The Mystery of Iceland

It has been a crazy 3 days of unexpected surprises here on the island. Those of you who know us well know that we do a copious amount of research before we take on any adventure, much less one as crazy as this one. Well, all of that kind of went out the window with the first, "Wow, there’s a waterfall". All of the “tourist” things are great and for a reason, but so many of the off of the beaten path finds were even more amazing. We enjoyed our time on the West coast of the island and were ready to venture toward the interior and the South. There is not much in the middle of Iceland except a couple of huge volcanoes, one of which famously erupted in 2010 disrupting air traffic around the globe for several days. The one thing that is of the most interest is the Tingvellir National Park. The actual spelling requires an alphabet that I don’t have on my computer but it is the location of the first parliament set up here by the Vikings in 929 AD. There were 30 regions with representatives that met here to make laws and decisions that affected the people here.
It is one of the oldest democratic societies on record. It was in a beautiful area with a huge lake and as an added surprise (not really) there was a very cool waterfall. It was beautiful but the most interesting thing was that it was in a crevasse between 2 sheer rock walls. We could only see the very top when driving up but after a short hike up and over the first wall of rock we were able to see the entire thing in all of it’s glory. We drove throughout the area trying to imagine what it was like with encampments everywhere during the "meeting" and the rituals that must have gone on with this very mysterious society.

After leaving the UNESCO site we slowly made our way toward the southern coast. Along the way we stumbled across another waterfall, this one with Viking ruins next to it. It was easy to see how one could be content settled in such a beautiful area. Low and out of the wind with plentiful water and presumably food sources in the area. We were standing on the same ground that some of Scotts' ancestors may have stood on more than a thousand years earlier. The Icelandic people are believed to be descended from a mixture of Viking, Celtic (both Scottish and Irish), and Norwegian.

Our next scheduled stop was Geysir…guess what was there??? Yes, it is a highly active geothermal area. We are a bit spoiled because of Yellowstone national park but there were some interesting Hot Springs and a Geyser that obliged us with a performance. A little further up the road was Gullfoss. By then we were a bit fossed-out but it was high on the list of “attractions” so we thought it worthwhile to make the short drive up the road. Keep in mind that it had been sprinkling on and off all day but despite the weather, Gullfoss was worth the short walk that it took to access the best views. They call it the Niagara of Iceland.

Pretty spectacular if you ask me.
We soon left the highlands and the rain behind us and made our way toward the southern coast of Iceland. We spent the night in Selfoss, one of the few towns that we have been able to both spell and pronounce. Our lodging was interesting, a small cabin at a campground. It was comfortable and had everything that we needed including a kitchen to make our dinner of Icelandic Lamb, Brussels Sprouts and Couscous.
Yesterday we headed out to make our way to Kirkjubæjarklaustur. (Seriously, I'm not making this one up.) The first part of our trek took us to a couple of more waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, and a glacier. Both foss‘s were beautiful and met up to all of the hype. The second, however, required a bit of work on our part. We didn't count the stairs to go to the top but I can tell you that it is nearly straight up. I was proud to be one of the relatively few that were willing to take on the expedition. Up was hard on the lungs, down was hard on the nerves. I‘m not a big fan of heights so standing at the top on a see-though platform and walking down those steep stairs was a little creepy for me.
Heading toward the coast we noticed that along the way there was evidence of a lot more Volcanic activity.

We were looking forward to the Black Sand Beaches and Basalt columns that we had read about. The combination was really stunning and we spent more than an hour exploring Dyrholaey and Reynisfjara. After a long day we arrived at our lodging for the next 2 nights and had another “holy crap” moment. We turned the corner and the area was stunning. High black volcanic cliffs partially covered in green with a steep up-slope covered in blooming purple lupins. Then we saw the “guesthouse” which looked like an apartment building from the ’50 with scattered junk around it. The good news is that the inside has been refurbished recently and despite the somewhat spartan nature of the décor and furnishing it is comfortable with sitting areas, a small kitchenette and good WiFi. What else could you possibly want for $220 a night? Oh, and a Norwegian breakfast is included too.

Today we headed off to our furthest point east on our Iceland exploration. Our intention was to go all the way out and make our way slowly back exploring along the way. It was drizzling again with promise clearing by late morning so our plan seemed to be perfect. That was until about 10 minutes into the drive when we came upon the first roadside waterfall. We couldn’t resist stopping. It still seems so incredible to us that there are these crazy beautiful water features just right there by the highway. The rest of our morning drive revealed more of the diversity of the Icelandic landscape.

Within 20 minutes we went from a black sand desert to lush greenery covered mountains and on to huge glaciers with iceberg filled lagoons. The lagoons, Fjallsarlon and Jokulsarlon were really incredible and far exceeded our expectations. Scott picked up a small piece of glacial ice that was close to shore and remarked how extremely heavy it was for its size. We both enjoyed sucking on a piece of this pure ancient ice. There is little more to say that the photos can’t say better.

The last stop on our way back was the waterfall that inspired this entire trip. Svartifoss. There was only one problem. It was sprinkling again and we had a 3 km hike. We waited in the car for a bit then decided not to be sissies. We came too far to give up on the last highlight of the trip. The hike was mostly up hill but not really too bad with a couple of bonus waterfalls on the way. Svartifoss was beautiful but shrouded in mist from the rain. We waited for a little while and it did clear up some. The water streaming down the rock face surrounded by basalt columns seemed a fitting end to an amazing journey.

Tomorrow we make our way back toward Reykjavic in preparation for our return to London on Tuesday. I’m sure we will see a hundred more waterfalls on the way back but who knows what other adventures await. Until next time, Love to all. Good Night.