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Golden Circle
Today, after a early morning jogging (only applied to my friends lol) and picking up our rental car, we went for a decent breakfast in a well-known coffee shop in Reykjavik, Reykjavik Roasters, before heading to the famous Golden Circle route.
It’s a popular day trip with 300 km drive covering Thingvellir national park (UNESCO), Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall.
Þingvellir National Park (UNESCO)
The weather was not great but gray and raining. At least it was not heavy rain like the first day for the inside volcano tour.
Yet it did not stop us wondering in Thingvellir national park, seeing tectonic rifts and many waterfalls.
(P.S. Where you can also buy a one-time rain poncho for 990 ISK – about 7 to 8 €!-)
There are many fissures in the ground as North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet here yet drift away from each other about 2 cm per year.
As penetrating further inside the park, I started to feel a bit uncomfortable and later I found out that there were many places where people were executed (men shall be beheaded, and women drowned) …
Once we reached a higher place where there is a beautiful waterfall (Öxarárfoss waterfall), I suddenly got a serious headache and stomach ache and my face looked really pale… I got so much pain that I need to immediately go back down and leave the place…
Once I felt better, I tried to go back to the same spot to find my friends…. but the pain and itch intensified as I went closer to the spot…. so I went back on my path and wait for my friends almost near the entry of park.
Later my friends told me that that spot was where many witches and Sorcerers were supposedly executed, hung, cut down, disemboweled…
I thought maybe I ate something bad yet once we drove out the park my headache and stomach ache were gone. I did not have any digestion problem either during the day nor for the entier trip.
Well, next time, when the weather is nice and I would be better “protected”, then I might go for snorkeling in Silfra fissure!
Kerið Crater Lake
Additional stop on the golden circuit is Kerio crater lake.
We went around the top of the crater and went down to the lake.
It’s funny that there was a tiny sign of forbidden “walking on the lake”…
The water in Kerio does not drain out as it filled by the underground water (water table inside magma chamber) and its level may vary.
I think on a sunny day the crater will look wonderful.
Geysir at Haukadalur
We went to see the famous Geysir, where you can actually buy “Fresh Icelandic Mountain AIR” in cans in the souvenir shop!
In fact, the orignal great Geysir is blocked after an earthquake but you can see the geyser Strokkur erupting up to 30 m every 5 to 10 min. We stayed there and watched at least 3 eruptions!
Gullfoss waterfall
The iconic waterfall in Iceland with its particular staircase and stages into a crevice of 32 m.
The thick mist produced by the splash near the crevice flying back on the top with the wind, together with the rain, it is almost impossible to distinguish whether it was rain or the splash or the mist from the waterfall. We stayed a moment for talking picture and our cameras were almost soaked!
Next time I will see a splendid rainbow on the waterfall!
Secret Lagoon
The Secret Lagoon is a natural hot spring located in a small village in the Golden circuit area.
The pool is surrounded by nature and steam from the pool gives it a relaxing and magic feel.
We were lucky to arrive before the closure and enjoyed the last 30 min of the opening hour in the hot spring.
Here you can really feel the authentic natural hot spring as you can find many locals there.
Also, as local hot spring, you need to wash throughly different “sensitive” parts of your body naked before entering the pool. Otherwise the local might “stare” at you with a suspicious look. LOL
Yes, Iceland will make you naked and clean as a whistle!
It was really great to have a hot bath after walking the whole day in the rain.
Next time we shall take more time there and maybe have a walk around the village.
We did not have enough time to go for a dinner at Arhus so we went directly to our guesthouse in Selfoss and had instant noddles in our room. We did not have time as the road condition was rural and with speed limit at 80 km/h on rural gravel road. We did not rent a 4×4 and it was difficult to drive already at 20 km/h without worrying the gravel hitting on the car body!
We did not visit the Bruarfoss waterfall this time. So it will be on the planning next time![:]
I’m Skyangelo, the globetrotter, amateur photographer, hiker & coach behind this travel blog.
