Rustic Iceland

After Jokulsarlon, everything is an anticlimactic. Yet when the guide took us to see the Svinafellsjokull Glacier further south, I still find it stunning, in a different way. It's not translucent blue and green like the ones in Jokulsarlon.  It's black and white mostly but certainly appealed to the monochromatic aesthetics in me - it's beautiful in its own way.  I find it very Icelandic - in colour and tone. 

On our way out of east Iceland, we visited Dverghamrar (Dwarf Rocks), a peculiar columnar basalt formation that seemed to have sprung out in the middle of nowhere. Icelandic myths had been created around it. Right across the road from it, is a beautiful waterfall called Foss a Sidu coming down between some extraordinary rock formations. 

What I find particularly outstanding about this trip, now that we are near the end, is the rustic setting of many of our lodgings. The last night in Vik was particularly charming in a hotel surrounded by farms. We were able to go for a before dinner walk to a lovely waterfall and on the way back, saw a number of birds beside the stream. There was a pair of Curlew sandpipers, a Common redshank squeaking at us probably because we had unknowingly walked by its nest, and even a Golden Plover! Then there were the farms horses and the sheep that all made for a wonderful experience for us city dwellers.

Practical tips:
- Use the slowest possible shutter speed when photographing waterfalls to achieve the silky water effect. This is usually only possible when there is no sun unless you have a filter.
- Use the highest possible shutter speed when photographing waterfalls to freeze the water droplets. This is easiest when there is a lot of light.

Svinafellsjokull Glacier

Like a painting

Skaftafells glacier tongue, another outlet of the vast Vatnajokull glacier and the soft moss plain around it.

The beautiful Foss a Sidu

An icelandic horse completed the picture

Dwarf rock(from different angles)

The columnar basalt could be seen from the back

The beautiful waterfall Stjornarfoss near our hotel; and of course the lupines were out!

I was finally able to get some silky water out of the waterfall!

Curlew sandpiper

Common Redshank

Common Redshank squeaking its head off

Ready to attack!

Golden Plover

Hello!

Necking?

Right at home at our hotel