We headed back up North on Highway #1, past Pingvellir en route to Geysir. On the way, we stopped at a little historical site called Laugarvatnshellar. In 1910 a young couple dug out the side of the sandstone cliff on this mountain and lived in the area they built! They had a kitchen and bedroom in the bigger of the two caves, and the sheep were kept in the smaller cave. They sold cakes and other baking to tourists on the lawn in front of their cave-home! It was kind of cool to see. Since then, several other families have lived in the cave. Sheep have been kept there during the winter. Now, it smells as though the sheep find it when they need shelter! It was cool to see, however, because it was off the beaten track and
there weren’t really a tonne of tourists!
We reached Geysir not long after. It was packed full of busses and people, but was a cool site regardless! There are a tonne of little steam vents, mini geysers, and hot pools all over the side of the mountain. Everywhere, there are signs that say not to touch the water – and all I wanted to do was stick my hand in the water!! Don’t worry, I more or less refrained! Strokkur is the geyser that goes off most often, about every 5 minutes or so. We stood and played with photos for a long time while we were here! There were some models also getting their photos taken with the water when it exploded up into the air. It was kind of cool to see how popular the location is!
There are a tonne of other hot pools too…including my favourite, which is located up the hill, and over the barbed wire (that we are allowed to climb over…there is a ladder!). No one else was hovering around it and there is no rope telling you not to go there.
After we reserved a campsite here for this evening, we drove another 10km or so over to Gullfoss, which is known as Iceland’s best known natural wonder. The falls were supposed to be used for a Hydro dam in 1920, but a local girl by the name of Sigidur Tomasdottir walked to Reykjavik and threatened to throw herself over the falls if they built it! There is even a plaque at the falls to remember her by! The waterfall falls 32 meters down at this location and the rocks and vall
ey are pretty spectacular. The mist is incredible, but there wasn’t any rainbow today because of the clouds! Oh well! It was still pretty cool to see.
We decided to go attempt to drive to the glacier by continuing along highway #35, but decided that we wouldn’t really make it and we didn’t want to end up on the other side of the country. Instead, we pulled over and had a car lunch with some sheep next to us.
When we returned to our campsite and organized our tent and gear, we watched the geyser for a while longer before heading over to the pool. The hot pool on site is included in our camping fee and was basically a private swim! No one came in while we were there and the pool was really nice and warm.
Dinner was dehydrated soup and crackers from home…lots of veggies, which is a good thing for a change!
We plan to take night pictures of the geyser tonight, so currently, we’re staying warm in the tourist office until it gets a bit darker (and less tourist-y)!
Later
-Allison
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