Whale of a Tale, Part II

It wasn’t so hard to get myself out of bed on Monday as there are only about six hours of darkness this time of year, (of that six, only about 2 are really dark). I got up, ate breakfast at the hostel, and boarded a bus with Semi for the “Golden Circle” tour. The Golden Circle refers to the most visited areas of Iceland that journey into the center of the country, which was still mostly frozen around the time of the year that I traveled through the country.

On the bus, we were forced to digest the anecdotes of the world’s worst tour guide. I don’t remember her name, but it was something in the same category as Hulga in regards to its aesthetic. Whats-her-name was a very large Icelandic woman with a propensity to get disinterested in her own sentences, only to finish them moments later. The problem was that the end of the sentence was never as interesting as you’d hope it would be. She’d come on the microphone and say things like, “Iceland has many…

…HORSES.” Sometimes she wouldn’t even say anything. Perhaps it was when she would turn on the microphone and just breath heavily that haunted me the most. Either way, I could hardly stay awake with the commentary.

Additionally, as the tour was driven by profit, the bus would stop at only the expensive and uninteresting places to eat and the most touristy places with the tackiest of gift shops. One of which was a greenhouse with overpriced Icelandic wool called “the Garden of Eden.” I have to be honest, I know I hadn’t been too far out of the city, but I was already starting to wonder if I would regret coming to Iceland. This just felt like a watered down Williamsburg tour and I had paid good money for this trip.

The soulless Garden of Eden

Then, we went to our first real destination, Gulfoss. Gulfoss, literally “Golden Falls,” is the most enormous, and beautiful waterfall in Iceland. Because there is so much energy that is given off as a result of waterfalls, many aluminum plants have been brought to Iceland in hope of harnessing this raw power. Luckily, Gulfoss is protected by the government and no one will allow the companies to touch it. At least one country has the insight to protect its natural areas.

Gulfoss

Following Gulfoss was Geysir, the area of the most active and accessible geysers in the country. Some of them would go off almost every ten minutes. The water was over 100° C. What would happen is that the steam would build up and, as steam has more mass than water, a burst of steam and water would spray from the ground to release pressure. Pretty cool stuff.

Geysir, this is where the word geyser actually comes from

The last two stops, Keriđ crater and Thingvellir national park were also nice. The cause of the gigantic crater is still unknown, although there are many theories. The park was were the first parliament of Iceland was formed, some 1000 years ago.

Keriđ crater, (note the people in the upper right gives perspective of how massive the crater is)


Thingvellir national park

On our way back to Reykjavik, I sparked up a conversation with a couple from Brooklyn behind me. They were Jeremy and Nadia Lachance, young and hip travelers with a knack for photography. Unified for our hatred of the tour, we exchanged e-mail addresses for the off chance that we might be able to rent a car and drive into the countryside.

When we came back to the city, Semi and I walked around Reykjavik a bit before heading back to the hostel. We saw a lot of the city and bought some food before calling it a night.

Hallgrimskirkaja Church in Reykjavik