South Iceland

Day 4: the day started with a windy, dusty, flat hike to reach the plane wreck.

After an hour of windy nothingness, the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck suddenly showed up. The family really enjoyed the windy emptiness of the hike - it built a sombre uncomfortable mood we don't often get to experience.

This is Mom waiting to depart.

Even though it's one of the most popular spots in Iceland, and even though there's absolutely nothing other than a piece of metal laying there, this was one one of our top activities in Iceland. Maybe it's the strange nothingness followed by an extremely photogenic piece of metal that makes Solheimasandur so special.

The next stop was Reynisdrangar, also known as Vik, the most popular black beach in Iceland.

Although the most popular sight in Vik is the column standing in the sea, what impressed me the most is a large cave made of such unique wet-but-not-wet texture.

Karim took this pretty shot of me observing the extremely unique textures in the cave.

This frame shows both the cave and the columns. The columns didn't particularly appeal to me - maybe because I'm used to the Raouche rock formation back in Lebanon, or maybe spraying water made the columns too hazy to enjoy.

After Vik, we headed to Fjaðrárgljúfur, a phenomenal canyon.

On a cloudy day in late May, the yellows and greens of earth reveal very unique shades in Fjaðrárgljúfur.

The trail winds around the top of the walls. After around 30 minutes of hiking, we reached the end of it, and appreciated one of the most beautiful sights our eyes have seen.

The sun was setting - at 10pm that is. Every now and then along Iceland's Ring Road, a parking stop invites visitors to sit on a wooden bench and enjoy the view.

I don't typically enjoy long rides, and generally prefer to substitute them with long hikes. But the Ring Road impresses, with mountain peaks and glaciers that no one could ever get enough of.

We finally reached our campsite, Skaftafell Camping. The park is beautiful, and the view is beyond description. Skaftafell Camping is generally packed, but since it's still May, we were lucky to enjoy tranquility.