Iceland Day 3

Iceland Day Three

The many waterfalls of Iceland have distinct categories. Gulfoss has size, Bruarfoss has exclusivity, and Seljalandfoss lets you walk behind the waterfall. It's a fantastic photo op, but there's a timing issue—the spray gets the lenses wet. Take advantage of the light peeking through the mist for that glowing effect, but don’t get too wet! The walk isn’t tough, and there’s plenty of space to hide behind the water.

Obviously, there’s a secret passageway that leads up to the waterfall—it’s this cool grotto thing. You can hop across stones over a tiny stream, pass through a cave entrance, and stare straight up at the waterfall. It’s breathtaking. There’s this unspoken understanding among visitors to the grotto: you play peek-a-boo behind the cave entrance while everyone else tries to get a good shot. The best spot is right as you cross through the portal. As you're posing, people will poke their heads out to check and then quickly hide behind the cave wall. Make sure you give them the all-clear when you’re done!

Hopping from stone to stone was a nice little touch. I only almost fell twice. From inside, you can point up at the waterfall for photos. Seljalandfoss has a neighbor, Gljúfrafoss, which you can peek down at from the top of the water—if you’re willing to do a little climbing.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: climb up a steel cable bolted to the side of a cliff, crawl across two unsecured 2x4s, and look down through the opening—without falling in. I moved as fast as I could. Anytime I paused, I heard someone ask me to lean over cliff edges and 2x4s for that perfect photo. The longer I took to reach the top, the more chances she had to request that I risk my life for the perfect shot.

Skogafoss has its own unique vibe as well. Each waterfall really does have its own charm. This one features what I like to call never-ending steps. You can climb the stairs all the way to the top of the falls. It takes about 15 minutes to get up there, and I only took three breaks. A few joggers passed me on the way up, and even one over-eager old lady. How dare they? By the time I reached the top, my fiancée had already taken all the pictures she needed. I grabbed a heavy-breathing selfie and then rolled back down the stairs. The views of the water are fantastic, and you can see for miles. There was a field covered in sheep. I was really into the sheep all over the country because of the Icelandic wool products. It made them feel more important somehow.

We spent the night at a hotel near the waterfall, so after tackling the stairs, there wasn’t much further to walk (exhales deeply). And I mean near. It was just across the field. Yes, there were sheep there, too. This was the one spot where we couldn’t quite escape the tourists (other tourists, I guess). But being so close to the waterfall meant we had the advantage of waking up with the sun and catching those golden hour photos—just not until tomorrow morning.

Not only did the photos turn out great, but we were the only ones there. It was just us. I’m not saying you have to stay at this hotel, but I highly recommend finding at least one hotel directly outside a waterfall. Those 6 AM photos? They’ll really stand out in your album.

Next, we head to Dyrholaey. This spot overlooks our next stop, but it has a few great views of its own. If you drive straight up the cliff at a thrilling 1 mile per hour, you can safely make it to the top of the pot-holey road. Once you’re up there, you can check out some really interesting rock formations and swing by the lighthouse. The higher you go, the more the wind starts to factor in. We watched a wedding party struggle to get a few decent photos—the bridal veil was all over the place.

The waves look intense and cold, but I wasn’t exactly tempted to take a dip. Watching the waves crash over the rocks was fun, though. It had that post-apocalyptic vibe, but in a strangely calming way.

The Black Sand Beach is the most beautiful non-tropical beach in the world. The Icelandic name for it is Reynisfjara. The photo ops here can be a bit tricky because tourists are always running across the beach to get to the big, pretty cave in the middle of it. There’s also the issue of the waves reaching all the way up the beach, hence the running. People need to get across before the waves hit.

This is also where the Basalt Columns come into play. These geological formations are what the Church in Reykjavik is based on. They’re easy to climb on, and they’re not blocked off, so feel free to have at it. We climbed up to a comfortable spot, but had to give up on our tripod because the waves would’ve taken it out to sea. We took turns sitting on the rocks while one of us took pictures from the beach, listening for the warning signal, and then racing the waves back to the rocks. The signal? Basically just a loud "AHHH."

Nine times out of ten, the waves didn’t actually reach the columns, but we had to make a few graceful dives to stay dry. To get a picture of the two of us together, we relied on the kindness of strangers. We found one pretty quickly—people traveling alone seem to love helping out with taking photos. So, big thanks to all the solo adventurers!

After the adventuring, we made our way to Vic, a village in southern Iceland. It's not a city—Reykjavik is Iceland’s only city. Vic serves as the last stop for tourists in this region. From what we could tell, it only has one restaurant in the whole village. When I think of a village with only one restaurant, I usually don't get my hopes up. But this place exceeded my lowered expectations and even my regular ones! The food was delicious, and they had a great selection. The service was better than anything I’ve had locally in my hometown, but that’s a sore subject.

And, of course, they had an ice-cold beer waiting for me. The first beer of the day is a turning point, a checkpoint. It marks the moment when it's my turn to start choosing the activities!

Aaaand... my fiancée says we have to go to bed early.

This doesn’t mean we can’t take one more life-risking adventure. There’s a man-made pool—the Original. It was created to teach Icelandic people how to swim. The folklore of this place is amazing. No one in Iceland knew how to swim! I mentioned that there are two things in Iceland that I can’t explain to you in a way that you'd believe me. The first is hot dogs. The second is the wind.

The wind in Iceland is no joke. It will knock you over. You (or rather, I) will fall down. The first day, I almost lost a hat while giggling tourists photographed my struggle. I was bullied. There are no trees native to Iceland to help break the wind. If you cut down a tree, by law, you have to plant two more.

The wind on the way to this pool was the worst we’d encountered. We were walking at about .05mph directly into the wind. That 15-minute walk felt like it took hours. The rocky terrain and random streams didn’t make it easier either. We finally found the pool, complete with porta-potty-like changing rooms. The water is fed by a hot spring, so we should’ve been good, right? WRONG. It was still freezing. We dipped a toe in, then quickly changed back into our travel gear.

The journey back felt like walking on the moving walkways at the airport. I was almost weightless. I cracked a smile, and then the wind decided to try to push me into the stream on the side of the cliff. Rocks started rolling around. We had to join forces to stay steady—so grab her arm. Lovingly, of course. But also for safety. This was one of our more exhilarating near-death experiences. The car seemed further and further away. All this to dip a toe in some cold water. Worth it.

We went back to the hotel across from Skogafoss, with golden hour photos on our minds. With that in mind, we only had a few drinks at the hotel bar and then retired to our room to enjoy the duty frees we picked up. We drank while watching a British dating show where a man visits three different women’s homes, and they cook for him. He has to choose his favorite based on who was the best cook. Are we going to Americanize this anytime soon? Because I can totally see it happening.