2024/12/28 to 2025/01/04 Senior Couple Travel to Frozen Iceland
I arrived at the airport in Reykjavik on December 28, 2024. I rented and brought unlimited Wi-Fi from Japan. I wanted to use my cell phone as well, so I looked for a SIM card at the airport, but could not find one.
I gave up on purchasing a SIM card and went to the Hertz car rental counter (outside the airport building, but the route is indicated on the posted sign), which I had already reserved via the Internet from Japan. I showed my passport, international driver's license, Japanese driver's license, and credit card, and rented a car.
We had never driven on snow-covered roads before, either domestically or internationally, so we wanted to have both Wi-Fi and a SIM card with us, just in case we needed to contact someone. The staff at the rental car company told us that they were sold at gas stations, so we looked for one throughout the trip, but were unable to find one, and ended up traveling without a cell phone. As I will describe later, I had a near-miss when the car got stuck.
Since this was a senior's car rental trip with no experience driving on snow-covered roads, we rented a Toyota Land Cruiser, which is a trusted vehicle in Japan.
This is what it looks like outside the town. Everyone is driving more than 80 km/h. I got used to driving after a while.
Drive along the national highway and visit the frozen waterfall. There are no employees, but you can pay by card at a machine located in the parking lot. During the trip, there was an instrument that I did not know how to pay, so I did not pay it and was charged later through the rental car company (not sure about the fine addition).
This is the ice cave that is often featured on Island trips. The entrance is next to the man guiding you, where the snow has melted in the photo.
I had booked this tour the day before via the internet. We had to drive for hours in a blizzard from our hotel to the ice cave, which was unnerving. It was a very dangerous trip on snowy roads with no cell phone service and relying only on Wi-Fi. There are two parking lots at the Ice Cave meeting point. Our local tour seemed to depart from the smaller parking lot across the street, and it was difficult to go back and forth until we figured this out. From the parking lot, we took a large snowmobile to the cave. The inside of the cave was as beautiful as you can see on YouTube. On the way back to the cave, the snowmobile broke down and we had to wait for about an hour in the freezing mountains for a replacement vehicle to come. If we had been on a tour with a major company, this might not have been the case.
We booked our accommodations along the national highway via the Internet. Normally they only rent for 3 nights or more, but last minute reservations were available for one night. It is located on top of a hill and is only accessible by land cruiser. 150 square meters or more, all the rooms had heated floors and were warm and fluffy, so it was hard to believe that we were in Iceland. There was also an open-air bath. There was also an astronomical telescope. We spent our time watching YouTube, taking an open-air bath, and eating freeze-dried rice and miso soup that we brought from Japan.
On December 31, 2024, we moved to the capital city, Reykjavik. In Reykjavik, we planned to see the year-end fireworks. However, since we had yet to see the Northern Lights, we decided to prioritize the Aurora Borealis over the fireworks, so we took a late-night Land Cruiser to a nearby mountainous area. For the first time, we were able to see the Aurora Borealis in a 360-degree view. It was pitch black and 20 degrees below zero. I was very impressed with the intensity of the aurora borealis, which was completely different from what I had seen in photographs.
The photo shows the Hattorgrims Church on January 1, 2025. We took a walk around the outside.
Individual accommodations were also booked via the Internet at the last minute. Most of our car rental trips involve deciding where to stay at the last minute. Although the windows are made of a single thin sheet of glass, the insulation is far superior to that in Japan. It is not cold at all.
Sync Vetrils I have taken pictures of the rift in the earth.
I was getting used to driving in Iceland. We took the plunge and secured an inn off the national highway. We finally arrived at the inn after driving through a snowy area where the road was difficult to follow. The inn was comfortable, with the atmosphere of a house in the middle of the land, and we took an open-air bath and photographed the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights are only dimly visible to the naked eye. However, when photographed, they appear green and red and are very beautiful.
The next day, after checkout and moving the car, it got stuck and wouldn't start.The Wi-Fi was working, so I tried to contact them, and the landlord's daughter came running in from far away. She was watching us from afar. We were told that the place we thought was just a house on the land was a lake in summer. He brought a tractor for farming and pulled us up.
Aurora Borealis from the Northern Light Inn, where we stayed last. The inn is close to the Blue Lagoon, and although the rooms are simple, we were able to see the most beautiful Northern Lights during our stay. The photos were taken with an iPhone. I brought my SLR and tripod so I could take great pictures. During the second half of our stay in Iceland, we were able to see the Northern Lights every day. Some days the glow was strong and some days it was weak. Even on the same day it was different depending on the time of day. Since we rented a car, we were able to move around and observe even late at night. It was totally different to see it in person than in pictures. The Aurora Borealis, which looks like white smoke to the naked eye, turns from green to red when photographed.
Finally, the winter car rental described here is not recommended for those who are not accustomed to it. It may just happen to end successfully.
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