Just Another Amazing Thing to do in Iceland!

There's nothing quite like Iceland.  I can say that with great certainty.  A lot of things have changed over the years.  Volcanoes have erupted.  Glaciers have both decreased and increased, depending on which one you're talking about.  But, there are some amazing things that don't change about Iceland as well.  One of my favorite areas of the country is the south coast.  There are some amazing things, places and people there, and I enjoy traveling around that area.

If you want to truly enjoy the south of Iceland, you must try and spend some time outdoors.  They have amazing waterfalls, great valleys, glaciers, volcanoes, and so much more.  The best time to hike in the area is of course in the summer.  The sunlight lasts forever and the scenery is amazing.

The Eldgja is one of the premiere hiking spots.  You can rent space in any number of farmhouses in the area from the locals, and you can even camp if you like.  The Eldgja is one of the most surreal looking national park style areas that I've ever seen.  It's called the Grand Canyon of Iceland and it's beautiful.

Ofaerufoss, Svartifoss, and Seljalandsfoss are just three of the amazing waterfalls in the area.  Ofaerufoss is in the Eldgja so it's more difficult to get to than the others.  Iceland is famous for it's waterfalls and people like me come from all over the world just to see them.  I have yet to see one in that country that wasn't worth the trouble that I went to in order to see it.  In my experience, the 300 or so catalogued waterfalls are only the tip of the iceberg.  There was an amazing waterfall right behind the farmhouse I rented.  It was great.

One of the fabulous stops along the coast in southern Iceland is the village of Vik.  Here they are known for their black beach and the amazing cliffs.  You can surf here and swim here if you like.  Iceland sits at the end of the Gulf Stream, so the water is warmer than you think.  There is also a great woolens factory in Vik and a great store where you can buy your authentic woolens for souvenirs.  They last forever.  I still have the first blanket I bought there.  Vik is a regular stop on the bus route and is right on the ring road, so you can't miss it either.

As I've noted, there are many waterfalls in southern Iceland.  The one that will be a regular bus stop and sits right along the ring road is Skogafoss.  This is an enormous 60 meter high and gorgeous waterfall that is extremely accessible.  Not all waterfalls in Iceland are that easy to get to.  Take advantage of it when you can.

Of course there are several volcanoes in southern Iceland and Eyjafjallajökull is currently the most famous one.  It exploded back in 2010 and shut down most airports in Europe for quite a while.  It's still quite a sight and you can book a tour to go and see it up close and personal.  It's quite a sight.

But, as is my norm; I decided to talk about southern Iceland today because of something special.  Over the last 20 years, Iceland has become the premiere destination for something that was unexpected to the rest of us in the world.  They like to swim.  There are more than 200 swimming pools around the country that are open to all hours and year round.  They are not inside, they are outside.  Some have water slides and some are just pools.  They are thermal heated like everything else in the country so they stay warm.  It's become quite the past time in Iceland.  Along with this has been viewing the Aurora Borealis.  So, it was only a matter of time until the tourism people put the two activities together.  Now, it's fashionable to go to Iceland in the winter and watch the Northern Lights while you sit in a pool outside.  So, for an Adventure for Anyone, try out the Hotel Ranga.

Winter is the time of year to see the Northern Lights.  It's not as good of a time for hiking and such, so you should go to Iceland more than once. Iceland is the inventor of the stopover, so you can take a few days in the country on your way to and from Europe on IcelandAir. Hotel Ranga is open year round.  They have dozens of activities and are a sought after resort in the south of the country.  What they do have that is unmatched is a package for people who specifically want to come and sit in a pool and watch the Auroras.  They have an outside jacuzzi tub just for the activity.

Iceland is one of the best places in the world to watch the Northern Lights.  Hotel Ranga offers a four night package, so that you have a good chance of seeing them.  The hotel staff will help you by waking you up when the lights arrive.  Then, just grab a drink and head to the hot tub.  You get to soak and watch one of Mother Nature's best shows.

So, come to the land that is like no other.  Come and see things that you won't see anywhere else.  Iceland is enchanting.  You won't want to visit only once.  I would live there if my husband would go.  It's one of my favorite places in the world, and in the winter you can't beat Hotel Ranga and the Northern Lights.  Enjoy!

http://iceland.for91days.com/three-waterfalls-of-southern-iceland/
https://www.rentbyowner.com/listing/?q=iceland&segment_id=1281&site_id=9&sqs=hotels&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Iceland%20%20Vacation%20Rentals&utm_term=Vacation%20Rental%20%2BIceland&utm_content=Iceland%20(Country)
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The City in Peru That You Can't Drive To...Iquitos

It's the fifth largest city in the South American country of Peru.  There are over 300,000 people living there.  What's the catch?  You can't reach it by overland road or railroad.  There are only two ways into and out of this amazing large city with everything you would look for in a South American adventure.  You either fly or you come by the mother of them all--the Amazon River.

The streets here are busy with tuk tuks and cars and trucks.  You can get around by wheeled transportation all over the place and can even take a tuk tuk taxi to and from the airport.  It doesn't give the impression that it is somewhat cut off from the world at all.  But yet it sits at the confluence of the Amazon and the Nanay Rivers in the middle of the largest rainforest in the world.  Why?

Many decades ago, this area was the premiere location for getting your rubber.  The Europeans wanted rubber for tires and many other things, and this was the place to get it.  As normal, the Europeans enslaved a lot of the locals and made them harvest the sticky white sap from the rubber tree so that they could make a fortune in the tire business and in boots and many other things that were made from rubber.  The place was a big rich area where people came to seek their fortunes whether it be as a business owner, a rubber baron, or for the locals just to have a job.  But, as with all boom towns, eventually the Europeans found a way to transplant the business to a more accessible location and the prosperity came to a halt.  There is still some rubber business in the area, but not much.  What this place has turned to is largely ecotourism.

There are many historical things to see in this amazing town along the shores of the river.  There are all of the colonial buildings, including the iron building that was designed by Gustav Eiffel at the height of the rubber empire.  There are many museums and historic hotels around town to look at that give you a glimpse into the colonial times of good old Europe.

Visiting the native villages is another thing that is very popular with tourists.  You can visit them on most tours, but it should be arranged.  Don't just show up and expect these folks to perform like monkeys.  Make arrangements ahead of time and pay well and they will be happy to show you their ancient lifestyles.  There are a few different ones around, so contact your tour operator to find out more.

One of the ways that you can get to Iquitos is to fly in from Lima, the country's capital.  You will not find yourself on a jumbo jet and you will not find modern facilities at the airport in Iquitos.  What you will find are larger prop planes and older jets that are still in amazing shape landing at the airport where you will walk down steps and across the tarmac to the terminal building.  It's like a step back in time and quite charming.

Probably the most popular way to experience Iquitos is by cruise.  It's 2,000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean from Iquitos and quite a way to Nauta where many tours begin and end along the river.  In most cases, you will fly in to the airport from Lima and take a cruise that begins and ends in Iquitos.  Remember, this place is fairly well isolated, but at the same time connected.  It's a strange and wonderful configuration that you will find in only a few locations around the world.

While the water transportation and the cruises are wonderful, it's the local stuff that always appeals to me.  Belen is the floating village that is always open for business along the river in Iquitos.  They sell a lot of things from food to local spirits to souvenirs and more.  You will need to find transportation to the village, but you can hire a boat or even rent a canoe if you like.  There are restaurants and shops in Belen and it's a fabulous adventure.  Make sure that you travel wisely however, this is not the kind of place that you want to send your children to by themselves or something like that.  And, make sure that you visit at the right time of year, because the village can go from floating on the river to sitting in the mud during the drier season.

But, as usual; I had something in particular in mind when I looked into this trip.  Number 1, take a boat along the Amazon.  It's amazing with all the rainforest, the wildlife, the pink dolphins and such.  Enjoy this amazing wonder.  Did you know that if you put the next largest 8 rivers in the world together that there would be more water in the Amazon?  It's truly amazing.  It's like an ocean flowing in one direction with two banks full of forest and animal life.  Stay at a resort and enjoy luxury in this city.  Remember, this is an adventure.  You have to take a boat or fly.  This is the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road.

That being said, after the national reserve, the butterfly sanctuary, the dolphins, the museums, the hotels, the architecture, the resorts, the boats, the shopping, the hustle and bustle of the city; you will want to relax and enjoy dinner and a drink.  And I have just the spot for you.  This is one of those Adventure for Anyones that you should do just to say you did it.  You should go out to dinner at Al Frio y Al Fuego.  It's a floating restaurant and bar that sits right on the Amazon. What's the big deal?  I don't know.  It's one of those places that has great food, live entertainment and a pool.  That's right.  A pool sitting right on the river.  You can go, eat, drink and swim over the Amazon.  It's a bit unusual in my mind that somewhere 2,000 miles up the river is an isolated city of 300,000 people where you can go out to eat on a floating restaurant with a pool, but there it is.  Amazing, and something that anyone can do.  Think about it.  You know you want to do it just so you can tell your friends that you did it and watched pink dolphins while you were at it.  Anyway, that's my Adventure for Anyone in Iquitos.

So, if you need an adventure and want to do something that none of your friends have done; consider coming to Iquitos, Peru.  You will have an adventure like few others and at the same time get to see some of the wonders of the world and stay in luxury if you choose.  You can take a cruise, try exotic cuisine, see rare animals, and do some great shopping.  Come, see the amazing city of Iquitos, have dinner and go swimming over the Amazon, and experience something that few others get to brag about.  Come and visit Al Frio y Al Fuego, take a swim and enjoy!

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It's Not the Hagia Sophia...It's Next Door

It's one of the most famous sights in the world.   The Hagia Sophia has been looming over Istanbul for hundreds of years.  It's been a sight in both Istanbul and Constantinople.  It marks one of the most vibrant, crowded, colorful, historic, modern, and infamous cities on Earth.  There are over 14,000,000 people in Istanbul.  The city straddles two continents.  The Bosporus Strait is a main waterway for industry, military and of course, tourism.  This is an amazing city with amazing things to see and do.  It's also very crowded.

There's not a bad view of the Hagia Sophia, known for it's enormous blue dome.  It's one of the biggest domes in the world.  It's one of the biggest places of worship in the world.  It's also not a church anymore.  It's a museum for us tourists.  That's okay.  I prefer it that way, because I hate walking into a church to see what beauty is inside and interrupting worshipers every single time.  Thank you Istanbul for making this amazing place into a museum.

Istanbul has so many historical sites that there is no way that I intend to talk about the city as a whole.  The giant city spans two continents and has one amazing bridge to do it.  It has all kinds of historic and religious places to visit. You can go to services and see a Whirling Dervish.  You can find thousands of restaurants and hundreds of hotels.  You can see all kinds of shows and hear all kinds of music.  I could go on and on. There are entire books on the subject.

So, I mention the Hagia Sophia, but not as the subject of this blog.  I mention it because about 500 feet away from it is something truly unique and something worth a visit if you find yourself in one of the largest cities in the world.  It's my Adventure for Anyone.

The Bosporus Strait is connected to the Mediterranean Sea.  It's salt water.  So, with a city of 14,000,000 give or take; you tend to have a fresh water problem.  In ancient times, they created a system of underground cisterns to catch water for the population.  There were hundreds of them.  Being the time of the Romans, they were also quite ornate.  They fell into disuse many centuries ago, but one of them is back.  You may have read about it or seen it in the movie.

The Basilica Cistern is one of the leftover behemoth cisterns from that era.  It sits 500 feet from the Hagia Sophia and in the 1980's it was refurbished and put into use as a tourist attraction.  Most recently, it was the location where the evil Zobrist set off his population controlling virus in Dan Brown's Inferno.  I read the book and watched the Tom Hanks movie.  I wanted to know what really went on in this place.

 For one thing, you can eat there.  There is a Cistern Cafe for tourists to stop and eat at while visiting the cistern.  They serve authentic Turkish fare although it is a little expensive.  In the off season you can walk right in and be seated immediately however.

The head of Medusa was explicitly mentioned in the book and movie of Inferno.  It is there.  There are varying stories about why it is there, but it is there.  Was it art?  Was it a message?  Who really knows?

There are 336 Byzantine columns in the cistern.  When the place was renovated, they put in walkways so that we can walk around and see all of the giant underground reservoir.  Now, mind you, there are hundreds of these under Istanbul.  This is the one that you can visit and have a meal there.  This is the one that has events throughout the year whether it be music or something more unconventional.  It's an amazing place to visit.  It's one of those places that your friends won't believe you about unless you take pictures.

So, Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world.  There are thousands of things to see and places to go in the city.  There are thousands of restaurants, hundreds of hotels and millions of people.  I only mentioned one tiny part of this amazing city, but I think that it's a part worth seeing.  So, go see the Hagia Sophia and learn about it's history and beauty.  The best part is that you can't miss that place.  After, go a few hundred feet and down the steps into the amazing Byzantine Cistern that has added something special to the lists of attractions in Istanbul.  Enjoy!


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