The Land Of The Fire & Ice

Christine Amour-Levar recounts her recent adventures across the outof-the-world landscapes of Iceland.

Landing in Iceland makes you feel like you’re arriving at the very edge of the world. For avid trekkers, this place is paradise because of the incredibly rich topography and varied landscape. Known as the Land of Fire and Ice, it has stunning blue glaciers, black sandy deserts, over 130 volcanoes, obsidian lava fields, multi-coloured snow-capped mountains, and explosive geysers.

Indeed, Iceland’s very existence is a geographical oddity. It marks the point where the European and American tectonic plates meet, and are pushed apart by volcanic activity, making it one of the most geologically active places on earth.

Iceland is also the most sparsely populated country in Europe; it’s twice the size of Sri Lanka, yet with a population of just 360,000. The first permanent settlement wasn’t established until AD 874, when a Norse Viking Chieftain called Ingólfr Arnarson arrived off the coast with his family. According to local lore, he threw two carved pillars overboard, vowing to set up home where they landed. The pillars washed ashore on a coastline dotted with steam vents; he called the place Reykjavik, which means “bay of smoke” in Norse. His settlement is still the capital today, and home to two thirds of Iceland’s tiny population.

The team and the mission

It’s August 2019, towards the end of the Icelandic summer, and our team of 12 women – part of HER Planet Earth, an Asia-based NGO that promotes female empowerment and environmental conservation (HERplanetearth.com) – touches down in Reykjavik. Most of us live in Singapore or Hong Kong; only one has set foot in Iceland before.

The journey ahead is exciting, and we look forward to spending five days traversing one of the country’s most active, volcanic and alien landscapes: Laugavegur, a trail in the Southern Highlands, originally formed by an eruption in 1477.