You-Want's Life

Iceland is a place where many would call an ‘Alien Planet’, given its majestic landscapes that look out of the world, and its co-existence of both glaciers and geothermal heat. This gorgeous island stands isolated in the far end of the world, but remains one of the most popularly visited countries (in normal pre-Covid climate). My trip there had included guided tours to hike not one but two glaciers, snorkel in a fissure and a boat tour in a glacier lagoon which beauty only took my breath away. These experiences were made incredibly informative by the guides, who had incredible work ethics especially when it comes to environmental protection. I remember learning about climate change and global warming in school, but getting to Iceland opened my eyes to witness these phenomena right before me. My horizon was widened when I had thought-provoking discussions with my guides on the unique Icelandic landscapes and the impact brought forward by geotourism. With no further ado, I would dissect...

Iceland has stunned me over and over again with its exceptional nature, and the thing even more awe-inspiring was the local attitudes towards appreciating and conserving their environments. I must confess that this trip had been tremendously fruitful, with so many out-of-this-world sightings of waterfalls, and mountains. Beyond the touristy things I have surely taken the chances to experience, I am most grateful for the opportunity to learn about how glaciers are formed, how climate change and global warming are impacting the nature in Iceland, and the locals’ attitude as well as work ethics towards committing to care for the environment. Like I said previously, learning about the deteriorating environment in textbooks and witnessing the phenomena proving it is real are two different things. Sometimes it takes a hands-on experience like my trip to understand in-depth the issues being faced by our Mother Earth. Thus, I hope this article can provide useful insights for those who have yet...

Last but never the least, another geotourism opportunity I had taken during my trip was snorkelling in the Silfra Fissure. Silfra Fissure is a part of the Þingvellir National Park, which forms the Golden Circle alongside Gullfoss and Geysir. It is an underwater rift formed between the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia. In plain words, it is a split in the continental earth plates, making anyone diving the area look as if they are touching the two continents at once. We were informed that the plates were moving apart, at the rate of 2cm each year. My tour was guided by Adventure Viking, a local tour company which normally brings visitors around the fissure, after explaining to them the essentials of survival while diving or snorkelling. Our guide, Maria, did a splendid job running through the necessary information we needed to know before getting into the water. This included the route, ways of staying afloat, ways to use the equipment and more. As I did not have a diving lic...

We have seen ice and mountains, which are represented by the colours white and blue on the Icelandic flag. What does the last cour, red, represent? Yep, you got it! It is the volcanic fires and lava. After 800 years of staying dormant, Fagradalsfjall Volcano started spurting out vicious lava again on 19 March 2021, and is not showing signs of stopping just yet. It has been erupting for almost 7 months, and is on track to be one of the longest volcanic eruptions in the region in more than 50 years. Since my trip to Iceland was primarily aimed to study the local landscape and environments, not going to see this volcano coming to life is a huge waste of opportunity. This volcanic eruption arrived at the best time- the Covid-19 Pandemic, which is contrary to common beliefs as it simply made more sense to have been a jab of tourism booster in a pre- or post-Covid climate. However, think about it this way, with Covid cases being uncontrollable in most countries, Iceland’s excellent governanc...

A huge unmissable feature of Iceland is its geothermal energy. Strategically located in a volcanic zone, the country is home to one of the most reliable (available 365 days a year, unlike wind and solar energy) biodegradable energy. This leaves us no doubt that hot springs are a norm in such a place. Did you know, there are two different types of hot springs available- manmade and natural? I found time to visit one of each, to enlighten myself of their differences, and to learn more about the sustainability of running them. Reykjadalur is a valley with a natural hot spring river running. It took us approximately an hour to hike to the swimming spot, but the hike was fun and there were occasional passing-by horses and their trainers. The air smelt like a mixture of sulphur, horse dung and grass. There were only a few wooden fences built next to the river to facilitate open changing of clothes and to my slight disappointment, the river was shallow to my calves. However, it was sufficient...

At this point, through my description of Icelanders, you probably already have an idea of how proud they are of their country. Now let’s talk about the Bieber impact, and their government's action to protect their nature and environment. Image taken from Google featuring Bieber. When Canadian pop star, Justin Bieber, decided to take advantage of the Icelandic majestic landscapes and shot the music video for his song, I’ll Show You, there in 2015, he brought to life a trend to visit the isolated country. Hordes of Bieber fans then flocked to the nation to track his filming locations, including this particular canyon known as the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, which was placed in the international spotlight thanks to the singer. Yet, in the video, Bieber notoriously set foot on living grass, trespassing dangerous sites where no footpaths were available. These became bad examples which fans naively followed- leading to a months-long government travel ban to that canyon only a few years after ...

The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon was arguably one of my most anticipated destinations. I remember watching Hebe Tien’s music video for her song Insignificance, which was shot here in 2013. She managed to capture an incredible pool full of ice (According to my research, she did not film during an Icelandic winter), but what I saw was a depressing lagoon with way less floating icebergs. I was in Iceland during early Summer, but I believe that the major lack of ice was not fully justified by the season. I was upset, knowing that this could very well be due to global warming and the greenhouse effect again. However, the sight of the beautiful lagoon was spectacular regardless, with ice giants laying across it lazily, and so I snapped out of my madness quickly. I did, without a doubt, feel insignificant and humble standing in front of them. One of them even collapsed right in front of my eyes, breaking apart like agreeing with my realisation that global warming across the years was nothing bu...

My visit to hike the Skaftafell Glacier in the Vatnajökull National Park was another opportunity to learn more about glaciers. This was a much more interesting hike as the slope was steeper and we had a clearer sight and experience in walking up an ‘icy’ mountain. With crampons on, we hiked with an ice axe that came in handy whenever we needed a better grip of the ground. The guide made several stops to explain about glaciers, and I listened attentively. Something new that I learned is that there is often a glacier lagoon at the bottom of a glacier. Imagine a lake at the feet of a hill. Glacier lagoon is an accumulation of the melted water from glacier ice. It expands over time as the glaciers shift towards inland further. The guide pointed to the glacier walls, which had obvious horizontal patterns above vertical ones, and explained that nature is eroding itself in one way or another. Wind movements erode the top part of the ‘hill’, and leave behind horizontal stripe-like marks. The v...

Iceland is a place where many would call an ‘Alien Planet’, given its majestic landscapes that look out of the world, and its co-existence of both glaciers and geothermal heat. This gorgeous island stands isolated in the far end of the world, but remains one of the most popularly visited countries (in normal pre-Covid climate). My trip there had included guided tours to hike not one but two glaciers, snorkel in a fissure and a boat tour in a glacier lagoon which beauty only took my breath away. These experiences were made incredibly informative by the guides, who had incredible work ethics especially when it comes to environmental protection. I remember learning about climate change and global warming in school, but getting to Iceland opened my eyes to witness these phenomena right before me. My horizon was widened when I had thought-provoking discussions with my guides on the unique Icelandic landscapes and the impact brought forward by geotourism. Katla Ice Cave has been one of the m...