My Iceland dream was conceived in Berlin when my friend and I went for a virtual ride in the super modified red Toyota Hilux trucks at ITB Berlin 2014. It was love at first ride! Fast forward to 2015, we decided to launch an expedition to Iceland and turn the virtual experience into a real one. We packaged a very exciting itinerary and were able to form a group of 25 travellers from all over the country. After a year spent in planning the expedition, finally the day arrived when people from all over the country came together for one common goal — Iceland.
We took the KLM flight and after a stopover in Amsterdam, boarded the Icelandic Air flight to Reykjavik. The ‘Icelandic experience’ began from the moment we boarded the flight. The aircraft was painted on the theme of the ‘northern lights’ on the outside and inside. The cabin ceiling was lit up to give a ‘northern lights’ effect. I had never seen an aircraft so attractive!
Hot spring bath
Cold wind hit our faces as we walked out of the aircraft — it was -5 degrees outside. Without wasting a second, our scarves, gloves, caps and layers of jackets were pulled out. I was secretly happy that it was so cold. What’s the point of going to Iceland and not experiencing the extreme cold temperatures?
We reached the hotel and set for the Arctic Trucks Head Quarters where we were introduced to ‘the’ machines. These super trucks that were going to be our home for the next seven days. The excitement was palpable. It didn’t matter if you were a 30-year-old or a 60-year-old — at that moment, every single person was a child, a very happy child.
Racing
What ensued was a bit of an adventurous drama. We were driving on the Langjokull Glacier, the second largest glacier of Iceland when our convoy was hit by a severe snowstorm — fierce winds and a complete whiteout in a remote part of the country. We were just hoping for the vehicles to keep running and not get stuck in snow, but seems like the snow gods of Iceland had other plans. Five out of seven cars got stuck in snow. It took us two hours to pull the vehicles out. Our guide Ingo, was the star of the day and single-handedly managed to pull every vehicle. “Just another day in office,” he grinned.
On one of the days, we drove for five hours straight, through an absolutely white terrain towards an isolated mountain hut. We had never seen so much snow in our lives! It was surreal. We reached our mountain hut by evening, where we had planned to spend a night away from all civilization. A group of 25 Indians spending a night in an isolated hut in the middle of the snow country was probably as rare as witnessing the northern lights!
Snow drive
Our trusted trucks took us to places where no tourist could venture. We continued driving through isolated, snow terrains of Iceland. Ingo even took us driving on the top of a volcano where we all heard the “sound of silence”. Ingo said, “Guys, on the count of three, I want everyone to freeze. No sound please.” We followed and it felt magical.
From complete silence to the most thrilling adventure of the journey — riding the snowmobile scooters. Twenty-five people geared up in overalls, helmets, snow glasses, gloves and protection shoes and took position on their respective snowmobile scooters. For the next one hour, we experienced the thrill of riding these incredible machines on snow going at speeds as high as 60 km/hr exposing ourselves to the freezing temperatures. The adrenalin rush was enough to keep us pumped up. Snowfall started at the perfect time and the whole experience became even more thrilling. At the end of that one hour, the entire group couldn’t stop smiling.
The final day of the journey was spent in the soothing waters of the Blue Lagoon. In -5 degrees, we walked out in our bathing suits and walked into the cozy natural hot springs. Two hours were spent quickly and we didn’t feel like coming out. But all good things must come to an end and so did our experience of the Blue Lagoon.
We switched on the ignition of the vehicles for one last time as we drove back towards the Arctic Trucks Headquarters from where our journey had begun. We had set out as strangers, but came back as a close group of friends; even family.
Tushar Agarwal is the owner of a luxury adventure company, perenially seeking new locations to drive a curious bunch of travelers to
