It’s a small world in Iceland

Shirley Lui a Canadian and, until two weeks ago, a Bermudian resident, is now circling the globe trying to decide where to land with her fiance. Before she departed our 21-square-mile shores, however, Shirley spent a little time in another, Northern island – Iceland. And while it may be bigger than Bermuda she found familiar faces on the journey. Here is here travel log:

Iceland.  Why Iceland?  There are many countries on my list of places I want to visit in Europe, but Iceland never occurred to me until I received a Save the Date for a friend’s wedding almost a year and a half ago.  She was going to have a destination wedding in Iceland in June 2010.  What better opportunity to go visit this island?

We booked a self drive 9 night /10 day tour of the country after the wedding weekend in Budir, 2 hours northwest of Reykjavik.  Not being familiar with Iceland and how easy it would be to find accommodation outside the capital city, I booked the tour with Icelandic Farm Holidays (http://www.farmholidays.is/) which is an association of approx. 150 farmhouses around the country.

A little tired from the 4 hour red-eye flight from Toronto, my first impression of the island upon landing was that it was purple…everywhere….there are lupines all over the country.  Even some mountains were purple.

The bus ride to Budir was scenic, ocean on the left and mountains on the right.  We arrived at the quaint Hotel Budir shortly after 2pm and started exploring the property.  Budir, situated on the snaefellsnes peninsula, was stunning – we were surrounded by lava fields and yellow beaches.    Our first night was spent meeting the other guests that have flown in from all over and getting used to the midnight sun…the sun sets around midnight and rises around 3am…but it never gets dark!  Some even went for a middle of the night hike to nearby waterfalls.

The wedding ceremony was held outdoors in the lava fields and was absolutely beautiful.   Everyone had a blast and celebrated all night long under the midnight sun.  Check out the photos at: http://100layercake.com/blog/archives/7436 and http://kylehale.net/blog/2010/07/19/christina-mark-budir-iceland/

Once we returned to Reykjavik, we picked up rental car and began our 10 day roadtrip.  A week before we arrived in Iceland, we found out that a friend of ours from Vancouver just happened to be vacationing in Reykjavik for a month; naturally, the more the merrier on a road trip, so he joined us for first few days of the trip.

Gullfoss, part of the Golden Circle (the other 2 sites making up theGolden Circle are Thingvellir and Geysir)

We toured the island following the Ring Road heading in a counter-clockwise direction.  The landscape and climate in each part of the country was so distinct that driving was never boring.   In the course of one day, we’d see a rift valley (Thingvellir), geysirs, and waterfalls and still have time for late night hike through Smoke Valley (Reykdalur) to bathe in steaming rivers.

Geothermal ponds at Geysir

Icelandic people love their nature baths, they are everywhere around the island and perfect after a day of hiking and exploring or something to do on a rainy day.   Although Iceland is a much larger island than Bermuda, some things still the same; on a couple of occasions we ran into travellers we met at guesthouses at some point earlier in the trip in the opposite side of the island or at the airport.

Ash, ash go away come back…never

Iceland’s not making any friends or helping many economies – states or personally.

While British Airways plans to begin flying today (fingers crossed and it is 8.30 a.m. so anything could change) its backlog could mean those stranded in Bermuda (because that’s where I am) could still take a week to leave.

I wish I could be one of those travel writers and travelers who says: “Oh well, chill out and grab a cocktail.” But I can’t. Why? Not because I’m uptight. I am, but that’s not the point. It’s because many people travel on budgets.

Yes not all of us can afford $300 hotel rooms for extra nights. What about food? And transportation? And I’m not just saying Bermuda.

There are people stranded all over the world without family or friends to help them fund their travels or unexpected travels. And airlines, who are losing millions of dollars a day, don’t have to help. It’s not their fault a volcano erupted!

And it’s not, but take for example this Long Island Couple who spent $10,000 to get home. People need to get on with their lives and while I would love to say, stay enjoy Bermuda while you wait to get back to London, what about the people who cannot afford that. This couple was “lucky” because they had an “extra” $10,000 to draw on.

Others are sleeping on metal chairs with built-in armrests, eating cold noodles and trying not to lose their minds. Yes here would be perfect Lonely Planet to tell them where the best food is. Really helpful.

And what about people in serious crisis like those who have surgeries planned or need doctors?

Obviously I don’t have a solution to this crisis and hopefully now the airspace is opening ordinary people without $10,000 can get back to their children, jobs and lives.

Today I just wanted to express some outrage at the situation for those stewing in airports around the world and to bring some reality to travel writers who want these stranded people to “make the most” of their extended trips.

It’s easy to say enjoy your unexpected extended trip when you’re sitting with a coffee in your apartment. Not when what was maybe an extra day becomes and extra week and your bank account reads: $0.