The elves, or huldufólk as some call them here, are smiling on us today. I can't say with any certainty that elves exist, but most Icelanders either believe that they do, or won't rule out the possibility. And I'm not really sure if they're supposed to have any control over the weather, but today I'm convinced that they are real and that they're making the sun shine.
Following the Ring Road Road along the coast, we stop at several waterfalls climbing behind, around and underneath them. Occasionally we take an unpaved road up a mountain. I am sure these have a destination but they seem to lead to nowhere so we turn around, avoiding getting swallowed by the uninhabited abyss of Iceland's interior........
We have it all planned out. Money will be saved by camping at least half the trip. We will brew our own coffee with our newly bought french press, stop at a grocery store to stock up on food and cook our dinners with our camp stove. Today, we set out with the best of intentions............
'm not usually one for hitting up the touristy sights, but Reykjavik is just so picturesque that I could walk around its convoluted streets for days and not get bored. Natasha and I had both picked out some specific things that we wanted see, so we set out from our apartment with somewhat of a plan......
We groggily step off the plane, staggering into chilly weather and blue skies. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and today it is autumn in Iceland. There is a nip in the air. We can see our breath as we exhale. The sun warms our faces and I am so happy to be here........
No epic adventure, more of a "if we don't escape our lives, we may lose our minds" kinda thing. I have been working extra shifts and Pete got a second job to pay off our debts, to pay for our encroaching trip to Iceland. The long work days, never seeing one another or our two pups was wearing on us.
We searched for hours on the internet trying to figure out which island in Thailand to spend the last nine days of our trip. Should it be Ko Phi Phi, Ko Tao, Ko this Ko that. There are tons of them. We made a point to avoid the ones that mentioned full moon parties, techno music or buckets of whiskey in our guidebook......
As we walk out of Hulamphong train station at 8am, after a 12 hour ride, we are immediately accosted by tuk tuk and taxi drivers. Yep......we are definitely back in Bangkok......
For a few years now we have been toying with the idea of buying a large plot of land with Jesse and Nick and building homes on it. We've had several late night conversations, sharing a few bottles of wine, sitting around a campfire discussing our “commune”. In all reality it really would be a four person commune of sorts........
It's three hundred some odd kilometers back to Vientiane, but it's mostly long straight road so we think it won't be too big a deal. The first stretch of road climbs up through yet more impressive karsts and then it's back to the main highway. We'd already driven this stretch but as usual there's always something new to see. .........
