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Published: March 5th 2016
We left our cabin before 9am, right on schedule, to head back west towards the Golden Circle. Honestly, the windstorm of the beginning of our road trip turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had beautiful weather and can you imagine viewing some of these places in the harsh, cold, blowing wind? So, the drive through the Golden Circle to Hvammstangi was quite pleasant.
Golden Circle Our first stop was Geysir. This is a geothermal area with many hot springs, fumaroles and geysers. All geysers in the world are named for the famous Geysir, which used to spew heated water into the air up to a height of 80 ft. However, it is now dormant and it's brother, Strokkur, is still active and spews water up to 40 ft every few minutes. Still quite a sight to behold! It was still much colder than when we first visited, but still better than what we would have encountered two days before. When the geyser erupted, the water quickly froze before settling back down, so that it was mostly steam that seemed to erupt. Next we visited Gulfoss, which was mostly frozen over and the viewing platform nearest the
falls is closed in winter. Afterwards we all had lunch in the cafeteria above the falls which is just as good as the reviews say. The lamb soup was good (though still not quite as good as the first night).
Our last stop was Þingvellir, the rift between the North American and Eurasian plates and the location of Iceland's first parliament back in 870. This was our favorite stop of the day. With the wind having died down, the beautiful snow covered valley was a site to behold. We parked at the lower level and first visited the crevasse that is deep with crystal clear water. Here we saw divers heading down through and the assistant to the group recommended we fill our water bottles with the delicious pure water. We then took a short hike around the lower valley and up through the main rift to the top viewing platform. On our way back to the car, we took another route, which included climbing up some very frozen stairs which was interesting. Then to come down to the car we either carefully walked downstairs, or we took the more fun option of sliding down on our butts. So,
it was a fun side trip.
Hvammstangi Then it was time to head north. We drove along the beautiful coastline, through a long tunnel beneath a bay, and through quaint little villages, stopping at a gas station with a Quiznos. The ride was so beautiful and peaceful. There was a stretch where there were no roads or houses for about half an hour. We came to the cute town of Hvammstangi, with two stands of rocks dressed as seals at the entrance to the village, Land of the Seals. The town was quite small so we fairly easily found our cottage up in the hills overlooking the village and the fjord. The cottage was much smaller than the one we stayed in the previous nights, with no storage space and no oven or stove. But it was such a peaceful, beautiful place.
That night, we were playing our usual game of cards (rummy), I looked out the window and shouted for everyone to get dressed, the lights were finally out! When I first looked out, I saw just a pale green line, but by the time we were outside, the line had solidified and grown. It was
amazing. Even more amazing was seeing it move. It started to "dance" as we stood there, separating into multiple lines and occasionally we saw flashes of pink in the lights. We just stood in awe for about 45 minutes. Gabe took some amazing photos, and K was able to get some good shots in as well. I just kept thinking about the movie "Frozen" -
"the sky's awake, so I'm awake!" After this, we were kind of pumped so went searching this sparkling metropolis for ice cream. Since it was after 9pm, actually after 6pm, everything was closed. Bummer. On the way back, we drove onto a dark stretch of road and turned off the lights to watch the remnants of the Northern Lights. It was seriously so amazing and this made the whole entire trip worth it.
The next day we got up trying to decide how to spend the day. We headed to a beautiful frozen waterfall in the middle of nowhere off the beaten path a bit, stopping to pet some cute horses along the way. On the way back to town, we detoured to a farm where K had sent an email requesting a
horse ride for her sister. I waited as they went inside to request in person, apparently interrupting a family gathering in front of the tv - it said office but also seemed to be part of a house. But they did say that we could come back at 1:30, all four of us. So we went back to town to have lunch at the gas station, which was surprisingly good (the only restaurant in town is only open on sundays).
Then we went back to the farm and started to gear up for our ride. Our instructor, Johan, was super nice. E had the most experience, and I had the second most experience but it had been years… I was therefore placed on the largest horse, Lestur, which I could barely get on - apparently, Johan did not realize that I was the shortest of the group! Lestur was a good horse and so named because he had one white hoof. So, once we got our riding helmets and got on our horse, we were instructed to dismount and lead them to the training room. Here, we again got on our horses, much easier this time, and then instructed
on how to ride the horses. The horses are a bit different than those we are used to; they are shorter, fatter, and fluffier. The saddles are different as there are no pommels, and you have to hold the reins quite tightly, giving them the commands to turn with a slight pull and to get them to move was just a slight squeeze with both boots. So, it was a bit of an adjustment, but then I really liked it - Lestur responded well to the reins and seemed to want to run. That was the hard part for me; the saddles were almost flat, so there was nothing really to grip and no forward and back support - and this is also another instance when I get the giggles at inopportune times... Basically, I compared this to a cross between riding the horses that I'm used to and riding a camel.
After everyone got used to the commands and feel, we went outside into the frigid air. Johan said that in the summer, they ride nearer to the fjords, but it was too dangerous to do so now, so we just enjoyed the ride within the farm. This
Kolugljufur Waterfalls
The falls up top were completely frozen over with only the rushing water at the bottom visible. Beautiful.farm is primarily for breeding horses but they do keep some for riding and work; they currently have just over 230 horses I think he said, but the number is always changing. It was fun, but I also got the impression the horses do this type of walk all the time as they seemed to have their own paces set out which had little to do with our commands. It was fine - it was still fun! We came back into the training room and did a few minutes more inside the warmth, getting them to really run a bit. Then it was time to take off their saddles and say goodbye. I had more fun that I thought I would; while I do love horses, it was so cold! And it was quite expensive. But it really was enjoyable.
After this, we went to town and visited the Seal Museum. I showed K pretty much the only beer I liked in this country: Einbock and she enjoyed it with her sister hanging out nearby while Gabe and I actually went into the museum. And it was all about seals. It had some information on the seals habitat and
sizes, stuffed seals, seal skeletons, seal skins, fishing boats where they hunted seals from, a video about seals in Iceland. Lots of seals, but it was pretty interesting. And the guy at the desk was awesome. Gabe also wanted to contribute to adopting a seal to help the foundation.
We went to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner and tried to find some more alcohol, but they just had the cheap crappy beer. When we got back to the cabin, I looked up local liquor stores and was able to identify one just next to the grocery store. K and I walked into what looked like a hardware store with three local guys pretty much dropping everything to stare at us. I asked if they knew where it was and they said it was in the back. Awesome. We got another bottle of wine and a six pack of Einbock.
Unfortunately, the clouds were too thick tonight and there were no lights to be seen. Bummer! But apparently this is THE place to view the lights, so keep it in mind for your trip.
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