Preparation for an Icelandic Adventure

Preparation for an Icelandic Adventure

Update: Where is Iceland? I’ve just returned from the trip. See my mini Iceland travel guide for tips for your next trip to this country.

“There aren’t many places on the planet where u can walk behind waterfall, climb onto a glacier, explore a lava cave, marvel at an erupting volcano, sail among iceberg on a glacial lake, watch water erupting into the air from a geyser and scuba dive along the rift between 2 continental plates, all in one weekend” – Frommer travel guide

When they put it like this, how can you resist?

But there is one thing standing between me and every backpacker’s dream country. The ash. I’ve been planning a trip to Iceland for the last two years and thought I might not make gain after the ash resurfaced for the second time. Two weeks ago, I started to plan seriously. It wasn’t easy because Iceland is not a typical European country where you can just fly in and bus out or show up on a whim.

First of all, it is not popular. When was the last time you listen to Bjork? You don’t have as much information about it compared to other known destinations. You can’t visualize it when almost every image from Europe which flood your short attention span are wines from Tuscany, cheesy romantic scenes from Paris, the British royal family, Amsterdam’s red-light district, the Spanish matadors, etc.

Second, the country is famous for nature. Thus, it makes sense to plan hiking, camping or doing anything related to nature, which brings up the question about transportation. I met an Icelander on a trip to Cyprus, who told me about the spaciousness and lack of public transportation in Iceland. To get quickly from once place to another, you need a car, which is clearly not an option for me. I haven’t driven for five years, and I don’t plan to bring any sheep casualty to this peaceful nation.  Also, having too many things on my plate at the moment to read up about Iceland, I quit after two days of planning.

Here comes Adventura.cz, a well-known Czech travel agency, to the rescue. I usually don’t do tours which are always expensive and sometimes useless.  Adventura is a different kind of travel company. They do tours like no other.  I did a wonderful trip with them three years ago to Romania. It was cheap, thorough, quality and most importantly toughen me up on those seven straight days hiking through the mountains. This trip was by far one of my best travel experiences.  Out of many trips to Iceland for this summer, I considered the two-week journey starting late June but hesitated to buy the package due to the cost of 39,000 czk or 1,600 euro. It should be still cheap given that it includes return ticket from Prague to Iceland, the guide for the duration of the trip, free breakfasts and dinners. While I was deciding and waiting for the company to answer my inquiry, I received an email response from a colleague to whom I forwarded the link to the trip’s web page. The emails read:  “Nice trip for such good price 1,8000 czk/780 euro.” I was like: “What are you talking about? Did you read from the right link?:  I went back to the site, and in those hours from the time I sent my colleague the email until when he read it, the price went down by 50% due to two last-minute cancellation. I called and took the last spot.

Whoa!

But there is one minor problem.

The trip will start in two days. I don’t have a tent, hiking boots, waterproof pants, breathable sports top, waterproof jacket and many more.  Although I’m quite experienced in traveling in civilized European cities, I’m still very much F.O.B. (fresh off the boat) when it comes to having a date with nature.

One more day and two nights to pack.