10 Interesting Facts About Iceland

Iceland Russian tourists have an unpopular destination, and it is very in vain, because the country has a bright color, unique natural spaces and unusual traditions.

Two “desperate” travelers from Yekaterinburg Rustam and Maxim went for 14 days on foot in Iceland to get acquainted with the unusual state.

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Iceland is located on islands in the North Atlantic Ocean outside the Arctic Circle.

According to legend, the islands became a haven for escaped from Norway Viking Ingolfur Arnarson, or rather even sent into exile, who arrived with his squad and founded the state of Iceland at the end of the IX century. Later, other Norwegians moved here, transporting livestock.

Iceland is known for its volcanoes, numerous valleys of geysers, icebergs that broke away from glaciers, and move freely past islands.

The country also managed to surprise everyone when in 2010 the mayor of the capital of Reykjavik was punk and comedian Jon Gnarr, who had never worked in politics, but managed to strengthen the economy and make life better for citizens.

Now let’s go through the facts about Iceland from the lips of travelers Maxim and Rustam.

10 facts about Iceland

1. Like many Scandinavian countries with a high standard of living, Iceland has very high prices, especially for food. Russian tourists joke that this is the only country in which you have to take a loan to dine. One dish on average costs 700 rubles in a cafe (in Russia, prices are lower by 2-3 times). Yekaterinburg travelers recommend to stock up on bread and canned food in advance and take them from Russia.

2. Sweden is famous for its delicacy surströmming (sourished canned fish), but Iceland loves Haukartl - rotten shark, which is also considered a delicacy. The fact is that the meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous, the poison is not destroyed during cooking, but dies in the sun when the meat itself dies. Therefore, the rotten shark is quite suitable for food. The dish has a sharp smell of ammonia, and the taste, according to Rustam and Maxim, is only a highly salted fish.

3. Housing is not cheap in the country either. Even the hostel can be found from 1500 rubles per day. But for this money you can stay in the historical center of Reykjavik, which is what tourists did.

4. If prices may seem high to tourists from Russia, they do not seem so to Icelanders. The average salary in the country is about 170,000 rubles. And now imagine what a ticket for a city bus for 200 rubles is for an Icelander with such an average salary.

5. Iceland is a very environmentally friendly country in terms of electricity and water. All electricity is generated by volcanoes, and their energy is so powerful that electricity has nowhere to go. Near some volcanoes are special power plants.

 

6. 12 degrees in Iceland – it is very cold in the feeling of a Russian person, because it is often windy and humid outside. Moreover, the weather can change several times a day - from a pleasant sunny shower to a squally wind shower.

7. Iceland is a very small country by our standards. The number of inhabitants here is 338 000 people in the whole state. For comparison, the population of Nizhny Tagil, a small town in the Sverdlovsk region, is 358,000 (2012). And the population of Yekaterinburg is approaching 1.5 million.

8. Since most of the tourist routes are pedestrian, the tracks have a clear and clear marking, so even an inexperienced tourist traveling alone will not get lost.

9. Iceland has very strict rules regarding human interaction with nature. For tents there are strictly designated places - campsites. You can stay in nature only in them and nowhere else. Even for parking cars for a few minutes in an unspecified place of the track can be jailed and punished with a large fine, not to mention the installation of a tent outside the campsite.

 

10. Attracts Iceland’s high standard of living and culture, especially the average salary? The thought flashed, maybe go live on permanent residence? Forget it. As in other Nordic countries, it is almost impossible to obtain Icelandic citizenship due to strict rules that are almost impossible to comply with.

We didn’t have much fun ending and wanted to finish this article on a positive note. Let’s go back to the natural beauty of Iceland.

Photos and videos, of course, are not able to repeat the unique color of green mountains and fire-breathing volcanoes, the text is not able to convey the impressions of acquaintance with the traditions of the Viking country. No traveler’s story will make your heart freeze at the sight of a fjord.

So at least once in your life, stock up on about 120,000 rubles for a 2-week trip to Iceland. And this journey of experience will be unlike any other.

And be sure to go to the open ocean on a boat to see whales. Such a tour will cost only 6000 rubles, but will inspire and shake the imagination.

 

Text: Oksana Lesnikova