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Published: July 13th 2009
Another day, another try: the alarm rings at 7, and we drag ourselves out of our sleeping bags. Stefan and Elinborg said something about breakfast last night, but they don't seem to be up for it now - there is no sound in the house. So we pack up, and start moving everything out of the house. We even find the back entrance to the cellar, to get at the bikes. Once everything is loaded up, and the bikes are ready to go, Stefan and Elinborg appear. But time is short, and we really want to catch this bus today - none of us is in the mood for yet another day of Reykjavik!
Off we go to the bus station, arrive much too early again, and manage to squeeze our bikes on the bus to Selfoss. Another Icelandic stereotype satisfied: the friendly bus terminal staff who gave me directions to the bus stop yesterday turns out to be today's driver!
The bus takes off and, once out of Reykjavik, somehow finds a path via the moon: there are rocks everywhere, no plants other than moss. Add to that the steam rising from holes all over the place, and a futuristic
Gulfoss
"Der kleine Maulwurf" gets a whiff of fresh airgeothermal power plant, and you half expect Apollo 11 to land anytime soon.
Not too long after, all this is gone, when the bus takes a steep road down the plateau we're on, and enters Selfoss. Selfoss, not much more than an accumulation of car shops and DIY stores, looks like an American small town. At the station, the bikes are quickly unloaded. When we ask the driver for our connection bus to Geysir, he points us to a medium-size van. That's a change!
The new bus driver doesn't even bat an eyelash, and starts loading our bikes into the rear half of the bus, which is completely taken up by our luggage now - and the newspaper for all towns between Selfoss and Geysir. Good thing we are the only passengers!
Off we go onto a less than spectacular ride through a mixture of rain and shine, through cow, sheep and horse pastures. Not much to see, so some time to sleep. Every few minutes, the driver stops the van at a random petrol station to deliver the newspaper. Why have a postman, if the bus comes through here anyway?
After about an hour, we arrive at Geysir. The
Iceland horses
With our first glacier as a backdrop - Langjökull driver offers to take us on to Gulfoss, but there is a two-hour stopover. Since Gulfoss is only 10km away, we refuse the kind offer, and instead head over to the campsite right next to Stokkur, the famous geyser with an eruption every 10 minutes. After we pitch the tent, it's time for a small cycle to Gulfoss. And off we go again!
It's only 10km, but the almost constant uphill and headwind make it quite a chore. Finally, the road follows a gorge in the rocks, with a riverbed below. Further up, we can already see the tourist buses, and in the background the massive waterfall. It's an impressive sight, especially since there are lots of tourists standing on the rocks next to the waterfall, who give you a sense of proportion. A constant mist surrounds the waterfall, making for a wet short hike up next to the waterfall. We take some pictures and take in the deep rumbling of thousands of litres of water gushing down the rocks, before we head back to Geysir.
The ride back barely takes us half an hour - it's all downhill and a lovely tailwind. Getting closer to Geysir, we can already
see a few eruptions of Stokkur, but decide to visit it later in the evening, when most tourists have left. Instead, we decide to check out the nearby pool, included in the price for the campsite.
Apparently, not too many people know about the pool, because we are the only ones in the two hot tubs. Unfortunately, the main pool is closed, but the rain and a cold breeze cool us down enough anyway.
After the bath, we have some dinner (again almost burning down the tent), and then head over to Stokkur. Already, the path up to the Geysir is lined with holes with hot water bubbling in them and steam rising all over the place. There is even a "mini geyser", erupting a few centimetres every couple of seconds. But the real attraction is of course Stokkur, a narrow hole in the ground with hot water inside. Every couple of minutes, the water in the lower layers heats up and expands, until it reaches a breaking point and gushes upward, shooting up to 20 metres up into the air.
After our little walk around Haukadalur, we return to the tent, and fall asleep to the regular explosive sound
Kind of blue
Check out the colour of that front lake! A first preview for the Blue Lagoon of Stokkur erupting....
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