Reykjavik, Iceland - Day 2

Today was another full day. Lots of bus time as we drove to various locations, however I enjoyed our guide much better! The day consisted of driving through lots and lots of lava fields, visiting more bubbling hot springs with the slight (not too terrible) sulfur smell, pristine mountains, craters and volcanic peaks. However, as I've mentioned before, it's very difficult to capture its beauty through the lens of a camera, especially through a bus window moving along at 60 mph. 

Our guide talked a lot about volcanoes, both past and present. The highway has been covered with lava 5 times in the past year! Everywhere you see a pile of rock (which is pretty much everywhere!) that is where lava has bubbled up. Of course it is left there. He pointed out the larger volcanoes and talked about their eruptions and also said more than once "if it looks like a geyser, it is a geyser." Driving through the lava fields really does seem other worldly!

mountain villages dot green areas

Icelandic horses grazing in a green field

 

95% of the water in this area is geothermal and they use it exactly how it comes out of the ground. Its temperature is approximately 180 Fahrenheit and it drops about 4 degrees by the time it comes into the house. It is then mixed with cold water.

hot, hot, hot!

UNESCO Geothermal Field - active geothermal area

 

Gunnuhver Geothermal Field - electric plant

 

pipes carrying geothermal water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully we did have some stops where we could do better. Everything we saw today was very different from yesterday. Along with solid black lava fields, we also saw green areas where Icelandic horses graze, visited lighthouses and ate soup and bread at a local restaurant. Then we continued on along the beautiful Atlantic and stopped to visit 2 more lighthouses before heading back to the ship. 

 

Ronnie climbed a very steep hill to this one

 

sign on lighthouse door

Gardskagi Vitasyningar

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gardskagavati Gamli - 1897

 

Valahnukur Mountain and Atlantic in background

 

volcanic rocks line miles and miles of beaches

As you can see from the photos, we could not have asked for more beautiful weather! We were told number times how fortunate we were. Friends that we met on our previous Oceania cruise got off the ship yesterday (the end of the 1st segment) and were going to spend a few days there before heading back to their home in Washington state. The forecast sounded like rain for the next 3 days, so they may not be able to enjoy the beautiful weather that we had.

Reykjavik, Iceland's "Golden Circle"

Whew! We’ve had a long day today but I’ll try to hit the high points. Reykjavik is home to their government seat and half of Iceland's population. It's name means "smokey bay" because of the steam that rises from its many hot springs. It sits on a bay beneath Mt. Esja. 

Our excursion called “The Golden Circle” lasted 8 hours and began with a visit to the massive Gullfoss Waterfall followed by lunch at a local restaurant. From there we were taken to Geysir and Strokkur, an area of bubbling hot springs. Lastly, we drove to Hveragerdi where the north Atlantic tectonic plate meets the European tectonic plate with the result being the formation of the island of Iceland. As we rode along, the landscape had an almost "other worldly" feel. It is covered by many lava fields - some stark rock and others covered in green moss or other vegetation. We learned that the color depends on the age of the formations.

 

Gulfoss Waterfall

small gurgling spring

map showing spring locations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

landscape of hot springs

onlookers waiting for next geyser - every 5-10 minutes

 

We enjoyed beautiful weather up until our last stop at Hveragerdi where it started raining. I didn't have an umbrella and didn't want to get wet so I stayed in the gift shop while Ronnie walked down to see the area where the plates meet.

 

Ronnie's panoramic shot

 

The coach bus was very comfortable and the scenery was gorgeous; however our guide almost drove me crazy with the most monotone voice I have ever heard. He talked the entire time and was a wealth of information; however I was ready to gag him by the time we got off that bus!

The island of Iceland is only 60-70 square miles – about the size of the state of Kentucky. It has 3 giant glaciers, one of which covers 8% of the islands landmass. The roads are very narrow (1 lane allows 2 cars, the opposite only 1). There are no McDonald’s or fast food restaurants and island supposedly has more sheep than people.

Icelanders also have some very interesting customs. Supposedly 30-40% of them believe in elves, and that can be seen in their gift shops. Some believe that the huge boulders that make up the lava fields are petrified trolls! Also, Icelandic kids don’t believe in Santa Claus but in the 13 Yule Lads. I asked our guide and he confirmed this.

 

It is a beautiful and very interesting country. If you ever decide to come here, you would only want to come in the summer! And even then, the weather might be less than ideal. We’ve been very fortunate that the weather has cleared for our last 2 excursions. There’s no way to see this beautiful place in just one day, or even the 2 we’ll be here. We’ll be out and about on the island today with lots more photo ops. However, it’s almost impossible to get decent photos through a fast moving bus window. Hopefully we’ll have a different guide today!

I forgot to say that our time in Reykjavik completes the first segment of our 51 day journey. We also received these goofy certificates on that accomplishment.