Wow, what can I say, it was brilliant!!! My first group holiday and I definately chose well. Glacier trekking was awesome, we were lucky to have fantastic weather on this day, we also saw the iceberg lagoon and yes, later that evening we saw the Northern Lights too. While in the East we stayed on a farm which was located in front of mountains and just in front of the ocean, a beautiful setting! Petur the guide was great, incredibly knowledgeable about Iceland - past and present, we had all sorts of stories from him about the Vikings, he was a good laugh, oh and he has a very large box full of nibbles on the mini bus, this went down very well! :) . Caving was great too, but I was very nervous as I'm not good with small spaces, you didnt have to do the caving, but Petur reassured me and looked after me the whole time, definately worth doing! All together an excellent holiday, there's some travelling but lots of stops to see waterfalls and sites, oh and the food was good too, especially the trout at the farm, yummy. The whole experience was that good that I'm planning my next holiday with Exodus already.
When asked what my favourite part of the trip was this was my response soon after I returned ...."Mine...the spontaneous stop off to chill by the glacial pool in falling light - to capture the sunset en route to the hostel ...we saw the Northern lights - so chuffed - Vik, Whow! - homemade tomato soup on the spot where they were grown - all the food. Oh and I missed the pictures of Gulfoss in the books, so imagine my face when I walked to the edge of the path!! Snow, muted crashing rollers on a lava beach, ice, sun -such feast for the senses...then lastly the feel of the lava between the toes in the blue lagoon. Still pinching myself.
Iceland has a magical landscape and warm and friendly people who clearly love and want to care for the environment they share as their home. The hiking is hard but oh so worth it. Most of the time we were on trails only frequented by sheep, not people so you truly earned the sights of the trip. Thora was the most amazing guide. Her love for her country and all it has to offer shines through her smile and knowledge.