How many times does it happen that what we imagine or fantasize appears to have nothing in common with cruel reality? How many times do the girls dreaming about Paris-the-city-of-love get disappointed because there is no Edith Piaf music playing simply in the air, and no angels flying around the Eiffel tower? Well, with Iceland it happened a bit this way. So let’s clear this out straight away – neither Sigur Ros nor Bjork sing every other day under your hotel balcony.

However, it’s not only about disappointment and staff. Iceland saved for us many great points and surprises as well, and we’ll gladly share them with you. :)

And it is something great, isn’t it? The locals really wear their sweaters with traditional patterns, and almost everyone can knit (knitting is taught at school to both girls and boys actually!) So, it’s not a touristic trap, but really is part of Icelandic culture. As well as the Icelandic horses, by the way. They exist not only for visitors’ amusement, but they still serve as the prestige indicator and as mean of transport for the long mountain trips.

Never in our life could we imagine that Iceland, far and lost Iceland, attracts so many tourists! The last few year Iceland welcomes more than 1 million tourists, and considering that 70% of them come in summer, just imagine what is going on in a country whose population is three times smaller than the amount of guests. The result is that the country is turning into the Disneyland.

We met hardly no one who couldn’t communicate in English with perfectly descent level. Obviously, Iceland really IS a Scandinavian county when English level is concerned. Once, by a luck we were hosted by a 73-year-old lady, who spent her free time trying to learn English by herself. And considering that we could have a sort of conversation, it was a success!

I think every traveler in Iceland gets shocked finding out that actually local basic alimentation mainly consists of burgers, fries, cola and pizzas. Which explains the considerable average Icelander’s, how to say politely, size of clothes. Here the balanced alimentation is a foreign term. Of course, historically, it couldn’t really have been differently, there is no fertile ground and warm sun to cultivate the vegetables, but honestly, with such powerful import there must be some adequate alternatives! Icelandic water is considered among the purest in the world, why drink Cola instead? And judging by what is sold in the supermarkets, fast-food madness spreads in the houses too.

The gas stations in Iceland are made to be lived in. As a rule, they include some basic shop, sometimes free wi-fi and café (where one can get a yummy burger). But what is the most awesome, is the fact that you can freely stay as much as you want, warm and eat your food, wash up, in one word – do so many vital things during the cycling trip. I’m not sure that it would be as easy in other European countries.

Even if Iceland claims to offer 3G or whatever else that covers 98% of the island, a descent Internet connection is extremely rare, even in houses.

Almost in every gas station and supermarket, one can find a small corner with a microwave, toaster and coffee-machines. The clients are welcome to use them, mainly for warming up the sandwiches, but it is just amazing that it IS available! And having payed once for coffee, quite often the refill is free. So, we benefited a couple of times to heat the water or grill the toasts in our beloved gas stations.

Even if the land might be desert and infertile, it still belongs to someone. And this someone wants to protect his land from intruders at any cost. Which results in hundreds of kilometres of fenced road. And it’s not simply a barrier, but in the majority of cases it’s electrified barbed ware. Very warm and welcoming. However, the owners usually don’t refuse if asked politely to allow the tent for a night.

It’s love. The best friend of travellers both by car and by bicycles as it is not only the best way to warm oneself up (because it’s not only swimming pool, but also hot Jacuzzi tubes), but also definitely the best opportunity to take a shower. 99% of swimming pools are open-air, so we came back with an awesome sun-tan! Showers are much cleaner and warmer than any possible camping. But what is the most surprising is the entry fee, which is, in Iceland standards, very low. 450-700 KR for unlimited time – isn’t it great? Lots of people complain/laugh that in the swimming pools it’s compulsory to take shower completely naked, but what is really funny is that in Reykjavik pools there are special employees whose work is to make sure that all the visitors are really naked. :D By the way, the swimming pools and the gas stations are the major socialisation points of locals!

Sadly, but it’s true. Iceland creates an impression, that it’s not yet clear how to deal correctly with this stunning tourist flow. However, one thing is evident – no matter how expensive or bad quality the services are, the travelers will accept to pay. For one simple reason that there is no choice. Iceland is not a multi-million capital, which can offer thousands of hostels, restaurants, caffés etc. No, here it doesn’t work this way. In Icelandic villages, there will be from one to three restaurants, one camping, one supermarket, and they are completely free to set their prices because there are no competitors. Considering the average Icelandic standard, it will be damn expensive. Unfortunately, a night in a camping can cost more than a bed in a hostel in any European city, but it doesn’t mean that it will provide at least any descent facilities (thinking about “KITCHEN” in the camping near Myvatn lake).

It’s fantastic, how much water Iceland can possess. Not only is it completely surrounded by water (which is quite typical for islands lol), but also it’s raining quite often, the country is full of waterfalls, rivers, lakes, glaciers, powerful geothermic activity resulting into geysers or natural hot springs, even the dry land is not dry at all. The purest water is oozing from every possible piece of ground. So difficult to realize, that the world suffers from the lack of water…

 The second one is the quantity of children. Really, we got an impression that the average number of children per family is at least 3 if not 4! We were told as well, that considering the close relation of almost every Icelander, there are special applications that are used to calculate the degree of two person’s relation to find out if it’s okay to start a family or to simply have sex or not. Is that true? :)

So what are your greatest surprises and strange impressions that you’ve brought from Iceland?