Road to Vatnajokull.
It’s said that Iceland was born out of a geological chaos of moving tectonic plates and magma rising from the center of the earth. Something of the liquid movement remains in some of it’s elemental landscapes- it’s not difficult to imagine how a long long time ago, molten rock was sliding and flowing over the surface of the island to give it it’s current form. The landscape is varied- Only in the South, from Reykyavik to Jokulsalron glacier lake, the ring road goes past an array of sceneries: other-planet like jagged, yellow-moss covered stretches of lava fields; dyzzying hills with muted hues; immense valleys with steaming natural hot springs; colossal waterfalls; black sand beaches strewn with ice sculptures; but also stretches of bright green meadows with grazing horses and lambs.

   

Perhaps one of the biggest pleasures of travelling in Iceland is traveling on the ring road, the circular highway that circumvents the country in 1,332km. The expansive open road lies ahead,  racing towards specular views of dark mountains caked in snow, and rushing past a land so beautiful and majestic it’s hard to capture in words. Even the most barren, harsh looking areas have their own, strange beauty. In Spring, delicate mauve and yellow flowers bloom through the rocky ground, and greenery pushes through the snow, leaving only thin white streaks on the summits.

There is something monumental and mythical about Iceland and a different sense of scale. One feels small next to the waterfalls, or the monolithic rocks scattered around the road side. Just like it is easily imaginable that this land was created by lava, one could believe it had been once a place for titans.