Discover Iceland [ Part 1 : Blue Lagoon ]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
اسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
So,
the long-awaited Iceland post. Although I doubt that anyone would read my blog,
I still love to pretend that I am some type of self-proclaimed ‘travel
blogger’.
Iceland
came to our minds months ago. It was in the early 2014 that I had my interest
in Iceland and Norway. My first encounter with these countries were of course,
the Northern Lights. I wished to witness the lights with my own eyes so badly
but it was still a dream at the time. I was in Japan, had neither plan to visit
Europe nor having thought that I could continue my masters study in the UK.
When
I had the chance to study in the UK, Iceland was amongst the first countries
that I actively hunt for cheap flight tickets for months. By December, I
gave up as most airfares often reach £200-300. Maybe it was peak season for the northern lights as it was winter. Hence, we decided to drop Iceland
altogether and head for Norway instead.
It wasn’t continuing any further up until early July this year. We were scavenging cheap
flight tickets from the UK to everywhere via Skyscanner. Then, Amir found a
cheap UK port for Europe airfares altogether, and it was Belfast International Airport,
Northern Ireland. The airfares for Belfast-Reykjavik were only £120 and we know
it wouldn’t possibly be any cheaper. We booked it straight away and start
looking for accommodation as soon as possible. Maybe it was still peak season
or maybe Iceland is becoming increasingly famous, the accommodation available
were only the expensive ones. Everything else was fully booked. We had not many
choices available, so we settled for a studio apartment via Booking.com. Alhamdulillah,
finally we had the chance to visit Iceland!
Iceland
- Language : English Danish/Norwegian
- Currency : Icelandic Krona (ISK) [1GBP=193.10 ISK] [1Euro=142.52 ISK] [1MYR=29 ISK]
We
left Belfast around 9am and reached Reykjavik at approximately 10.30am. Upon
arrival, we searched through the airport arrival hall for tours available to
the Blue Lagoon. We found one at a fair price for 35 euro for 2 person. The bus
was actually an airport transfer to Reykjavik city centre via Blue Lagoon. One
company I would recommend is called Reykjavík Excursions. More info about Blue
Lagoon transfer buses could be found HERE.
The
journey from the airport to Blue Lagoon took around 30-45 minutes. The entry
fees to the Blue Lagoon were around 50euro per person (bought at the counter)
and much better deal at around 45euro per person (bought online).
Tips:
- If you are not planning to bathe at the pool, there is an entry ticket available called visitor pass for 10euro per person which allows you to access a café, restaurant and rooftop terrace overlooking the lagoon which could only be bought at the counter.
- If you are not planning to enter the Blue Lagoon at all but wishes to take some photos, there was another path just in front of the entrance which would lead you to an array of baby blue pools. You can’t bathe there as it wasn’t treated for anything but.
It was a particularly cloudy day. Our plane had to go through layers of thick clouds and multiple turbulence. I guess it was a typical Iceland's summer.
The water was so baby blue, it was almost unreal!
We spend about 2 hours here and took the
next connecting bus to Reykjavik city centre. Apparently, all accommodation in
Iceland were registered and all drivers (bus, taxis, etc) seems to know each
places. Prior to our journey to the city centre, the bus driver will need to
know where is our hotel/apartment/hostel and they will drop you in front of
your accommodation. Pretty neat isn’t it?
Upon
arrival, we sleep for a while and decided to go out looking for drinking water
and enjoying Reykjavik. It was approaching midnight but the sun was still
wasn’t setting. We went to the whale skeleton replica, waiting for the sunset
that never arrived and went back to our accommodation and sleep.
Our
second day in Iceland consists of a 14-hour tour and will be posted in Part 2.
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