Where America and Europe divides

After Reykjavik and the hot springs, we ventured further north. Our first stop was Pingvellir National Park, where the shift in tetonic plates mark the divide between the continent of Europe and Northern America.



The movement of the plates clearly shown in the photo above and below, continues even today at a remarkable rate of 10cm a year! It is said that in years to come, Iceland will be divided into two.



Our next stop, the magnificent two-tiered Gulfoss waterfalls was certainly a testament to the power of nature - we could feel the blast from the falls even metres away! We wished however that the weather that day was sunnier with rainbows arching across the sky, instead it was gloomy and wet. Oh well - can't expect postcard-like weather everywhere we go.



We ended our trip by putting our newly acquired horse-riding skills into practise. We were to test our resolve against the legendary Icelandic horses, favoured by the all-conquering Viking warriors. Thankfully this image of a menacing, fiery steed soon dissolved when we saw the petite, lovable and (what turned out to be) good-natured horses.


We had an enjoyable ride across the volcanic landscape (except the bit where we encountered a painful hail storm later in the afternoon!) - a great end to the trip as we rode off into the sunset. As KL says," John Wayne would have been proud!"

Around Reykjavik

A view of Iceland's capital.



There are a lot of unique sculptures around the city centre, but this piece of a viking ship by Jon Gunnar Arnason is a favourite among tourists.



Hallgrimskirkja, the cathedral dominating the sky line of Rejkjavik.
Located at the front of the church is the statue of Leif Eiriksson, credited with the discovery of America.

In Hot Water

Iceland is a hot bed of volcanic activities and unsurprisingly the main source of energy comes from its geo-thermal plants.

The Blue Lagoon is a natural lake heated by the geo-thermal activities and is well-known for its healing properties. The place does need a little getting used to as the stench of sulphur is pretty strong. As we arrived, the temperature outside was a cool -2 degrees celcius so it was a really strange feeling running out to the lake in our swimming costumes!


The water temperate was just under 40 degrees Celcius. The place comes with sauna, steam bath and jacuzzi pools which KL's gleefully took advantage of!





Among the trips we made in Iceland was a delightful drive to the Geysir hot springs area. The Geysir, and it's smaller brother Stokur regularly blasts tons of hot water to a height of nearly 20m - quite a sight to behold. KL just about managed to capture the blast just as Stokur was about to empty its bowels!





Here I am warming myself up next to a less active hot spring. The blue hue of the water is a result of the high silica content.

Icy Iceland

A surprise birthday getaway to the beautiful island of fire and ice - Iceland. For once, KL managed to keep the destination a secret until we reached the check-in counter! =)

The majority of Icelandic landscapes around the capital city of Reykjavik consists of lava fields. We were greeted by this stunning sunrise (albeit at 10am!!) with the Northern Atlantic ocean in the horizon.




The view from the rim of the volcano Kerio.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury, in Kent, has been the seat of the spiritual head of the Church of England
for many centuries. It is also well known for its medieval tombs of royal parsonages, such as King Henry IV and Edward the Black Prince.

KL and I decided to spend a day here.


The interiors of the cathedral, with St.Augustine's Chair dimly lit in the background was where the archbishops were enthroned in the 13th Century.


The stained window within Jesus Chapel, depicts the cruxification. The crowned letter 'M' and 'I' on the on ceiling are the initials of Jesus and Mary in Latin.







View of the cathedral ceiling where the church bell tower is located. (KL took this picture lying down, much to my - and other visiting tourists' - amusement!)

A Simple Life

We spent the afternoon at a fishing village, a stone's throw away from KL's home in Kuantan.
Tanjung Api is said to be the place where fishermen unload their catch of the day. However, on arrival we were told that they have since moved to a brand new complex up the river.



We were however, not disappointed by the ever-friendly local boys. We spent some time chatting and laughing at their antics before moving on to taking some photos.

Going bananas

These photos were taken near the Kuantan market when we were out foraging for local food and groceries to bring back to London.

It was an eventful and very 'fulfilling' day - not only we managed to get bags of chinese herbs, curry powder, salted fish but we also managed to stuff our faces with the local food - Malay laksa, char keow teow, lekur, ikan bakar, Kemaman coffee and more lekur!!

Who wants to follow me back to London?

"I do! I do! Me!! Me!!"


"Can you please hold on to my yo-yo while I'm in transit?"


Signed, sealed and delivered.