Day 2: Iceland’s Golden Circle

25 September 2018

Today we are doing the route that 80-90% of tourists to Iceland do: the Golden Circle that takes in the site of the ancient Viking parliament Þingvellir (sounds like Thingvellir); Geysir (the geyser that all others are named after) and Gullfoss (the amazing waterfall).

The weather has not improved over night – we brave the cold and rain to go to breakfast and then have to carry our bags back up lots of stairs to get back out to the main street. We have covered ours in black rubbish bags as we have to take them up to the cathedral car park because Lisa is not allowed to bring the big van down the little streets.

We have some excitement on the way, Lisa takes up a side road up into the mountains first. It is the ugliest road in the world that leads to a beautiful place. The road is ugly because there is a line of power pylons on one side and a big water pipe running down the other. There is a volcano that they have harnessed for geothermal power and once it has generated electricity it is then used to heat water that is then piped all the way to Reykjavik. The pipes are so well insulated that the water starts at 85C and is at 83C once it gets to the city – all done by gravity, no pumps involved. Hot water is used to heat all the houses too through radiators, so with hot water and heating taken care of the requirement for other electricity must be quite small compared to us.

That wasn’t the exciting bit. As we head up into the mountains towards the volcano, there is more and more snow on the ground. This is extremely early for them to get their first snowfall and there is more snow than they usually get in winter. The van still has its summer tyres on so we slide around a bit and then we get to a steep uphill slope that also had ice on it and it becomes obvious very quickly that we are not going to be able to go any further. There are also tracks where another vehicle has gone off the road and down the hillside. Lisa is very impressive with her vehicle handling skills as she manages to back the van down the hill and then turns us around. We were all extremely quiet whilst this was happening and several were holding on tight.

So we have to head back the way we came, and Lisa notifies the base that she needs to have some winter tyres for the rest of the trip. We will need to have 2 van changes to enable this to happen because the replacement van doesn’t have a sound system. The first van will meet us at our accommodation that evening and then we will get our van back sometime tomorrow.

Along the way we see a red lake (due to algae) surrounded by forest. Icelanders are very proud of their forests as trees have only been growing here (again) for the last 70 years. There are some native birch forests and there is a saying “What do you do if you get lost in the forest?” “Stand up!” Most of the trees are only about 1m to 1.5m tall with a few introduced species that are a bit taller.

Lisa tells us all sorts of stories about local characters and legends, showing us moss mountains, houses belonging to famous people and much more along the way. We see our first pseudo craters that are formed when hot larva meets water, causing a gas eruption. We also witness a new phenomenon in Icelandic tourism: one car will pull up somewhere (where there is absolutely nothing to look at) and within a short while many other cars have also pulled up there to look at whatever the first car might be looking at.

Our first main stop Þingvellir is definitely worth looking at, both because it is the site of the first Viking parliament back in the 10th century (930 AD) and because it is situated in a fissure between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate. The fissure is 7km and grows by 2cm per year, it is a very impressive site.

We walk down beside the basalt rock wall on the ‘American’ side (and manage to get our wet weather gear on just in time as it started to pour with rain). We see the site of Parliament rock where the lawmakers sat and the cliffs acted as a megaphone out to the people gathered around, and a beautiful pool with a rather more grotesque history as the site of criminal justice: men were beheaded and women were drowned. There is also a waterfall further along the basalt wall.

Next stop is a bit more bizarre – we stop for ice cream, and learn that in Iceland ice cream is not a summer cooling down thing as it is for us but is more often used as a winter evening treat as a way to get some sugar. So on a cold morning we stop at a dairy farm where we select our ice cream flavours (I had cherry and blueberry) and then stand munching as we watch (through big windows) cows in a barn also munching their feed.

Then we move on to The Geysir – another geothermal area where there are boiling hot pools and of course geysers. The original Geysir (namesake of all geysers) has now retired but his brother Strokkur has taken up the job and erupts every 4-10 minutes with a fairly impressive display. But as is par for the course today, it pours down with rain as we are walking out there and it is cold and unpleasant. The cafe is much more appealing – we stop for lunch, just soup or hot chocolate after having eaten ice cream not so long ago.

After lunch we head to Gullfoss – a spectacular waterfall that drops 31m. There is a LOT of water pouring over, first down an 11m drop and then down a further 20m drop into a canyon. We can see the spray from the falls from a long way off as we drive in. It is raining heavily again but some of us decide that we will walk to the upper, middle and lower lookouts to try to get a good view down into the canyon. If you see it from the main lookout it is not as impressive because you don’t get to see the second 20m drop.

Lisa also takes us to another smaller waterfall which she tells us is a very clear blue (rather than dirty glacial water) and they have put a salmon ladder up the side. However after Gullfoss it is disappointing and is dirty today – probably because of all the rain. We don’t stay long.

Then we stop at a Vínbúðin to buy some wine or other beverages; and then at a supermarket for anyone who wants to buy snacks or lunch or dinner ingredients. Food and drinks are very expensive here.

We are staying at a place that calls itself a hotel, but it is in the middle of the countryside and we are staying in chalets and summer houses (that are quite a walk from the main area). There is a restaurant and all except one of us have opted for the lasagne, salad and dessert option for a special price.

Please join me over the next several posts as I take you on our Journey to the Arctic (and more).

The Joy of Business Class

Copenhagen Stopover Day 1
Copenhagen Stopover Day 2

Arctic Express: Northern Lights
Day 1: Copenhagen to Reykjavik
Day 2: Reykjavik to Constable Point, Greenland
Day 3: Scoresby Sund: Frederiksdal & Flyvefjord
Day 4: Scoresby Sund: Nordvestfjord & Ingmikortilaq
Day 5: Scoresby Sund: Eskimobugt & Immikkeerikajik
Day 6: Scoresby Sund: Danmark Island & Vikingsbugt
Day 7: Scoresby Sund: Cap Hope & Ittoqqortoormiit
Day 8: Scoresby Sund: Steward Island & Constable Point
Day 9: Constable Point back to Reykjavik

Iceland Discovery
Day 1: Reykjavik: Blue Lagoon
Day 2: Golden Circle
Day 3: South Coast
Day 4: Jokulsarlon
Day 5: Eastern Fjords & Moorudalur Valley
Day 6: Moorudalur Valley & Lake Myvatn
Day 7: Akureyri & Trollaskagi Peninsular
Day 8: Grabrok Volcano & Snaefellsnes Peninsular
Day 9: Snaefellsness to Reykjavik

Toronto, Canada
Day 1: Reykjavik to Toronto
Day 2: Toronto to Port Perry
Day 3: Lake Muskoka
Day 4: Millbrook
Day 5: Back to Toronto
Day 6: Toronto
Day 7: Niagara Falls

 

 

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For this and other similar tours see:

Explore Europe with Intrepid Travel (a range of different travel styles – see my post on travel styles)

Peregrine Adventures (Comfort tours)

Geckos Adventures (for 18 to 30s)

Note: After people telling me they had booked an Intrepid Tour on my recommendation, I now have affiliate links with the Intrepid Travel group of companies and may receive a commission if you book a tour online within a couple of months after clicking through to these sites.  So if you are enjoying my tips and stories and finding them useful in choosing your own travel, please click on these links and help me to bring you more .

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