In hot water

Tuesday 11 August 2015

After yesterday's traumatic events concerning the blog, I spent the first part of the morning re typing the blog in text-only format. This was done in between showering, having breakfast and trying to come up with a plan for the day! We decided yesterday that Today we would follow the so called 'Golden Circle' route and try and incorporate a hot spring visit into the day.

We left the hotel and headed around the eastern side of Reykjavik and refuelled the car. Petrol is around £1 a litre, diesel is cheaper. Suitably replenished, we headed east towards Pingvellir. The road started climbing away from the coast almost immediately into wild desolate countryside. After about 30 minutes we entered the Pingvellir national park.

Almost immediately, we stopped in a small car park and went to look at the Almannagja canyon. This is a rift valley formed where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and grind together. It is quite a sight, a narrow canyon, only wide enough for one person to pass through, flanked by volcanic rock. It sits alongside Pingvallavatn, the largest lake in Iceland. Where the rift enters the lake it is possible to snorkel and dive between the two tectonic plates in crystal clear water.

The whole area was very busy with tourist as it is also the site of the first Icelandic Parliament, which pre-dates the English version. We turned off down a narrow road alongside the lake and had a fruitless attempt at birdwatching in the scrubby area near the lake.

From here, we returned to the main road and headed towards Geysir. In the distance, we could see the edge of the Iceland ice-cap, Vattnajokull, many miles away, the glaciers were very clear. Geysir has the honour of giving the world the Icelandic word geysir. Geysir, in Icelandic, means the gusher, but sadly the original 'gusher' is a shadow of its former self, nowadays, it only spouts water after an earthquake, but remains as a large bubbling cauldron of hot water. Next to this is another geysir called Strokkur (the churn), which does regularly send a spout of water 8-10 metres into the air every couple of minutes. It's not as impressive as 'Old Faithful' in Yellowstone National Park in the USA, but is far more regular. Around Geysir and Strokkur there are lots of other hot, bubbling springs and streams and the whole area has a sulphurous smell.

We stopped at the large tourist centre and bought some sandwiches and continued east toward Gulfoss. The car park at Gulfoss was full of coaches and cars, but we found a quiet corner and ate our sandwiches. Following this, I walked down to the falls, realising that there was a better car park further down for those less physically able. The falls send the river over the edge of the same tectonic ridge in two distinct drops. The amount of water is staggering and with the huge drop it produces a fine mist which hangs in the air. On a good day, this produces a rainbow over the falls. Sadly, we didn't get that effect whilst visiting. Having looked at the falls, I went back up, found Lynn and drove to the other car park so Lynn could see the falls too. Lynn also persuaded me, not a difficult job, to buy an Icelandic T-shirt!

This being our most easterly point on our visit to Iceland, we turned around and headed back toward Geysir. Not far down the road we turned off south on a gravel road heading toward Fludir. Fortunately, the gravel turned back to tarmac after about 5km, and we continued on a small quiet road for about 30 km.

Just outside the small town of Fludir, there is a gravel road alongside a river that goes to Gamla Laugin, or the Secret Lagoon. This is a large, open-air lagoon fed by a number of hot springs. The water from the springs comes out of the ground from open bubbling pools at 100C. The lagoon clearly isn't that warm, closer to 40C and therefore a rather nice place to laze around in for an hour or so. At the edges of the pool closest to the springs, it is scaldingly hot. Many people in the pool bought themselves beer before getting in the water! At one stage, there were only 4 people in the pool, but by the time we left, there were closer to 50.

From here, feeling and looking like cooked beetroot, we headed back to Selfoss and Reykjavik, a journey of about 90 minutes. We headed directly to the old port in the city where we knew there were some fish restaurants. Having parked, we examined several very expensive menus at establishments that looked rather like fine dining places. Not being suitably dressed and not wanted to exceed out budget, we opted for a very popular place, Reykjavik Fish and ate mussels and chips washed down with a pint of Viking Beer.

After a brief tour around a sea-front residential area, reminiscent of Sandbanks in Poole, we headed back to the hotel and one final treat. I'm told that Icelanders will queue up in a blizzard for an ice cream. We didn't have the blizzard, but certainly witnessed the queue! The cafe next to the hotel is an ice cream place and had a 'two for one' deal going on last night. I can see why it was busy. Along with a cup or cone of soft ice cream, you could choose hot chocolate or caramel sauce, or your cone to be dipped in chocolate. On top, there was a choice of about 50 toppings, ranging from crushed smarties, through liquorice drops to fresh fruit. Very good value too, two ice creams for £2.50!

I finish my day, much as I started, catching up with the blog!

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