Xueyan's "sick" of cathedrals and palaces, so we reckon it's time to explore other interesting parts of Europe. We heard some bits of Iceland prior to this trip but nothing fascinates more us than seeing it upclose and upfront. Iceland is totally not as "ice"-landish as we thought.
This trip is very different from all other adventures as we filled our schedules with activities, rather than sight-seeing and I also drove a left-hand drive for the first time. While sights are not a priority, the fusion of lava, barren land, icebergs and volcanic rocks in one setting left us totally amazed.
We "did" Iceland in a clock-wise direction, starting off with the Blue Lagoon, where we soaked and relaxed in steaming bath and literally masked ourselves with silica. It was very refreshing and intriguing to see hot water and steam pouring out of a small "crater" and to swim/float amid vapour. The sulphuric-laced water was not exactly pleasing though.
After spending 90 minutes at the Blue Lagoon, we proceeded with our drive tour of the Golden Circle. Our first stop was at Þingvellir, one of the most important places in Iceland and where one of the oldest parliamentary institutions of the world was founded. It is also the place where the Eurasian tectonics plate meets the North Amercia plate. You could hence see a deep fissure and distinct rocks and soil formation in and around the area. We then moved on to the geysir park - our first sight of water-sprouting spings in action. The Geysir was certainly very impressive. Apparently, it is more consistent than Old Faithful at Yellowstone Park. It was also a funny sight to see the girls getting excited and ready for the next eruption. What was supposed to take 20-30 mins for sight-seeing ended up a two-hour photo-taking session.
Our last stop for the day brought us to Gullfoss, a deep-falling waterfall. During the first half of the 20th century and some years into the late 20th century, there was much speculation about utilizing Gullfoss to create electricity. During this period, the waterfall was leased indirectly by its owners to foreign investors. The waterfall was later sold to the state of Iceland with plans to utilize Hvítá (the river source for the waterfall). A popular story has Sigríður Tómasdóttir, the daughter of the original owner, who was determined to save the waterfall from utilization and even threatened to throw herself into the waterfall. A stone memorial to Sigriður, located above the falls, was then created (although she did not fall eventually).
Horse-riding at Varmahlíð
Whale-watching in Husavik
Dog-sledding on Mýrdalsjökull
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