After a long and hard semester in University, where I have had to actually show up for classes in between travelling and training, I finally pulled off top grades in my last two exams. My reward: A one-week vacation in Iceland, one of my favorite countries…
Iceland is barren and remote, yet bubbling, steaming, boiling, spouting, flowing, burning and slowly ice-gliding.. It is such an intense place, it is hard not to get entirely intriguied by its very existence. Add the amount of whitewater that is falling over drops, rushing through canyons or gushing up into the air in the form of geysirs, it is always hard to leave.
I have wanted to check out the interior for years, meaning that we had to hire a 4×4 to get us across the rivers and safely along the dirtroads. My friend Ove, who is really a skiier, was a part of the team, and volunteered for doing safety and running the camera on the drops I ran. We explored a lot, and there is a lot to come back to next year with a bigger crew and a bit more water. I paddled park-n-hucks for safetyreasons, and got to drop waterfalls up to 12 meters high. Only the safe ones of course… 🙂
We also took the time to simply be tourists this time, and I got to see so much that I have missed out on earlier, always being a part of kayaking trips. We were in awe by so much of the scenery, the colours, the huge waterfalls like Dettifoss and Gullfoss, the gyesirs and not at least the most beautiful hot spring I have ever seen.. Crystal clear blue water, deep in a crack hidden for tourists, it was simply one of the most magical places I have ever seen.
I might even take a time-out in Iceland next year for a few months. It is not such a bad place to base out of I reckon.. The world is my playground, and it is just how I want it..
Mariann
