Like the last post, I wrote down notes during the excursion and adapted it for this post. This one had fewer stops and photos.
Monday Sept 3rd - it’s gonna be a cloudy one. I picked up by a large bus by tour driver Maria around 10:30am. She says she hasn't driven a bus this big before - at least she's honest! It's also her first day with this company. Picked up several people at their hotels. We made a pit stop at a gas station along the highway and met five more people - three of them was driven by a Sterna operator by car. I guess they were the late people who got pick up by the company to meet the bus or had a different hotel location.
We got going with a late start. It was raining and very foggy. Not a great outlook for the day but the tour goes on! We drove out of the city and headed north through miles of flat fields and mossland. Grey fog overcast. Could not see much except for horses and sheep. Drove past Pingvallavatn Lake.
First Stop: Thingvelier National Park
Broken bits of lakes and lands. Cars down there parked for people hiking. There is an option to go down there to the fissures/valleys.
On the way to our next stop, Maria who is a local from this area recommended Vík for paragliding snorkeling hiking. Maybe go here next time and stay?
Second Stop: The Geysers
Back on open road - a single line of concrete with little room for both directions of cars. No streetlights. Can see geysers in the distance. Rain stopped again. Traveling thru Thingvelier plains. Passed old tectonic plates where the land rose. Narrow roads in the middle of nowhere, two lanes turning into one and then back into two. My cable for my phone has been having issues since this AM. Made my phone cable work again.
Maria plays folk music rather than talking a lot beyond key facts in between destinations, which is fine with me! I have no idea what the lyrics are but its fun. The windshield wiper goes with the beat of any song funnily enough.
Drove past lots of little farms with 10s of acres and sheep and cows dotting the hills.
What I thought was geysers was steam coming out of a farm building. Maybe generating power?
Rain came back again during the drive but went away again by the time we got to our next destination.
Made our way to the geysers. Got 40 minutes so I ran off to the geysers. I was lucky and saw five eruptions from Strokkur Geysir, one of the most active geysers in Iceland and captured three of them. I got great shots of the geysers in action, both in video and photo. Unfortunately no sweet videos on this post since I can’t post videos! Trust me, it was cool.
Strokkur Geyser and Litli Geyser bb.
Fourth Stop: Gullfoss Waterfalls
We were only here for 15 mins. It was raining and unfortunately for you guys, I only took my camera and not my phone for this stop. Honestly, I would come back here for another trip on my own in the future for sure!
I got back first after snapping a few photos. While waiting for the others to return, Maria said I made a good choice on this tour that includes Secret Lagoon instead of going to Blue Lagoon - she thinks its overpriced and overrated. I'll probably go next time if I had nothing else to do, but I didn't want to pay $92 for like, two hours. So instead I paid a little over $100 for this Golden Circle trip and a lagoon dip in one, get more out of it that way.
Soon after, we drove through farmlands and dirt roads with potholes. I was nervous about this giant bus honestly. Surrounded by Icelandic horses. Saw a family with twin foals. Lots of small bridges over streams, and flat lands as far as eyes can see. Here in the rural area, the small two lane roads often turn into one, especially as it nears bridges. Saw some cows eventually, all relaxing and chewing grass. Eventually the dirt road turned into regular road.
Third Stop: Hvemmsvegur - Secret Springs or "Old Springs"
Rain luckily didn't bother us the entire duration of the springs but it did return as soon as we loaded back on the bus. I got more comfortable doing the pre-springs communal shower deal, and quickly got into my swimsuit. Going from normal indoor temperatures to going outside at 42 degrees (F) was such a cold-shock, I quickstepped to the pool and sunk in up to my chin - bliss. We spent 45 mins relaxing in the springs and 15 mins getting fixed up and ready to go. Same deal, gotta shower and clean up before changing into swimsuits and entering the spring.
Weird with people taking photographs around you at the pool but I ended up doing the same thing later!
We then took a long two hour drive back to Reykjavík. To quote my German tour guide from Sunday, “that’s about that”.
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Tuesday was my last day in Reykjavík.
I was debating on booking another day trip as soon as I got back from my Golden Circle trip because I was a little disappointed by it, hoping to see more. But I knew my disappointment mostly stemmed from not knowing that there was only three stops and was mostly a driving tour and also partly because of the dismal weather. I wouldn’t enjoy it, so opted to walk around the city one more time. I woke up around 8, took a nice shower and got breakfast at the hostel bar. Got some coffee, strawberry skyr, salami, salad, the good stuff. Taking my time, and then I was off.
I first walked to the book store and got a new cable for my phone since it definitely wasn’t working anymore. I also got a second euro adaptor since it was tough juggling the electronics. Especially since I was forced to take my cochlear charger battery station. The cochlear travel battery didn’t work before I left for this trip! Nothing seems to go right for this trip so far, haha. But I am going with the flow. It’ll be fine.
After I hung around the hostel for a bit charging my phone, I walked from my hostel all the way to the fishing port where I haven’t been walked before and got a nice view of the harbor and the city at the shore. My hostel is somewhere in this photo in the distance!
I spent the day walking around the city, particularly in the shopping areas to see if I can find a good deal on Icelandic wool sweaters or somewhere to drop my extra kronurs. I didn’t but that’s okay.
Aver several hours and miles, I went back to my hostel to tidy up and plan for my upcoming trip to Paris. I wanted to have a better idea of what I wanted to do and make sure I have time for it. I set aside a whole day for Louvre, and another day for Versailles, and unexpected third full day to Provins, a medieval town only just an hour away from Paris. I’m still 50/50 on whether I can make Provins happen, but it’s on the wishlist!
I went back out for a one last, nice meal in the city. I went to Mat Bar which was just about a mile away from my hostel. I ordered a cauliflower dip with pita and a wolffish skewer. It was delicious and a bit weird due to new spices I haven’t tasted before, and the nordic beer I had, while also fantastic, was a lot more (in size and alcohol %) than I anticipated.
I definitely couldn’t finish the whole thing! But I drank the entire beer 💪
I left the restaurant/bar and it started pouring again. No place to hide this time so I kept walking since it was just a mile walk. It stopped a few minutes later, and I was treated to one last rainbow before I left Iceland.
I have never seen so many rainbows in a short period of time, it is just amazing.
I returned to my hostel, chatted with some girls in my dorm room; one from Japan, another from NYC and another from California. Settling into bed, I finished writing the post for Sunday and started Monday/Tuesday’s post. My hands were cramping and it was getting late so I turned off the light and went to sleep.
It is Wednesday now. I got to Keflavík Airport earlier than anticipated at 8:30am. My flight is at noon. I’m enjoying my coffee and finishing up this post. I’m excited for Paris. If it is as much as a “zoo” as they say, I’m in for a treat.
See you again in Paris. 🇫🇷
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