Chasing the Northern Lights - Iceland

wanderlex

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After some discussion with my gf, we decided to make it a full ring road trip in Iceland of 11 days and 10 nights in early Oct. Afterall, it will be interesting to see the whole of Iceland in its magnificence. After some research and with the confirmation of our leaves, we will be booking Finnair/Turkish airlines from Singapore to Oslo, and Icelandair airlines from Oslo to Reykjavik. Cost will be S$2200 for 2 pax.

Of course, she doesn't know that my intention of travelling the ring road would be to propose to her as well :)

Ps: I can share with you several of the flight and self-drive options which I've compiled on Google docs if you are interested.

That's how I travelled to Iceland too... Sg - Oslo - Reykjavik. And congrats to your proposal :s13:
 

ctstalin

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After some discussion with my gf, we decided to make it a full ring road trip in Iceland of 11 days and 10 nights in early Oct. Afterall, it will be interesting to see the whole of Iceland in its magnificence. After some research and with the confirmation of our leaves, we will be booking Finnair/Turkish airlines from Singapore to Oslo, and Icelandair airlines from Oslo to Reykjavik. Cost will be S$2200 for 2 pax.

Of course, she doesn't know that my intention of travelling the ring road would be to propose to her as well :)

Ps: I can share with you several of the flight and self-drive options which I've compiled on Google docs if you are interested.
Lol... I also thinking of proposing :s13:

Sent from an offshore drilling platform somewhere using GAGT
 

SGJoe86

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After some discussion with my gf, we decided to make it a full ring road trip in Iceland of 11 days and 10 nights in early Oct. Afterall, it will be interesting to see the whole of Iceland in its magnificence. After some research and with the confirmation of our leaves, we will be booking Finnair/Turkish airlines from Singapore to Oslo, and Icelandair airlines from Oslo to Reykjavik. Cost will be S$2200 for 2 pax.

Of course, she doesn't know that my intention of travelling the ring road would be to propose to her as well :)

Ps: I can share with you several of the flight and self-drive options which I've compiled on Google docs if you are interested.
Like the saying goes, "Sharing is caring!"
That's what this thread is for, so we can share intel with one another ;)

Anyway, I'll be travelling close to dead of winter (mid Dec) this year, looking at 5-6 days head down south to Hars and back. Wanted to spend Christmas at Copenhagen (4 days), so won't have the luxury to cover the entire Iceland.
 
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SGJoe86

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They keep getting stuck when the drivers stop by the side of the road to take photos or explore apparently.
They should ban the renting of such 2WD during winter months! Tourists with half the brains are spoiling the market for those that genuinely follows the rules and regulations.

BTW, how's Greenland? Is it green? :D :o
 

Din0saurus

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They should ban the renting of such 2WD during winter months! Tourists with half the brains are spoiling the market for those that genuinely follows the rules and regulations.

BTW, how's Greenland? Is it green? :D :o

I can actually operate most modes of transportation except a car, so I have no idea what is going on. Haha.

Shameless self plug: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...gpgt]-din0-ghost-icekarchangland-5327261.html

Photos of Greenland are in the later posts. If you need a translation, I'll be both here and there!
 

wanderlex

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They should ban the renting of such 2WD during winter months! Tourists with half the brains are spoiling the market for those that genuinely follows the rules and regulations.

BTW, how's Greenland? Is it green? :D :o

Some tourists really have zero common sense, I encountered a few of those who literally stopped their cars along the single lane road to take photos. I almost crashed into a stationery car right after a immediate right turn around Egilsstadir. The two Caucasian ladies gave me a blank look even after hearing my rental vehicle hard braking. They continue to take photos thereafter, seriously?

I mean I understand the lure of seeing/photo-taking the wonderful landscape, I stopped many times to do that too. But I always have to make sure there are no cars behind me while I slowed down to park at the side of the road. I suppose the roads are higher than the ground beside so people are scared/worried to park the vehicles with one side higher than the other, fear of toppling?

I agree on the 2WD part too, the road can be difficult to navigate for those who have never driven on icy road before. So it's better to play safe than to be gung ho. A group of Singaporeans had their small car stuck along the icy road at Myvatn which I offered to drive them out to ask for help.
 

SGJoe86

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Some tourists really have zero common sense, I encountered a few of those who literally stopped their cars along the single lane road to take photos. I almost crashed into a stationery car right after a immediate right turn around Egilsstadir. The two Caucasian ladies gave me a blank look even after hearing my rental vehicle hard braking. They continue to take photos thereafter, seriously?

I mean I understand the lure of seeing/photo-taking the wonderful landscape, I stopped many times to do that too. But I always have to make sure there are no cars behind me while I slowed down to park at the side of the road. I suppose the roads are higher than the ground beside so people are scared/worried to park the vehicles with one side higher than the other, fear of toppling?

I agree on the 2WD part too, the road can be difficult to navigate for those who have never driven on icy road before. So it's better to play safe than to be gung ho. A group of Singaporeans had their small car stuck along the icy road at Myvatn which I offered to drive them out to ask for help.
Maybe Iceland should consider adopting what New Zealand had done to their road, by adding extra road shoulders/pull over stops at some scenic locations famous with tourists so they can pull over safely without blocking the main road.

As for the cars itself, it does comes down to driver skill as well. My sis's friend that went to Iceland during the CNY period met with an accident in their Hyundai Tuscan (4WD) when their vehicle rolled to its side. Driver wasn't well versed in driving in foreign land, so when a heavy vehicle at the other side of the road drove past them, the car happened to hit a patch of black ice, the entire vehicle swerved, driver panicked, and car rolled to the side.
Good thing they rolled onto a snow bank, and there were locals driving behind them that saw what happened. Helped them to upright the car, which miraculously wasn't damaged thanks the the thick snow bank. They were definitely shaken from that experience.
I learned from them that their car was equipped with snow tires, and not studded ones which is better for icy road. If it had came with studded tires, it might had saved them from their little adventure.
 

Din0saurus

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Oh lord the language :s13:

I did warn you! Also, I can get away with it because I'm probably one of the best backpackers in edmw. Haha.

Studded tired kill your mileage btw and there's also glacier tires that are huge.
 

coolhead

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I suppose early to mid October is still okay for driving a 2wd? From what I read in trip advisor, there is no difference driving a 2wd and 4wd if we are not going to highlands.
 

coolhead

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Like the saying goes, "Sharing is caring!"
That's what this thread is for, so we can share intel with one another ;)

Anyway, I'll be travelling close to dead of winter (mid Dec) this year, looking at 5-6 days head down south to Hars and back. Wanted to spend Christmas at Copenhagen (4 days), so won't have the luxury to cover the entire Iceland.

11 days in iceland to maximise my chance of seeing the northern lights. I see if I can put the link here because all my itinerary is in google docs. Its a nightmare as I cannot convert gdocs excel to a suitable format here, unlike the forum at the bright side.
 

SGJoe86

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I did warn you! Also, I can get away with it because I'm probably one of the best backpackers in edmw. Haha.

Studded tired kill your mileage btw and there's also glacier tires that are huge.
Price to pay for the extra grip on icy road. I want to return back to SG in the passenger seat, not in a box (touch wood!)

coolhead said:
I suppose early to mid October is still okay for driving a 2wd? From what I read in trip advisor, there is no difference driving a 2wd and 4wd if we are not going to highlands.
I wouldn't really bet on it. If you dig deep enough, you will find articles where drivers find 2WD cars stuck on road shoulders when their wheels sank into the ground, and that's not during winter too. If you do go down the 2WD option, make sure you stay on solid road, even when stopping by road shoulders.

As for your docs, didn't copy into MS Words and save into Dropbox?
 

carleon8

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I agree on the 2WD point. I've seen many 2WD cars getting stuck in the snow when I was there, definitely not a fun thing when you could do nothing but wait for hours for the rescue team to come and rescue your car.

Even car parks at attractions along the Ring Road can get covered with snow and ice. I had a 4WD SUV and even mine was stuck in the snow once. Thank god I managed to reverse out without any help after a while.
 

SGJoe86

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I can actually operate most modes of transportation except a car, so I have no idea what is going on. Haha.

Shameless self plug: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/e...gpgt]-din0-ghost-icekarchangland-5327261.html

Photos of Greenland are in the later posts. If you need a translation, I'll be both here and there!
Just gone through the entire thread, can see you are a highly revered deity there :D

You mention about your guide kbkp, but at what point did you engage the guide? Was it for a local tour? Or did you engage one of the locals from GuidetoIceland.is?

carleon8 said:
I had a 4WD SUV and even mine was stuck in the snow once. Thank god I managed to reverse out without any help after a while.
How did you manage to get unstuck? Tied something to the wheels aka survival style, or just pure luck and wiggled your way out?
 
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