Part VI: Golden Circle
My Journey: The Golden Circle
4/28/24, Sunday
The Camp Site
We woke up and moved the van to the parking lot while the ground was cold. Time to make breakfast of coffee and eggs and take advantage of the showers. Right as we were ready to leave, the rangers pulled up to collect fees which worked out great because otherwise we would have had to stop back by or wait.
From the campground, it was a short drive to Thingvellir National Park. The park is the Heart of Iceland, the home of the Allthing (assembly) since around 930. The location of the assembly was Þingvelli along the river and is marked by the flag.
From the assembly, point there is a view of the river winding its way to the lake.
View from Lögberg
After taking in the sights and taking our pictures, we headed back to the van. There is a lot to do today. With more time, I would have liked to go to the visitor center but there simply was not enough time for everything.
Before leaving the park, I took a walk to see where the divers go into the water to dive down to the boundary between the plates at Silfra.
Hrafnagjá Observation Deck
Stopping at an overlook along the way to the Geysir, one can see the Hrafnagjá fault. It is the longest such fault in the region.
With the national park behind us, the Geysir Center was our next destination.
The center is across the street form the geothermal park. It has a very nice gift shop and it was the last such shop we would see for awhile. I got two shirts here. I love me some Norse themed t-shirts. Then, we crossed the street to the geothermal park.
Geysir Hot Springs
The center piece of the park is its two geysirs. There are, however, other geothermal features all along the marked path including a little geysir. Strokkur is the geysir every one is there to see as it goes off very frequently. The name sake of the park and all geysirs is the now inactive geysir named Geysir.
I think we stayed around long enough to watch the geysir go at least four times. Strokkur goes off regularly so you just have to be patient. If you want to see Geysir go off, you will be waiting awhile.
Strokkur Geysir
After our visit with all the geysirs and other geothermal features, we headed for Kualaug Hot Spring in the hopes that it would be without people.
You park at Haukadalskirkja Church and then walk down to the spring. There are many of these little churches all over the country.
Haukadalskirkja Church
Kualaug Hot Spring was absolutely deserted when we got there. It is basically a pool of water surrounded by dirt, mud, rocks, and grass. It was warm but not very deep.
With no one around but us, I took advantage of the moment to skinny dip. As I understand it, as long as no one is around, this is not a problem in these wild pools. I imagine it is hard to find them secluded in peak season.
Skinny Dipping in Kualaug Hot Spring
On the way to our next two hot springs, we stopped at Faxafoss for pictures.
We had planned to visit Hrunalaug Hot Spring before leaving the area, and it would have been our bath stop for the day, but when we got there the attendant told us that the water level was low so it was not the best time to visit. We decided to only check it out and to then go to the Secret Lagoon today, which was on our must do list and had gotten moved to after this since we did not go yesterday. If I ever found myself back here, I want to take a dip in this missed opportunity.
We passed by this weird little site dedicated to the 1700 outlaws Fall-Eyvindur and OG Halla. So we stopped to take pictures with no idea what it was.
Originally, we had planned to go to the Secret Lagoon on the previous day, however, we ended up going to Fontana instead. Secret Lagoon is the original heated pool in Iceland and many Icelanders learned to swim here. Unlike the other baths we have planned to visit, this is the only one that is basically just a pool. It was also one of my favorites.
The best example of the tiny homes for the Huldufólk (The Hidden People) that we saw was here. You can walk behind the pool and see the springs that feed it. There is even a geysir that goes off very regularly.
On a side note, this was now my 2nd time in a public shower and on this go around, I was much more comfortable. This was also the busiest shower I had been in. You know what? This aspect of Iceland was quickly becoming one of my favorite things about the place.
In front of the Old Bath House.
From the Secret Lagoon, we started the drive to the South Shore. Our last stop in the Golden Circle was Skálholtsdómkirkja - Skálholt Cathedral. The modern church was built in 1956 but there has been a church here for 1000 years, 9 of them.
The site has ruins that you can walk around and a reconstruction of a medieval church, Þorláksbúð.
Þorláksbúð
Originally, the plan was to go to Stöng, a Viking-era Long house, after this but the site and roads to it were closed. With that being the case, our trip would now be focused on the natural wonders for the next few days. There would not be another Viking Site until just before getting to the North Fjords.
Tips and Lessons Learned:
F roads are not going to be open in the shoulder season.
Use the swimsuit driers when available.
