Nordic outing

Expedition through Iceland takes a group of adventure-seekers over glaciers, mountains, lava fields

The wind howled. Hailstones the size of cricket balls fell from the sky. Inside the Toyota, modified to navigate Iceland’s dramatic landscape that is characterised by glaciers, volcanoes, geysers and lava fields, Manish Vij and his friends waited for the storm to subside. The blizzard had briefly interrupted the journey of the first-ever all-Indian crew on a self-driving road trip through Iceland. All five vehicles in the convoy, include the one Vij was driving, had come to a halt.

Manish Vij, CEO, Smile Vun Group

As the minutes ticked by, Vij’s friend and co-passenger, Bimaldeep Singh, decided to brave the storm to check on the others and share with them the ration of dry fruit he had carried along. But no sooner did he open the vehicle’s door than the wind nearly ripped it apart. “We just about managed to save it — and ourselves,” recalls Vij.

It all started with a Facebook post from Vij to his friends that read: “Let’s do a Delhi-London road trip.” The idea was grand, but for a hurdle. The journey would take 50-odd days — precious time that the 38-year-old CEO and founder of digital media conglomerate, Smile Vun Group, could not afford to take off from work. His research for the trip had led him to Tushar Agarwal, a young adventurer who had already undertaken this epic journey and whose Gurgaon-based company, Adventures Overland, organised excursions through exotic landscapes. Agarwal was putting together a group for an expedition through Iceland. Vij and his partner, Harish Bahl, joined in.

Iceland, part of which falls in the Arctic circle, has in the last few years become an attractive destination for those seeking unadulterated adventure in the lap of nature. India, too, is beginning to discover its magic.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano

With a population of a little over 300,000, most of which lives in and around the capital, Reykjavik, large swathes of the country remain uninhabited. “You don’t come across another car on the road for miles,” says Vij. Yet, for a country this remote and so sparsely populated, it is very well developed, he adds.

 The group covered about 2,500 km in seven days, driving roughly seven hours a day. The aim would be to start early and reach the designated lodge by 5 pm, for it would start getting dark by around 4 in the evening.

The journey took the adventurers past the Langjokull Glacier, the second-largest icecap in the country. Tourists to this glacier can also undertake an “Ice Age” tour through the world’s first man-made ice cave. A 4x4 wheel drive is recommended.

They crossed Landmannalaugar, the rhyolite mountains in the Highlands of Iceland famous for their kaleidoscopic rock compositions. And, they went past Eyjafjallajokull, one of the most famous volcanoes in the world completely covered by an icecap. It had last erupted in 2010.

The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in southwestern Iceland

Jökulsárlón glacial lake

A panoramic view of the Landmannalaugar mountain

Vij recalls an incident when the pilot car, driven by the guide from Iceland, nearly toppled over. On one side of the road was an ice mountain and on the other a frozen lake. “The guide pushed everyone out of the vehicle and then somehow managed to control it.”

That was an important lesson learnt. When on an expedition such as this, it pays to know some SUV manoeuvres. And, to be a patient, disciplined driver.

But the most important lesson came from a co-traveller who would put aside some money every month to be able to take one such trip every year. He would tell his fellow travellers: “I do not invest in things; I invest in experiences.”

That, says Vij, has been the biggest takeaway from Iceland. “My bucket list has changed.”