ICELAND: Day 2 - Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

These event occurred during August 2012. 

Ok.  This is it.  This is the day I’ve been looking forward to for years – Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir.

I booked this tour with Reykjavik Excursions and they are great! I highly recommend them! They even pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.  Very convenient.

The Reykjavik Excursions bus

We started off and spent 1.5 hours on the bus to get to Geysir (pronounced GAY-zeer).  This is one of the many areas with geothermal activity in Iceland.  The word geyser (which is an exploding spout of water) comes from this place – all other geysers are named after this place.  Cool, eh?

The rain was relentless this day but it didn’t matter; I was making my dream come true.  We pulled up to Geysir (“the Gusher”) and I saw a herd of tourists trying desperately to shield themselves from the rain.  The rain was coming from everywhere – very misty.  I followed my tour guide and approached the big geyser.  This one, the namesake, is not active now. It hasn’t erupted for about 60 years.  It’s still hot and you can smell the sulphur but it no longer spouts.  The “smaller” geyser, called Strokkur (“the Churn”) is the one that erupts every 5-7 mins.  It did not disappoint.

This is how hot the water is!

Waiting for Strokkur to explode...

The picture doesn't show just how windy and rainy it was. 

I had to protect my camera by tying a plastic bag around it. It's a good look, isn't it?

And Strokkur wows the crowd!

Next to Geysir is an electric blue pool called Blesi.  Gorgeous.  The pictures doesn't do it justice.  I’m amazed this colour exists naturally. 

Blesi

I almost missed Litli Geysir (“Little Geysir”) but was fortunate to spot it on my way back to the bus.  This little guy just boils and boils. 

Litli Geysir 
Here you can see and hear how windy it was

After Geysir we went to Gullfoss ("foss" means "waterfall"), a magnificent waterfall that gives Niagara Falls a run for its money.  This two-tiered waterfall is loud and amazing.  I took a ton of pictures but we only had 30 minutes there.  Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to see it with my own eyes for very long.  My plan is to do this tour again before I leave.  This tour is the main reason I’ve wanted to come to Iceland.  I think the weather will be improving in the next few days.  To me, it will be worth it to see it again and to enjoy the mountains along the way; they were hiding behind heavy mist.

Gullfoss 

And finally, Thingvellir.  This is the site of the oldest parliament in the world.  The Vikings started it in the year 930. More importantly (well, to me at least!) this is also the site where the North American plate and the Eurasian plate diverge!  This is only one of two places on Planet Earth where you can see this happening, the other being in East Africa.  Did you hear me? YOU CAN SEE WHERE TWO TECTONIC PLATES DIVERGE!!  I am a huge geography nerd and this was truly the highlight for me.  I was fighting back tears as we drove from the North American plate to the Eurasian plate and stopped in the middle.  I stood there and looked up at the face of the North American plate. It was pretty surreal for me – still can’t believe I was standing in the place that is featured in a geography video I show my students at the beginning of each semester. 

I feel so fortunate.  I feel so grateful. 

The face of the North American tectonic plate.

This is the moment a lifelong dream came true: 

I'm standing in between two tectonic plates!

I was so ridiculously happy.

I have a few former students who follow me on Twitter and they were saying things like, “You finally made it, Miss!” They know how much I’ve longed to be here.  The cherry on top of this awesome cake? My students get to see that dreams really do come true if you don’t give up. 

After all the geothermal awesomeness, I decided to get a hot dog at Baejarins Betzu Plysur, considered by many to be the best hot in Europe, perhaps even the world.  A man called Stefan struck up a conversation with me as he heard my accent while ordering.  I had a lovely chat with him as we ate hot dogs.

The famous hot dog in all its simple glory

My friend-for-a-few-minutes, Stefan, being silly whilst eating his hot dog!

Lastly, I met up with Jamie and Tommy (my new American friends) at Reykjavik Backpackers for a couple of pints of Gull.  I also chatted up two other Americans, one is a teacher, and we had some great conversations about education.

Great, GREAT second day.

Tomorrow: Reykjavik’s Pride Parade!!  As you know, I’m ally to the queer community and it was a happy accident that I booked my trip for this weekend.  Lucky me!  Stay tuned for Day 3!

Thanks for reading,

Roopa