
I've been obsessed with volcanic islands for years and four years ago, I decided to go to Iceland. Apart from one near-death experience, I had a really good time and saw some wonderful things.
If you ever want to get away from it all, Iceland is the place to go. It has the one of the lowest population densities in the world and it's possible to walk for hours without meeting anyone. Iceland also has the lowest biodiversity rate of any country and the defining features of the landscape are rock, water and sky:
But what I also love about Iceland is that in spite of its benign exterior, the island is sitting on a geological powder keg. Steams pours out of fissures in the ground, pools bubble like cauldrons and occasionally, there are violent volcanic eruptions, some of which have resulted in hundreds of deaths.
At school, we are told that beneath the Earth's crust, there is a magma of molten lava. In Iceland you can almost feel it through the soles of your shoes.
1 comment:
Ah volcanoes, that other great childhood obssession aside from dinosaurs and museum mummies, particularly the story of how a volcano turned the people of Pompeii into mummies. A two-for-one obssession to keep the under-10 brain awake at nights.
That splendid photo brought it all back.
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