Day 2: Golden Circle

Today we went to the Golden Circle AKA the tourist trap. Almost every tourist comes to see these sights just outside of Reykjavik and as a result they are usually packed full. We could have went with a tour bus for approximately $80 per person but driving and doing our own thing sounded way more fun.

Our day went something like this:

• Check out of T10 hotel
• þingvellir National Park
• Geysers Strokkur and Lutli – Geysir
• Gullfoss waterfalls
• Kerið Crater
• New hotel in Hella

T10 hotel was okay. Nothing fancy and nothing bad. I may write a post later about my experience and photos from all the hotels, but that’s still to be decided. The drive to þingvellir National Park was quite interesting. As we were leaving the city we passed an accident and traffic was not that bad. Everything was flowing well even once we entered the suburbs near the edge of town. In Iceland they use more roundabouts then traffic lights and I have this love, hate relationship with them. They are great and seemingly much faster then traffic lights in America but, in the suburbs of Iceland, every 1 KM there is a roundabout. They are terribly annoying in that sense as the speed limit is 90 KM/hr and the roundabouts speed limit is closer to 30 km/hr as they are quite tight.

Annoying rant aside, it was awesome to see the landscape change from city to suburb to frozen tundra.  Pretty much once we left the suburbs there was a sheet of ice on each side of the road and every tourist who has never driven in winter slowed down to 60 KM/hr in a 90 zone. Luckily not a lot of traffic going in so they were over taken quickly by experienced drivers, even the buses! I was scooting along at 100 KM/hr and a bus flew by going 120 over a very icy patch 50 KM long. These Icelanders really know how to drive in the winter. I was quite impressed.

þingvellir National Park is quite an attraction all year around. It is considered a must see stop as it sits between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It is also the location where the first general assembly of government came together. Pretty nifty for all those history and geography buffs. For me it just seemed like vast flat plain with a couple of deep ridges and springs of water. I imagine in the summer the green and the wild life make it more interesting compared to the winter when everything looks like rocks and snow. But the wall which you walk down and along is pretty cool. Very Games of Thrones or LoTR feeling. Got some cool pictures off the wall so definitely worth my 500 ISK for parking. Also bathrooms cost 200 ISK and are pretty gross too. So if you can hold it, I’d save it for another spot as most places have free bathrooms.

After a quick drive we arrived at the Geysers. This is definitely one of our favorite stops, “free and a bubbly explosion” as Yvette puts it. This is something you can definitely stop and see all year round. Just a word of the wise don’t stand down wind of the geysers. Seemed a little dangerous, plus you get very wet and it smells like rotten eggs from all the sulfur. We saw a few people get drenched and they looked very uncomfortable after they stopped laughing. Lutli Geysir (translates to little geyser) and Geysir never erupted while we were there but their brother Strokkur (translated to churn) went off every 3-5 minutes. Was really quite a feat to see the water blast into the air. All on the ground there were hot springs that looked like they were scooped into the ground with a melon baller. It would be quite dangerous if you were not paying attention as the water was 80-100°C. It was a little surprising how close they let people to the geysers but all in all was worth seeing.

While at the geysers we stopped off at their visitor center and had lunch. Yve had a lamb meat soup, a traditional Icelandic dish, while I had a pizza. Both were quite tasty and for 1990 ISK (roughly 23 CAD) each, I would probably buy the pizza again. But if I was going to try and fill myself up the soup would have been the better option as there were free refills. Staff there was amazing and I would definitely recommend this stop no matter the season. I would happily go see Strokkur again.

After an even shorter drive we arrived at Gullfoss waterfalls. The lower section was closed because unsafe winter conditions but the upper section was open. Beautiful to see, but incredibly windy up top as the waterfall is created by a 32 deep crevice in the plain. Wind sweeps across the plain and can easily knock someone in if they are not prepared. Yve says people have “accidents” yearly because of this. It is quite a sight to see if you have never seen such powerful waterfalls before. These staggered falls are quite similar to Niagara Falls back in Canada. Like the Falls, they even have ice curtains dangling off the sides.

We scrambled around for a while to find a gas station before we left for Kerið Crater. In my opinion this was the best stop and probably one of the most under-rated ones. This giant crater was created when a lava chamber collapsed on itself and then proceeded to fill with water. The crater makes an amazing photo opportunity and requires some balance. I would rate this as one of the harder sights to see as climbing the side is not easy. Once again the lower section was closed, which was a real shame since they let you into the bowl of the crater. Still I enjoyed the sights and found the smaller crowds more comfortable. Admission was 400 ISK (roughly $5 Canadian) each and definitely worth it.

We drove to our new hotel in Hella, called Hotel Hella. We had our dinner at the local gas station, at a local chain restaurant called Grill 66. Food was okay nothing spectacular, but the salt for the fries was interesting. Yve thinks it may have been berry salt as it was pink and had a sweet after taste. Something that we may have to look into some more.

Overall had a good day, saw lots and did lots. Apparently, tomorrow we have an even busier day.

-Dan

P.S. didn’t get to shoot any astro 😦 (Cloudy night)