Aside from the Icelandic landscape, the second most unforgettable memory is of the Icelandic men trying to show off this landscape. Icelanders are fiercely proud of their land, and they will go to great lengths to make sure you fully grasp its extraordinary beauty.

One blond looker by the name of Gunnar told me that when he has visitors come in from overseas, he takes them out in his car, leaves them on a lava field and tells them he'll be back a couple of hours later. He says without fail, his visitors have tears in their eyes when he picks them up. While I understand I am supposed to take that as a sign of some kind of nature-induced epiphany, all I can think is that if he dropped me off on a lava field and drove off, I'd cry too. His visitors probably thought he was never coming back.

Travel mate Marianne in front of a Hummer. With few roads and an uneven terrain, Iceland's interior is often impassable. Hummers, originally designed for the US military, are the only vehicles that can cross the Icelandic highlands.

Stefan, owner of the Hummer dealership in Iceland, thought the best way for my travel mate and me to see the landscape was through a ride in one of his Hummers. With few roads and an uneven terrain, Iceland's interior is often impassable. Outfitted with forty-four inch tires, the American military vehicle is the only vehicle that can cross the Icelandic highlands.

Somewhere along the highway between Reykjavik and Keflavik, Stefan took a sharp left turn, straight out onto a snow-covered field and up the side of a mountain. Confirming the feeling we already had in our stomachs, the instruments on the dashboard indicated a steady eighty-degree angle.

Well up on top of the mountain, we pried our fingers off the leather seats and stumbled out to have a look around. Snow and haze prevented us from seeing anything further away than few feet. It didn't matter.

Sometimes you're better off not seeing the vehicle you have to get back into dangerously close to the edge of a mountaintop. We looked down on our high-heeled boots and weighed the option of sliding down the mountainside versus getting back into the Hummer. No point ruining a good pair of boots. We got back into the vehicle and said our prayers.

Erupting hot springs and plunging waterfalls

To see a bit more of the landscape, from a more normal angle, we rented a SUV and headed east on the highway out of Reykjavik. It was one of those rare sunny winter days you learn to treasure at northern latitudes. (CONTINUE...)