September 2015
Prologue
01
Ever since I watched Ben Stiller film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Iceland was the dream destination for adventure I had always hoped to experience. When I had the opportunity to work back in England, I knew I had to visit before I left England again.
Everyone says that Iceland is an expensive country. I totally agree. While I was planning my trip, I didn’t have the cash to be splurging. Therefore to make it work, I forced myself to find budget solutions wherever possible. The idea to go road tripping and camping have saved us a lot and we managed to spend below £600 / MYR3000 each throughout the journey - exclude souvenir buying.
So if you want to visit but are afraid it will be completely out of your price range, fear not! Here I'm going to share my experience in Iceland that will not break your wallet.
Before getting into that, I will share you some side information for this trip....
The Map
Who
02
'Me'
Origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lives in: Manchester, England
Task for this trip: The route planner and makes the booking
Efie / Fiez
Origin: Perak, Malaysia
Lives in: Shah Alam, Selangor
Special skills: Spend almost every week mountain hiking
When
03
13 September 2015 - 20 September 2015
Autumn - From our own experience, we highly recommend going in September – just after off-peak season, so prices are affordable and to avoid crowds. If you are after the Northern Lights, you should look at visiting Iceland between September and April. However, if you want to enjoy warmer weather and 24 hours days of road trip, late May - August is the best time to go. These are the days of midnight sun and longer days will give you the flexibility of doing more things.
*Please keep in mind that peak period in Iceland is from end of June to the beginning of September – this is when most tourists visit Iceland and as a result everything is really very expensive.
What I packed for camping
04
1. Tent
2. Sleeping Bag
3. Camping Foam Mat
4. Pillow Self Inflating
5. Backpacking Stove
6. Mess Tin
7. Cooking Utensils
8. Lantern
9. Bagpack
Weather
05
The whole time we were there the weather was ok with occasional rain. The Temperature were between 10-20 degrees celcius. However, it can be extremely unpredictable, ranging from sunny to blizzard within minutes! At night, temperature drop down to 0 degrees, so be prepared with warmer jacket and 3-4 season sleeping bag if you plan to sleep in tent.
Getting Around
06
Public transport (buses, no train or subway) is available but only through Reykjavik but when we were in Reykjavik we just explore the town by foot.
We hired car (booked online before the trip) and the car rental representative drop the car a day after we arrived.
I really recommend hiring a car to get the most out of your stay in Iceland. Car hire is reasonably cheap and you don’t need an international drivers’ licence. A small car isn’t a good option in Iceland because any detours to offroad villages or waterfalls involve gravel roads. It's left hand side driving and you drive on the right.
Driving-wise, the Ring Road were in excellent condition. Out in the country, gravel roads are pretty common, but usually well-maintained but if it's heavy rain with thick fog and strong wind, it can be a little scary.
07
It's Saturday 12th September 2015, I took Virgin train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston and met my travel partner, Fiez at Malaysia Hall where we had late lunch there. Fiez who flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia already have spent few days exploring London. After lunch, we took a train to easyHotel Luton where we stayed overnight before flying off to Iceland the next morning.
We flew from London Luton Airport via easyJet at 7:35 am (it was only a 3 hours flight!) into Iceland and landed at KeflavÃk International Airport at around 9:35 am.
This is where the most epic road trip and adventure begins.
In the next chapter, I will share you our itinerary, cost and accommodations.
First Part of The Trip
