This big Island is not named I-C-E L-A-N-D for no reason.

If you are coming during the winter then do not even consider stepping into this land without proper shoes, jacket or termo clothes!

or you will be senteced to hop off and Hop on for a iceland-time! 😀

p.s. Yes if you are average human and not a Viking then the average weather will sometimes force you to literaly Hop off and Hop on the car and during those 10 minutes you will be probably bone-wet completely with 3 not focused pictures and one so foggy that people will think that you took a shower selfie.

! YES YOU GUESS IT! IT IS COLD UP THERE SON !

Just right after arrival in the Keflavik s Airport we met another group of travelers from Czech Republic.

Young group of 4 younger fellow travelers came for a short visit of 4 days and had quite a rough time :

– broken car front window (without car insurance)

-lost ID, Passport

and rather than a sun their stay was full of harsh weather full snowing storms and rain.

After this discussion some kind of a sobering process started and I realized that my underestimated research of this magical place. Well I did that on purpose to lower my expectations in order to increase the overall positive experience of the given traveling destination

(More about that in)->Travel TIPS

BOOK THE CAR IN ADVANCE

Our low budget plan and arrival onto a airport around 2 AM was clear! SHOES OFF GLASSES ON – NAP TIME!

(The Keflavik Airport is a international and in the public area of the airport it is kind of possible to close an eye for a bit) – How much I missed the Singaporian Airport in that moment! DAH!

Because not booking the car before, we came kind of unprepared and we wanted to take a bus into a city and rent the car later.

But instead of that we were really tired and rented it on the airport – BIG MISTAKE yes!

it was pricy and the the actual stock of the cars was not surprisingly high.

My tip? Just try booking.com you should be able to get really nice deals if you plan it in advance. The credit cards holders may borrow the car without paying the insurance (strongly NOT recommended) debit cards holders HAVE to purchase the insurance which might usually be +100% of the original renting price

THE PUBS / EVERY VIKING IS A PARTY ANIMAL

During our excursion of the places with higher amount of the alcohol consumption (pubs) we quickly realized that E-V-E-R-Y Viking can sing like a music star and dance like they would be alone in the woods around the fire with no one else around. I recommend to visit at least one pub for a beer or two. You can try the one on the corner of streets Bankastraetiand and Ingolfsstraeti.

We had really good time there with a live music/singer he was so good – respect! / SKÁL & ENJOY

REYKJAVIK

If someone would ask me how was the Iceland Capital city I would reply : „Its ok“

Except the pub crawling I have not visited other small nicely looking businesses yet from my point of view it was not that interesting place neither bad one.

On the other hand the nature… OH man… It is for real stunning!

ROADTRIP BEGINS

As most of the Icelandic travelers also me and my friend decided to rent a car and go around the whole Iceland via the well known route 1.

During the winter I would not even consider or recommend any other possibilty because of the weather conditions and its unpredictable behaviour.

The car is a convenient tool for a effective exploration of the Iceland.

SHOP and BUCKLE UP

The recommended BONUS supermarkets were I think one of the best choices in order to get supplies and food resources for our journey.

One of my ideas were also buing the eggs and boiling them. Keep the paper cover and after the boiling process let them sit back. THERE YOU GO! You have just created a superior ultimate low budget meals ready to eat anytime anywhere. You can do the same with the rice or pasta too.

Another food essential was garlic (compatible with ANY food or meal) – a very powerfull natural medicine – keeps you healthy and your cardiovascular system more effective.

COUCHSURFING

Yes it works yet the demand is greater than the supply so book in advance. Also reach out through your social networks to find out if maybe your friends OR the friends of your friends maybe know someone who will be in Iceland during your stay.

Like with other countries and Couchsurfing it is ALWAYS a Priceless opportunity to meet the locals and find out about things which you would be not never ever be able to experience. All hail to Couchsurfing BUT more importantly to its community and people who are contributing and or sharing with each other.

GOLDEN CIRCLE

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

(aka HOT RIVER)

After a hour-or so hike through a pristine Icelandic nature you will be rewarded with the unique area of a hot stream which offers a ULTIMATE natural SPA like spots.

The „HOT RIVER“ is a smaller stream with a warmer water sufficiently enough to offer you a surreal experience of a bath and during the winter with all the ice and snow around you is for sure an amazing experience. The Hot River area is pretty nicely isolated from the lights of Reykjavik and Selfoss and there is nice open view to the north-sky = Icelandic Combo Friendly

This place catched my attention so much that during my short stay on the Iceland stay I went back there for 3 times!

HOW TO GET THERE?

You can access this place by a approximately a one hour hike from the parking lot near a town called: „Hveragerði“ which is near Selfoss.

My oppinion is that the hike is not that difficult yet do not underestimate the weather and equip yourself with sufficient clothes and towel.

ICELANDIC COMBO

Is the so called ultimate hyped combination of having a bath in the the unique „Hot Pots“ – the places with the natural occur of a warm or hot bath friendly water

and at the same time watching the mighty Aurora Borealis aka Norther Lights

AURORA BOREALIS / NORTHERN LIGHTS

Well this one may not be easy to spot. Many tourist come every year to spot this phenomenon sometimes across the half of the planet yet without seeing it at all. There are many factors influencing the visibility of the Northern Lights. If the Aurora Borealis is on your list I highly recommend you to come for at least a week or 10 days. Just for the record I saw it on the first and last day during my stay of total 12 days.

The main factors when hunting the Aurora Borealis are:

1) NORTHERN SKY VIEW orientated field of view – mind the (natural) obstacles or those which would cover the view to the northern horizon. The best view is probably from the northern sea coasts to the north

2) CLOUDLESS LOCATION www.vedur.is seemed to be a VERY good companion when checking the weather conditions It is often updated with the newest forecast of wind, temperature, aurora precipitation

3) AWAY FROM CITIES AND VILAGES

Try to find a good spot without any artificial sources of light around you – the lonelier you get the better 😉 Try to get surrounded by the mountains which may work as additional wall against the light pollution from the cities.

The capital city REYJKAVIK seemed to light pollute the area and the pollution was present even from 30+ km away.

4) MAGNETIC ACTIVITY The magentic activity was a additional precursor of the Aurora Strength. Usually if the graph changes occured the Northern Lights were visible or stronger.

http://auroraforecast.is/leirvogur-magnetic-observatory/

5) MOON seemed to be another factor which was influencing the overall visibility of the Aurora. Its rise can be found on vedur.is too

6) WEBCAM http://midhus.is

HOW TO CAPTURE AURORA?

My universal process guide would be:

Prepare your batteries in advance the more the better. Remember the cold exposure is probably going to lower your battery capacity and they might be depleted way faster than usually SO if you are planning to be in colder environment try to maybe put them as close to your body as possible – underwear or Bra does the best work – trust me 😀

1 – STABILIZE YOUR CAMERA – Make sure that your camera has ZERO movement activity – otherwise your photos will be blurry

2 – SET MANUAL MODE

3 – SET MANUAL FOCUS to infinity or close to it – you can try to rely on AF- Autofocus yet not every camera has to make it 100% everytime you shoot

4 – “OPEN THE EYE” set the F to the lowest possible. (That number could be for example F4, F2.8, F1.8) depending on your lens

The lower the number – the greater amount of the light is entering your camera – yet your focused area is shallower

5 – SET THE ISO to higher (around 6 000 depending on your camera) the ISO is controlling the light sensitivity of the camera sensor. The lower ISO the lower amount of light is your camera picking YET the higher quality of your photo will be.

6 – TIME EXPOSURE try to set the time of your photo being shot to 10,15 or even better 30 seconds

7 – SET TIMER for 2-5-10 seconds so your camera stabilize itself after pressing the shutter button

8- WAIT FOR IT!

9- VOILAAAAA! you Got it!! 🙂 Congratulations! 🙂 you have your first picture of the Aurora

AURORA PHOTOGRAPHING CONTINUES

Your first Aurora photo will probably not be a perfect one BUT with few adjustments it can become way better :

IS YOUR PHOTO TOO DARK?

Try to increase the time exposure OR ISO. And maybe put the lens cover down that might help too 😉 😀

IS YOUR PHOTO TOO LIGHT?

.- 1) Put the ISO down (this will increase the quality of your photo and lower the brightness

Take another photo :-). If its still too bright then:

– 2) Increase the F number (this will increase the depth of the focused area)

If is your photo still too bright then you can :

– 3) Decrease the time exposure

IS YOUR PHOTO STILL BLURRY?– Try to play with the focus. The focused areas might be sharp when the focus is just a little lower(„closer“) than the infinity range.

The process of taking the photo of the Aurora is not easy and probably will require patience and a few photos before you will be able to get something usable.

If your photos are still blurry make sure that your camera is REALLY steady ( you might be on a wooden bridge which is not 100% stable etc. )

Inspect your camera there might be a camera stabilizer turned on which may create a blurry photo. Most of the stabilizers does not cooperate very well when taking the longer expose

My last tip is to : try to take a photo of a city at night with a longer time exposure 15-30 seconds to simulate the similair or same conditions. If you get a focused photos you should be prepared enough to be able to capture the mighty Auroras. Practise with your gear so WHEN you are on the spot on ICELAND you know what to do.

Once you see it Keep watching it might dissapear as quickly as it appeared 😉 enjoy the show and good Luck with your photos 🙂

WORTH OF MENTIONING

REFFERENCE:

http://laviequoi.fr/ondrej/?fbclid=IwAR1rmKCacaDQt_i5q6QFG2kITGxxC0aR2dreYEXoejX1bXuy3MkKbZHCzCg

LAST WORDS & KARMA

The nature is definetely a major factor which will influence your stay whenever you are. This applies to the Iceland 1000X more. So if you came to see Aurora, Ice caves, Glacier, The plane crash site, Waterfall or Geysirs and you had a bad weather so you saw absolutely nothing you lost your phone or your camera got broken – try to simply LET GO and Come Back again. Be happy that you made it through. You can always come back again OR even move there too 😉

You can call me EZOTERIC, Witcher or crazy but one thing was clear to me very quickly. The Iceland had/has a very strong Karma Energy. I recommend everyone to behave in their own interest. Good or bad everything came back like a boomerang very quickly.

I hope that you will Enjoy Iceland at least as I did.

Stay strong curious and healthy!