KEF-KUL

Wed 9/11/22

We would be leaving Iceland today after spending 12 nights on the island starting from Snaefellness (Helgafell, Stykkisholmur) driving clockwise through the north, based in Husavik, then continuing east, staying at Egilsstadir and Hofn; and in the south where we stayed at Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Hvolsvollur, ending our trip at Gardur.

Our flight back was scheduled at 10.15 am. We departed from Gardur apartment at 7am. We returned back our rental car at Sixt near Keflavik airport (KEF)- it went smoothly, we only needed to park the car and return the keys. The Sixt office was already opened when we arrived. The free shuttle bus to the KEF arrived within 5 minutes and we arrived at the airport with more than enough time for check in process. 

We have already checked in online and have our online boarding pass but were unable to print it at the self service kiosk, so we proceeded to the check in counter. There was only one person in front of us in the queue, so the check in was sorted smoothly, and we also checked in our luggage. Since we would be transiting in Helsinki (HEL) which is within the Schengen area as Iceland, there was no immigration / passport check here in KEF. It would be done later in HEL, our last point before exiting the Schengen area. Our boarding gates would only be displayed 1 hour before departure, so we just hung around the seating area after security clearance. I had some Icelandic krona cash left so I bought what could be bought with that small amount - a bar of Snickers. We chatted with another Malaysian couple who were also in the same flight as us from KUL to pass the time. 

Our flight to HEL departed on time, and we were only served drinks on this flight, which we again opted for blueberry juice. We already had our packed sandwich as breakfast and coffee at Keflavik airport. Our transit time at HEL was tight with only 50 mins, so we were quite nervous if we could make it to our next flight, plus our plane from KEF did not stop at the boarding gates. We had to go down the stairs from the plane then board the bus to take us to the terminal- this added a few more minutes to our already short transit time.

Goodbye Iceland

It was a relief that security clearance is not required and we could proceed straight to Immigration check for passport stamping. There was just a short queue, and it was all completed with still time to reach our gate and board the flight to Bangkok (BKK). 

The flight from HEL to BKK would take 11hours 50mins. We were served twice - one dinner and one breakfast. Again, we opted for Muslim meal (MOML). We were served with basmathi rice with vegetable korma with potato salad and bread as appetizer and a chocolate bar as dessert. For breakfast we were served with hash brown, tomato and eggs. The meals were tasty. The other facilities provided were the same as per our flight from BKK to HEL. 

11hours 50mins to Bangkok

MOML dinner

MOML breakfast

Our transit time was long at BKK with 5hours to kill. We arrived Bangkok at 9.10am, but our flight to KUL will only depart at 2.15pm. There is an earlier flight to KUL at 11am, but the ticket price for that timing was much more expensive. We could have opted for that had we bought our tickets much earlier (we only bought the tickets 3 weeks prior to departure due to the Covid 19 uncertainty). Furthermore, Thailand only implemented the Covid-19 relaxation requirement (no need for testing) in October 2022. So to pass the time in Bangkok, we had a meal of Tom Yum Goong set with rice, stir fried water spinach (kangkung ) and omelette (telur dadar); and mango sticky rice with a bottle of mineral water that cost 690 baht (about RM90).

tom yum goong set

mango sticky rice

Finally it was time to depart KUL, with the flight operated by Malaysia Airlines. Since the flight was from BKK, our menu was also Thai themed - I opted for fried rice with basil beef, while partner in crime opted for white rice with chicken green curry. This was a welcome change from the usual menu of nasi lemak and chicken noodle on MH operated flights. We finally arrived KUL at 5.30pm, and there was heavy downpour that evening. We were stuck in the traffic jam from the airport to home, and only arrived at 7.40pm. It was good to be back home and we missed our 6 cats (although we viewed them daily from the camera installed at home).

fried rice with basil beef

white rice with chicken green curry

Reykjadalur Gardur

Tue 8/11/22

Today we decided to go to a natural hot spring, the nearest being Reykjadalur Hot Spring , 66km from our Borg apartment, not far after Selfoss city. To reach the hot spring, we hiked for about 3km from the parking lot. Parking costs ISK 950 for 3 hours 10mins. The parking rate depends on the duration. 

parking rate

hiking path at Reykjadalur

For the first few km of the hike, it was climbing uphill, but it was worth it as the views were amazing. There were also many mud pits with boiling mud, as this is a natural hot spring area. The boiling mud smelt of Sulphur. When we reached the hot spring, there were a few other people already immersed in water. It is not a deep river, only knee deep. We didn't bring a change of clothes, so we only dipped our legs in the nice warm water. 

climbing uphill

more climbing

views from the hike

stream

notice the vapour, nearing the hotspring

the spot to dip in the natural hotsping

some rock formations

After relaxing our legs in the hot spring, we hiked further a bit where we saw a bigger boiling mud pit, and a viewpoint, but we needed to climb quite steeply to get there, so I decided to forego that and inspected the mud pit a bit closer. We then returned back, mostly going downhill until the parking lot. We logged 9.4 km on this return trip hike with a moving time of 2 hours and elevation gain of 340m. We were really happy that we did this hike today.

our hike today

boiling mud pit

It was then time to return to the hustle and bustle of the city of Reykjavik. From Reykjadalur Hot Spring, it took about 45 mins (50km) to Reykjavik. We visited the Grand Mosque of Iceland and performed our prayers there. We bumped into a group of Malaysian senior citizens. 

Grand Mosque of Iceland

inside the mosque

From the Grand Mosque, we made our way to the central area, near the Hallgrimskirkja church, to buy some souvenirs. The roadside parking costs ISK 400 for 58 mins. 

After the souvenir shopping, we made our way to our last guesthouse in Iceland at Gardur apartment (booked though Booking.com, costs EUR 118 or RM 572 per night with cooking facility), located by the Faxaflói Bay about 60km from Reykjavik, but near to Keflavik airport (13 km away). There is an old lighthouse located nearby, and Gardur is a good spot to catch the aurora. But alas, we were not lucky again, it rained that night so it was not possible to see the northern lights. We only managed to view the aurora on our first 2 nights in Iceland at Helgafell in the Snaefellness peninsular, although not as strong and dancing as we would have hoped for.

sunset at Gardur

Gardur lighthouse

Gardur apartment

Gardur apartment

Thingvellir Kerid

Mon 7/11/22

Our plan today was to cover Thingvellir National park (100km from our Borg apartment), which we visited very briefly during our last trip in Feb 2018. Thingvellir is situated in a rift valley caused by separation of the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate. This time around, we covered 7.5km return trip from the main parking P1 near the visitor centre and back. We walked between the 2 tectonic plates,  went to the Silfra fissure snorkelling/ diving site (we didn't snorkel/dive),  Logberg rock formation, Flosagja fissure, Drekkingarhylur pool, Oxarafoss waterfall until Langistígur rock fromation and then returned back. Parking costs ISK 750 for the whole day.  

view point from Visitor Centre

Silfra fissure snorkelling/ diving site

walk between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plate

North American and Eurasian tectonic plate

Oxarafoss waterfall

Langistígur rock fromation

Drekkingarhylur pool

trekking at Thingvellir

Next, we drove to Kerid crater which is a volcanic crater lake, approximately 3000 years old. It is just a small crater, we finished walking around the crater on the top and around the lake in the crater by going down the steps, all within 30 mins including stops for photo taking. The entrance fee per person is ISK 400. It is a private site, hence the slightly higher fee. 

Kerid crater view from top

Kerid crater view from below

trek around Kerid crater

After that we went for groceries shopping at Bonus in Selfoss to get our supply of salmon fish for dinner tonight and tomorrow (our last dinner sob sob). A relaxing itinerary for today with easy walks. 

Unfortunately again, no luck in getting to capture the aurora tonight.

Fjaðrárgljúfur Dyrhólaey Skogafoss

Sun 6/11/22

We started our activity today with Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon, created by erosion from flowing water from glaciers. The canyon is up to 100 m deep and 2 km long. It is also one of the few attraction sites in Iceland that allows the flying of drones, so we took the opportunity to capture the beauty of this canyon.  The walk up to the viewpoint is also not far and easy. Parking and entrance is free.

Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon

Fjaðrárgljúfur trek

From  Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon, we drove west towards Reynisfjara black sand beach near the town of Vik. Once we reached nearby Vik, the rain was pouring so heavily and strong wind was blowing, so we decided to skip Reynisfjara as we had already been here in Feb 2018.

Instead, we went to Dyrhólaey Arch, a 120-metre promenade by the sea and Dyrhólaeyjarviti Lighthouse viewpoint  With the heavy rain still pouring, we made just a quick stop to take pictures and rushed back into the car, already drenched by the rain. It was a similar situation in Oct 2019 when we visited Neist Point in Isle of Skye, Scotland. Parking is free. 

Dyrhólaey Arch

view from Dyrhólaeyjarviti Lighthouse

It is true that the weather in Iceland can change abruptly within the same day, as we experienced 4 days ago, when it was snowing heavily, then less than 10km away, there was no sign of snow at all, and it was all still green in Egilsstadir. It was also true here, just about 15 mins driving to the west from Dyrhólaey, there was no more rain or wind, and the sky was clear. 

It was still early at 1.30pm, so we proceeded to Skogafoss waterfall. We also had visited this waterfall in Feb 2018, but during that time the place was all white, covered by snow. During this current visit in Nov 2022, the area was still green, and there was no sign of snow yet. This greenery is also in contrast to our North Iceland's visit a week ago where Detifoss and Godafoss waterfall were already snow covered and had slippery paths. 

Skogafoss is a popular tourist site in the Golden Circle in South Iceland, so it was really hard to get a picture of the waterfall without people in it. Once we climbed up the stairs to the Skoga river upstream, there were less people. Skogafoss has a drop of 60 m from the former sea cliff. Going upstream to the river, there is a hiking trail to Fimmvörðuháls. We walked pass a few other smaller waterfalls for about 40 mins and then returned back to the parking lot. Parking and entrance is free.

Skogafoss

the stairs up from Skogafoss

the Skogafoss drop

Skoga river upstream

Skoga river

trek along Skoga river

We then proceeded to Borg Apartments where we would be staying for the next 2 nights (booked from Booking.com at EUR 103 or RM 477 per night) with cooking facilities. For groceries shopping, we went to Kronan at Hvolsvollur town about 5 min drive away. There was also no salmon here, only smoked or gravlax salmon was available. We decided to buy salmon at the bigger town Selfoss tomorrow instead as we would be headed that way tomorrow.

Borg apartments