I just We (everything is “we” now that Im married) just got back from a 9-day trip to Iceland.

Iceland has always been on my Bucket List of places to visit and more importantly, to photograph. Even though I dont consider myself any good at landscape photography and it frankly has never really interested me, you cant not be a landscape photographer in Iceland. Where else would you go from snow-capped peaks, to hard black volcanoes, to lush green fields, to rocky cliffs, to the ocean, to black sand beach, to vast emptiness of the black gravel desert, to over 1000+ waterfalls, to… and it goes on and on and on… Iceland is unlike any other place on Earth.

Me and the wifey rented a 4×4 and just drove… We drove around the Island on the only highway that circles the entire country: Road 1, also know as the Ring Road. Just some of the observations from the trip:

– Icelandic people are incredibly nice and good-natured people. We felt welcome and at home everywhere we went.
– The food is incredibly fresh and tasty. And yes, very very expensive. Coming from Manhattan, where we are used to paying $10 for a burger, the prices shouldnt have surprised us. Yet, they did. Its probably because almost everything has to be imported here.
– I still cant spell or pronounce any of the places I went. Icelandic is very hard.
– The weather is as unpredictable as its terrain: One day we encountered sunny skies, rain, hail, sleet, snow, fog and a blizzard. All whilst driving only about 200km.
– Coming from Manhattan, and having lived in the biggest cities on the planet (Karachi, London, San Francisco, New York City) the complete absence of people is shocking. Indeed, the entire country only has 300,000 people! My apartment building probably has that many on one floor!
– One of the highlights was driving on the black (and I mean black, not grey or “dirty,” black sand beach on eastern Iceland.) Its surreal how black the sand is. Of course I wasnt really supposed to drive on the beach, but with no one around for miles, how could I not?!

Here are two pictures Ive already posted on the photoBlog:

The Blue Lake

The Invaders

Keep checking friskyPics for loads more yet to come from my incredible trip!