ICELAND | More Exploring

For people who committed to traveling the world for 5 months, you would think that one could never tire of exploring… Actually though, I was beginning to wonder if we’d be able to keep this whole travel thing up. We were both a little cold, still very sick (well me anyways), and had been physically exhausting ourselves hiking waterfalls, mountains, glaciers, etc. Needless to say, we weren’t ready to give up yet! We decided to head to the Strokkur Geysir, and learn some more about Iceland’s version of Old Faithful.

It was quite a walk to the Geysir from the cafe where there was parking. The Geysir erupts about every 5-10 minutes or so, and we had seen the last eruption from the parking lot, before making it to the pool. It was hard to capture the scale of the Geysir, but the pool itself was really big! It took several minutes longer for the pressure to build up and push the water to the surface again. The first one was quite small, and Isaac and I decided to get a little closer to watch the next one. We only had to wait a few minutes. For some reason, the second blast came much quicker than the first, and completely soaked the unsuspecting tourists on one side. LUCKILY, we happened to be just out of the blast radius, and my camera was safe.

We traveled up the mountainside to the smaller geysirs & hot springs. Up there we saw a girl boiling an egg in the waters by a string! I had seen the “Caution: Scalding Hot Water” signs, but I had no idea that someone would cook an egg in it. Made me giggle a little, but was so happy for the memory.

Isaac continued up the side of the mountain and hiked to the top. We loved the views and I managed to get a very epic photo of Isaac before we made our way back to the cafe to warm up, and have a treat.

Isaac let me pick a slice of cake and ice cream! It was so delicious!

After we warmed up, despite the ice cream we decided to put into our bellies, we headed off towards Þingvellir Park, where the tectonic plates meet! The drive was really lovely, and we became obsessed with trying to get a photo of the clouds over the mountains like Death Mountain from the Legend of Zelda. Very nerdy, we know, but it was our kind of wonderful. 🙂

the coolest house!!! I am not sure how you would decorate an octagonal house, but I loved the skylight. 🙂

Look at that mane!

When we finally got to Þingvellir, we were amazed. When you pull up to the park, on one side is this gigantic arctic landscape, and on the other is this amazing landscape of fields and streams. It was especially funny because when we pulled up, the sun just came out. Even though the wind was super bitey with the cold, there was this young Icelandic man that had taken off his coat and rolled up his pants to sun himself along the side of the building that was protected from the wind. Isaac and I giggled but appreciated his dedication – you get that tan! Too bad I wasn’t quick enough to snap a photo!

The gorge itself is very deep and well protected from the wind. Walking along the path, knowing that you are essentially standing on new earth that has been created in the last 100 + years, is really very humbling. I was truly amazed by the idea and found myself examining the fault lines in the rocks. It is also a very pretty walk and there are plenty more falls, and bridges to stop and enjoy. If you decide to go, do be careful to stick to the path. There are spots where the gorge dips down hundreds of feet, and sometimes there are soft spots in the ground where you can feel there isn’t anything below you other than a woven net of grass…

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