Going Offbeat In Land Of Fire & Ice

The land of waterfalls, the land of fire and ice, are some of the attributes given to the country where adventurous activities become ubiquitous, with massive variations in a tiny land. Iceland is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts.

- Kumar Gaurav

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be inside a glacier? To get to know the feeling, head to Iceland. Here, crafted inside the Langjökull glacier of Iceland is a 500-metre Ice Cave tunnel that offers an awe-inspiring and unique opportunity to experience glaciers from within. The Ice Cave Tunnel is man-made and is the largest of its kind in the world. Nothing compares to being inside a blue ice cave, enjoying nature’s architecture at its best. It has remained one of the top attractions in Iceland since it opened to tourists in 2002.

The walls of ice caves and icebergs are almost transparent and often have a distinctive soft and transparent blue hue. This is because it is built from compacted layers of ice crystals (snow) rather than frozen water like the ice on lakes that does not have a crystal structure. Thereafter, when enough air has been pressed out of the packed snow from the weight of more layers on top, it becomes see-through and reflects blue light.

Another unique feature of the tunnel is that it moves in tandem with the shifting of the glacier due to the earth’s rotation, which makes the experience even more enthralling. It also means that the tunnel does not collapse with the movement of the glacier.

Travelling to Nordic the countries, especially Iceland, has become one of the latest trends in India. It has witnessed an upsurge in the number of Indian tourists after the picturisation of Gerua, a song from the Bollywood film, Dilwale starring Shahrukh Khan. The visuals of the song leave the viewers hypnotised with their beautiful portrayal of the locales of Iceland.