The Golden Circle

The Pingvellir site.

Our guide, Johann and Mohammad in the gorge.

The geothermal area they call Geysir.

One of the natural hot water pools at Geysir.

Strokkur Geyser.

Gullfoss Falls.

Strokkur erupts - twice.

Tuesday, August 15^th.

After the morning breakfast we all met up at the cathedral for our guide, Johann, and the van. Turns out the Australian couple didn't show up, no idea why. So we are a group of 10, three couples and four single guys.

We took a short driving tour of the downtown area before we drove out of town to see the 'Golden Circle'. This is the major route for tourists who come on a short stopover en route to either Europe or North America.

The first stop was at Pingvellir which straddles the Silfra divide which is the divide between the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates. This is where the first general assembly of the Icelandic settlers came together in 930. They met here to discuss governing issues, trade and it was also the site of their highest court. They continued to meet here two or three weeks a year for hundreds of years, before they moved everything to Reykjavik. The site was centrally located for the settlers to arrive by horse and the rift cliffs provides shelter from the wind and elements and provided an amphitheatre to enable everyone to hear.

The second stop was for lunch at new tourist complex that has grown up around this geothermal area called Geysir. There was steam venting from the ground, boiling mud and water pools and a few geysers. It reminded me of Yellowstone or Bumpass Hell in Lassen Volcanic NP. There was a geyser called Strokkur that erupts every 8-10 minutes to a height that rivals Old Faithful. It was fun to watch it erupt several times.

The third stop was at the beautiful Gullfoss waterfalls. This is a huge two tiered falls that is the run off of the massive glacier further upstream. Just when we arrived the sun came out and we could see the rainbow too. I hiked down from the parking lot to get a close up view and to feel the power of the water as the ground vibrates a bit. Then I hiked back up and further up to get a good overview from the cliff above. This ranks as one of the most beautiful falls in the world.

As we drove around today and yesterday, I kept nodding off. I guess my body is beginning to relax after the hectic organizing period and trying to catch up on the lack of sleep.

Then we drove to our guesthouse. We stopped en route at a grocery store for a few supplies. This store appeared to be brand new and pretty remote. It is a direct result of huge numbers of tourists coming to Iceland and this area. As is our guesthouse, which is a working farm but has taken advantage too by building cabins and a restaurant on the farm. In addition they provide horse rides on the small sturdy Icelandic horses.

Our fixed lamb dinner was amazing. They brought out two platters of roast Iceland lamb and two platters of roasted vegetables: potatoes, beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts. Most of us also had a pint of Viking beer which was great.

Then we walked back to our cabin for a chat and some computer time.