andywon
Strange Lands
Ever since I've heard about Iceland I wanted to visit its wild and largely untouched highlands. They are one of the few true wilderness areas which can still be found in Europe. The Landmannalagaur region which its famous colorful rhyolite mountains is probably one of the most spectacular landscapes inside the highlands. However, during my first two visits of Iceland I didn't have a change to go there. Since it's off the popular ring road and you can't find any paved roads going there, you'll need an offroad vehicle to drive to it. If you've ever been Iceland you know how expensive these cars can be but on the third visit to the island I finally pulled the plug and rented a small SUV for our whole trip.
Well, actually we did only rent a Suzuki Jimny which is the smallest four-wheel SUV which you can find in Iceland. But when we arrived at the car rental we couldn't see any of them. Instead we were handed keys to a Mercedes -- as a free upgrade. So while I expected to drive with a small car through the rugged landscape, we sat in a big Merced GLK instead with all the convenience inside which you can imagine. It almost felt out of place. But I guess you cannot complain when you get a car which is worth twice as much as the one you originally rented.
Anyway, after driving all the way to the Landmannalaugar base camp through many lava fields the car and how we got there quickly faded back in my memory. Instead I was in absolutely awe with the landscape around me. It's hard to do it justice with pictures but it looked like an incredible beautiful oasis in a sea of rocks. The colors of the mountains are just spectacular and even though I've been to many places around the world already, it was definitely one of the most extraordinary. Unfortunately we only spent half a day hiking through these strange lands. If I knew how great it looked in reality, I would definitely have spent a couple of days there hiking. I think it's one of the big natural wonders of this world.
Strange Lands
Ever since I've heard about Iceland I wanted to visit its wild and largely untouched highlands. They are one of the few true wilderness areas which can still be found in Europe. The Landmannalagaur region which its famous colorful rhyolite mountains is probably one of the most spectacular landscapes inside the highlands. However, during my first two visits of Iceland I didn't have a change to go there. Since it's off the popular ring road and you can't find any paved roads going there, you'll need an offroad vehicle to drive to it. If you've ever been Iceland you know how expensive these cars can be but on the third visit to the island I finally pulled the plug and rented a small SUV for our whole trip.
Well, actually we did only rent a Suzuki Jimny which is the smallest four-wheel SUV which you can find in Iceland. But when we arrived at the car rental we couldn't see any of them. Instead we were handed keys to a Mercedes -- as a free upgrade. So while I expected to drive with a small car through the rugged landscape, we sat in a big Merced GLK instead with all the convenience inside which you can imagine. It almost felt out of place. But I guess you cannot complain when you get a car which is worth twice as much as the one you originally rented.
Anyway, after driving all the way to the Landmannalaugar base camp through many lava fields the car and how we got there quickly faded back in my memory. Instead I was in absolutely awe with the landscape around me. It's hard to do it justice with pictures but it looked like an incredible beautiful oasis in a sea of rocks. The colors of the mountains are just spectacular and even though I've been to many places around the world already, it was definitely one of the most extraordinary. Unfortunately we only spent half a day hiking through these strange lands. If I knew how great it looked in reality, I would definitely have spent a couple of days there hiking. I think it's one of the big natural wonders of this world.