that was missing were the penguins and the polar bears.

As much as we were reluctant to leave the place, we had to. One of the biggest challenges out there was to not slip and fall. Luckily we managed to stay afloat and avoid a fall. We now had to move to the opposite side of the lagoon to the beach. This was a black beach, popularly referred to as the diamond beach. The beach was normal but what was unbelievable was the giant sized ice cubes or glaciers lined on the beach which had taken a shade of blue. Ice and beach was not something I would associate together but here it was, I was viewing a remarkable creation of nature.

Ice By The Beach

It was now time for us to head back as we had to make the long journey back to Reykjavik. We reluctantly headed back to the bus after some more photos. The power bank kept the mobile phones going while the DSLR camera was acting as the perfect foil.
While the sun was now on its way down, the return journey provided us enough light to experience the gorgeous sights once more and it felt as beautiful as we felt in the morning.

We were to stop at Vik for our penultimate break and by the time we reached, twilight had set in providing us with one more breathtaking sight.

As the sun set, it provided us this one last mind-blowing view of the cliffs in the sea from the beach on the town of Vik. After viewing all the ice and the ‘white’ all day, what an icing on the cake to have viewed this in the twilight.
We had some coffee at the restaurant. A coffee that felt well deserved towards the end of one of the most fascinating travel experiences ever.
It was now dark and hence the eyes and the cameras could afford to rest for a bit though the twilight continued for a while. We stopped at one more place though by that time it was totally dark. It was a waterfall similar to the Skogafoss waterfalls that we visited in the morning. My wife opted to stay back in the bus though I took a stroll and even managed to finally slip and fall. Thankfully no damage was done.
We reached Reykjavik at the planned time of 10 PM. We ventured out into the town center to have some dinner and duly had some biriyani at a Pakistani restaurant. On the way back we even caught up on some desserts before heading back to our place of stay. The next day we had to pack our bags and head back home to London.