With the world in lockdown, and myself stuck in my little flat in Manchester, I can’t help but reminisce about another experience of lockdown and isolation that my friends and I found ourselves earlier this year. As my first proper blog post, I’m actually taking you briefly to the frozen lands of the Arctic Circle, rather than a lush tropical forest. Let us go back just a few months ago to January 2020, when my friends and I decided to travel to Iceland in the heart of the winter. It is fair to say that before we went, we had some idea of what we were getting into, but we were far too optimistic about the raw weather of Iceland. Our plan was to start from Reykjavik and drive all around the island following Route 1 (the Ring Road), which snakes its way along the coast and some of the harsher inland. We were planning to do this in under 8 days. Yet, on the first day of our road-trip and on the way to our first destination, we were proven wrong pretty quickly. As soon as we drove into Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park – the impressive seven-kilometre rift valley covered with 10,000 year old lava that marks the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates – we got stopped by a park ranger. “You need to go now. A storm is coming. You cannot go back to Reykjavik. You must keep driving ahead, and you must do it now,” she said sternly. Reluctantly, we jumped into our Jeep – nicknamed Björk (after the famous Icelandic singer) – and pressed on the gas pedal in the direction of our first AirBnB, an old farmhouse located by the famous volcano Eyjafjallajökull. On the way there, we quickly made a stop at the jaw dropping Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, but the wind began to blow and soon turned into a blizzard. Our excitement quickly turned into dread, so we rushed back to Björk. The wind was making the car shake, and the snow blew over the road at over 90km/h speeds. Ahead we could only see a white expanse. What if we wouldn’t be able to make it in time? Luckily, the farmhouse was not very far so we managed to find refuge just in time before the storm hit. We ran inside, and we quickly connected to the WiFi to check what was going on (luckily, Iceland is a very well-connected country!). This was the headline from the Reykjavik Grapevine news on January 13th: “Gale Force Storm Across Most Of Iceland Today: Travel Dangerous & Highly Inadvisable”. On the Icelandic roads and weather conditions website (www.road.is), all roads behind and ahead were marked in red, classed as impassable or closed. Suddenly, we found ourselves stuck in the farmhouse in the centre of a monster polar cyclone over 940 millibars raging over the North Atlantic. To put it into context, this was the same barometric pressure as hurricane Harvey in 2017. What to do while locked in a farmhouse during a storm in the middle of nowhere, you ask? Play Monopoly, listen to music and have some whiskey while the skies were being ripped apart and the house shook, of course. At night, the wind roared over our heads as it blew against the roof of the attic where we slept. The next day, we had no food of our own left to eat except for crisps and mixed nuts, and we couldn’t even go get anything at a shop because the closest gas station was at least half an hour away and the roads were still closed. Thankfully, the host had left some pasta and some sauces for the guests, so we managed to eat. However, we had no idea when the roads would open again. We didn't even have a clue if we would be able to make it back to Reykjavik in time for our flight back home. It was good that the Icelandic horses were there to keep us calm and entertained. We called the authorities and tourist centres, but they too had no idea when the storm would end. We did learn one thing – the roads would open by 5pm that evening. It was more of a rumour than a real news, but it gave us hope anyways. We waited, and we checked the roads routinely. At 4pm, nothing. At 5pm, still no official news, and the sun had already set. Finally, at 6pm, the roads went from red to blue – slippery, but at least not closed. The risk was worth it. Björk the Jeep glided along the Icelandic coast and took us safely to our hostel in Vik. Sadly, we had to re-plan the whole trip and cut the itinerary in half because the storm meant that we lost two days of travel. Despite the change in itinerary, the rest of our road trip in Iceland would turn out to be unforgettable. We managed to make our way to Hofn, on the Eastern coast, and make a stop by the otherworldly Jökulsárlón glacial lake. On the way back, we had the privilege to see the natural splendours of the Golden Circle, including Geysir, the Gullfoss waterfall and, finally, the long-awaited Thingvellir rift valley. We even managed to spare some time on our last day to enjoy the Blue Lagoon and melt the stress of the trip away by floating in the warm thermal waters. Though free from the cyclone, we didn’t know this would only be our first experience of lockdown of 2020. It is fair to say, however, that it set a strangely eerie precedent to what would happen later with COVID-19. From my experience in Iceland, I learnt one important thing: even if the worst of storms hits, it soon passes and allows us to appreciate life more. Just like the cyclone, which forced us to stay indoors and made us worry about our safety and future, COVID-19 has trapped us inside, causing grief and struggle the world over. Yet, just like the cyclone, COVID-19 will soon be a thing of the past and we will enjoy treat every moment given to us like a gift long desired.
Have a look at other photos from the trip here! Stay tuned and stay wanderlust Dael
1 Comment
Anony
6/30/2020 10:12:51 am
This is amazing! How do you always seem to find yourself at the epicentre of natural disasters dael? 😂
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