Wild, wide open of Iceland, where few tourists go

Iceland is still largely empty and wild. Most tourists come to Reykjavik, stay there, and tour the so-called "Golden Circle" (sometimes called "Golden Triangle"). They would usually include the famous "Blue Lagoon" in their itinerary, soak in the mineral rich blue waters, and perhaps catch the flight out of Keflavik airport, which is close by. I am not writing here about those tourists, good as they are for the economy of Iceland.

The tourists with a few more days to spend are likely to go on a two day jaunt looking at the famous waterfalls, and the black sand beach of Vik. Still others will likely go slightly farther east, and marvel at the other-worldly wonders of Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and the famous Diamond Beach.

Then they will turn back towards Reykjavik.

But if you prefer the wilder, less travelled areas of Iceland, then this is for you.

We randomly chose a road that goes towards the center of Iceland from Selfoss, and went on our merry ways. It was serendipity at its best. Soon there were no human habitation around (this is from a few miles earlier, which had hardly any house at all). There were only large rivers, their immense flood plains, and green-as-emerald hills by the side. When the hills were not of the emerald hue, they were grey as the dry river bed, barren of all vegetation.

Talking of vegetation, we learned that Iceland was 25% covered in trees when it was first discovered by Norwegians a few centuries back, but now the tree cover has reduced to about 1%. Thats the kind of toll human habitation has taken on Iceland. As Agent Smith of the movie Matrix tells Mr. Anderson: "Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet".

Getting off the rant, and back on the road, we found a steep cliff by the road side (later I found out that the place is called Gaukshofdi). Climbing up the cliff from the back (that was not steep), we were soon masters of all we could survey. You could see for miles, the immense scale of the land, the rivers, the mountains, and also the ice-capped volcanoes in the distance. This made for a memorable stop for a lunch with a view. And what a view it was.

Further on, we came across what appeared to be a cafe of sorts in the distance, on a gravel road a few miles from the road we were on. It turned out to be a hostel, the Gljásteinn Hólaskógur Hostel, where hikers and backpackers can rest before they start down the long hikes through Icelandic wilderness beyond. It was a great place to rest and have a cup of coffee and croissant.

We came across a small hut near the hostel. It turned out to be one of the original dwellings that Icelanders used to use long ago. It was rather interesting, with grass grown all over its roof, a process that provided good amount of insulation in cold Icelandic nights.