Dear Iceland
Dear Iceland,
this is not only a love letter, but also a letter which should give you moments of thought.
I love you. Your nature is most beautiful, most astonishing, most cruel and also soft nature I have ever seen and I will likely ever see in my life. Your rivers, mountains, waterfalls and highlands are incredible. Your harsh winds keep one cold and shivering even if the sun burns. The sky looks more blue than anywhere in the world and the waters look more clean than air itself.
I'm by no means a poet, so I really hope anyone who reads this understands what I want to say: I'm in love with Iceland.
Although the land can be harsh and cruel, the winds can freeze you and I bet the snow in the winter can kill you easily, I have to say that Iceland is now my favourite country.
Sadly, there are bad things about Iceland, too. But these are human made and therefore they could be fixed.
First of all, please Iceland, fix your Roads! It is unbelievable how bad they are. We always laughed when the road signs said “80” or “60” (Km/H) because one could hardly drive 40 on those roads because of all the bumps and holes in it. We had holes that where about 10cm deep into the road.
Secondly, please fix your camping sides. With two toilets for two hundred people, that's not gonna work for any longer. Especially not for 30€ (3000 IK) for two people per night. For this price, one can have a nice camping side in France, Spain, Italy or Germany (and other countries in central Europe) with tens of toilets, ehashing places, a common room and incl. electricity. So if you want the hikers to stay at camping sides, you either have to lower the prices or provide more luxery – and I'd suggest lowering the prices because not-so-wealthy people will still camp in the wild if the prices are too high. The mini-campers will continue to shit into your landscape if camping prices are too high.
And then, of course, the many people. We talked to a ranger during our trip which said the same: There are too many tourists coming to the country. I guess the problem is not that there are too many people, that's just annoying for everyone. The real problem is that there are too many people who do notbcare about nature, but about their pictures and how they can brag about their great vacation and about the big car they drove and rivers they crossed. They don't care about your nature, running through protected area, not caring about the breeding birds they disturb and such. You, Iceland, should put fines on that. And by fines I do not mean “fines” but FINES. Let them pay. Let them help with their money fix your roads. Let each of them play 1000 € or $ if they run trough protected area. And don't tell me it is hard to do so if nobody watches: We saw a ranger who clearly saw what was happening and who did not care about it.
Despite these issues, which clearly can be solved. It just needs someone to step in in your politics and do it.
So, dear Iceland, please think about your issues. It will help to keep you as beautiful as you are. And you're clearly the most beautiful county on this planet. I really want to come back some time and see more of your nature.
Sincerely yours.
tags: #life #traveling #iceland