An Icelandic Adventure (III)

Friday was going to be a long day. We had two trips booked: one a 9-hour day trip around the Golden Circle; and the other a late night trip to search for the Northern Lights.

Simon, a young Polish immigrant, was our driver and guide for the day trip. I was very impressed with his fluency in English, which must be his third language at least. Just about everyone in Iceland speaks very good English, which was a blessing as I didn't know a word of Icelandic. I knew in advance that English was well-spoken so didn't think to learn even please or thank you, which was very remiss of me. That said, apparently Icelanders are bemused by the way English-speakers say thank you so much.

Everyone going to Iceland does the Golden Circle in some form or other. There are numerous minibus tours offering the main attractions in one shape or another, of differing lengths and prices. Alternatively it's possible to go ice-sledding or glacier-driving. We didn't. (We went on a glacier when in Canada.)

It was dark when we set off at about 8.20 towards out first stop, Thingellir National Park. As well as being a wonderful location for hikes, and seeing Iceland's landscape, it was historically important too. It was the original site of the Althingi, Iceland's national parliament, considered to be one of the world's oldest democratic institutions. 

"The members of the Althingi would stand on a rock above Almannagja Gorge to read out the laws of the day to thousands of people. Each year, crowds gathered here to settle debates, exchange news, represent their families and clans, and even battle for dominance."

And that brings us to the Almannagja Gorge. Iceland was created by intense underwater volcanic eruptions along the boundary of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Today it's possible to walk between the two plates along the Almannagja Gorge.

Younger Son and Nuora dived between the plates on their Icelandic honeymoon but just walking between them was enough for us.

From there it was on to Gulfoss, a two-tiered waterfall, dropping a total of 32 metres (11 and 12) into the canyon.

This was the coldest spot on your whole trip. But worth it. 

At the beginning of the twentieth century an English entrepreneur wanted to buy, well, basically, the waterfall. The farmer who owned the land refused but unwittingly signed an agreement. His daughter vowed to fight it and walked regularly to Reykjavik (72  miles) to go to court. In 1929 the entrepreneur gave up the fight and the land was passed back into Icelandic hands. 

Sigríður Tómasdóttir became known as Iceland's first female environmentalist and is commemorated with a sculpture at the site.

And then it was off again to Geysir, which gave its name to all geysers worldwide. But first an impromptu stop to meet some Icelandic horses.

Icelanders are very proud of their horses and insist it is disrespectful to refer to them as ponies. They are also very protective of their breed and no other horses are allowed into the country. They are descended from the first horses brought into the country by the Vikings and they have developed broad faces, narrow nostrils, and a very thick winter coat, allowing them to live outside all year round.

And then it was on to Geysir.

This one erupted every 5-10 minutes.

The area is littered with hot springs.

And lots of bubbling ponds.

As it's such a popular tourist area a centre has been built with a souvenir shop and several eating places, and it was here we had our lunch break. We'd left the hotel without breakfast so we were ready for it.

Iceland is very proud of its lamb and there is a tomato farm that harnesses geothermal energy to grow its tomatoes so I chose the traditional Icelandic lamb stew and Daughter opted for Tomato soup. Hers was the better choice.

The lamb stew was very like Welsh cawl - but mine is better - and the lamb in it wasn't particularly tasty. To be fair, I suppose, it was a sort of fast food catering for the tourists place. The tomato soup was very nice though.

And then we were off again. To the Secret Lagoon, the oldest bathing pool in Iceland, created in 1891. A very pleasant 38-40 degrees.

We were slightly horrified on the minibus driving there as Simon told us that before entering the pool we had to shower. Fair enough, except he added, "Fully naked in the Icelandic way." 

The maitre d' of the place repeated the same requirement. At this point we still weren't sure whether they were unisex changing rooms . . .

They weren't. But you haven't lived until you've seen a number of middle-aged and older, grey-haired, slightly chubby women trying to shower 'fully naked' as quickly as possible and with as little revealed as possible. (I'm not including Daughter in this classification of course.)

But again, worth it.

Our final stop was Kerid volcanic crater. The lake, which was frozen over, is a vivid blue in summer.

 

One of the passengers on our minibus was a solo-traveller, a young French man. He had no concept of time or manners. The first couple of times we stopped he failed to come back in time and we had to wait for him. Finally Simon said, "There is a saying in Iceland: if you're late you hitch-hike." He seemed to get the message after that.

But he was also rather stupid. At each location wherever a sign said, "Don't!" he did. Under railings, on cliff edges, he was determined to get a photo that was different from everyone else's.

You see the tiny figure on the left on the edge of the ice?

That was him. He then walked right across the ice. From above we'd seen cracks spreading across the ice so he was very fortunate to escape a freezing soaking.

And that was our Golden Circle trip. Back to the hotel and then out again to eat, this time at Fjallkonan. Our hotel was perfectly located for easy access to the city and the main eating area. Daughter chose well. We did toy with going here but decided against it.

We both had burgers, veggie or lamb, with some of the most delicious chips. Portion size is very generous in Iceland but, then again, prices are high, something like £30 for burger and chips. No photo this time; we were in a hurry. And hungry.

A brief rest in the hotel before setting out to search for the northern lights.