Iceland Day 1
However many minutes of crank-back sleep we could
get on the Easyjet flight and its immovable seats was enough as soon as we
stepped off the plane. Maybe it was my confusion between Celsius and
Fahrenheit, but I imagined a warmer wind when stepping out into the airport
parking lot. The Icelandic wind was knife sharp and my scarf poorly worn.
Once we got into the warm SUV and started driving
on those clean smooth roads, the excitement started bubbling. The sun was just
rising a lazy 10 o’clock and the flatness of the asphalt beneath our wheels was
matched with the flatness of the plains, the pools, the snow, everything except
for a few mild mountains covered in winter-browned grass. The whole landscape
looked as if it had been ironed down, which is not far from the truth since ice
used to be the blanket on this once underwater island.
We stopped near a timid lake to watch the colors
rise. It’s a different sky here. A bigger, bolder, more complicated sky. I
couldn’t remember the last time I saw a sunrise, being the opposite of a
morning person, and I thanked the tilt of the earth for the streaks of gold and
pink and bruised fire smearing the above. So
happy so happy so happy rang through my head
Thingvellir National Park
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Crunching through the snow, we saw some scuba
divers just finishing a dive into the fissure and we wished we had the time to
join them. Our only taste of the clear water were a few coins thrown into the
gap, adding to the years of wish-carrying coins that gave the brown rocks
sparkling scales. We walked past the fissure to reach a small waterfall that
still roared quite a bit. The white frothy water and blue snow interrupted by
rigid rocks made it unlike any other waterfall I had seen, though little did I
know seeing the Gullfoss later would smash this one right out of the water.The Geysir
When we drove to the geysers which must be of a
lower altitude, the snow quickly began to fade, revealing more and more of the
brown hair-tufts of grass. You could smell the rotten-egg perfume of sulfur
right away. There the grass regained some of its green in the fumes and
constant mud. Before heading to the steaming pools, we first stopped in welcome
center where an exhibit had some geological and historical tidbits. We learned
that we were about to see the very first known “Geysir,” which is so famous it
doesn’t need a last name like Prince, Cher and other legends. In fact the word
itself comes from the Icelandic verb “to gush.” Its days of frequent outbursts
and maximum height (170m) have passed. For awhile it was blocked because of tourists
throwing rocks into the throat to try and trigger it. Ah tourists, wanting to
order up natural wonders at the click of a button. I found though that the
extreme, stark beauties of Iceland was nice reminder to enjoy nature by flowing
with it, not package its pieces.
First we looked at the smaller geysers, some with blue
water steaming, others where you could see down the throat that goes into the
center of the earth. Here too, visitors had strewn their wish-coins. The
Strokkur erupts the most frequently so we waited by that one instead of the main
Geysir. Soon enough, the gray water started turning blue, swelling as if there
were a pair of lungs underneath, and it formed a bubble that grew and grew
until the explosion of foamy white water with the ooohs, aaahs and camera
clicks.
Gullfoss
I was expecting a waterfall but not a WATERFALL.
The Gullfoss is a massive roar of water filling what looks like the aftermath
of earth itself cracking open. A powdered sugar sprinkling of snow on top and
this is the loudest most delicious waterfall I’ve ever seen. Walking on the
many ledges separated by two ropes, gazing at different layers of the falls, it
was hard not to fear we were too close, a wrong step while clicking away
pictures could mean a literal fall. We met a nice woman though who froze her
fingers trying to snap the perfect picture of us while she balanced her own
tripod under the armpit. That was our first inkling that Iceland is heaven for
photographers.Kerid
Already the air was gray when we got to the Kerid.
In December the sun sets by 5pm and we were just on the cusp of darkness, but
we had to go see this volcanic crater. The Kerid looked like a round black
mirror at the bottom of a bowl. The snow glowed, threaded by black rocks and
spidery branches. Looking more closely as we took the top path around the
crater, I could see that the volcanic rocks had flecks of red too. Back near
the entrance, we found a path that wound inside the crater and took us down to
the lake. The darkness had become almost touchable though, and my steps had
little to do with sight. They were mostly based on faith. The water was black
cold. There was a lovely dark serenity that wrapped around you – only
interrupted when M pretended to throw me in when taking a picture, and the
other tourists taking the picture called us “so American.” It was hard to
detach ourselves from the beautiful silences of Kerid, but we made our way back
to the car to drive along the Southern coast to Vik for a solid night’s sleep.
Travel
tips
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For my complete 5-day Iceland itinerary, click
here.
· Where: The
Golden Circle consists of Thingvellir, Geysir, Gulfoss and other sights, is
very much doable in one day and gives you a nice sampling of Iceland.
Clockwise or counter, it’s up to you.
· When: If you start with
Thingvellir it’s a 45min drive from Reykjavik airport.
· How to get around: There
are bus tours but driving is surprisingly easy. Roads are in great condition,
rental cars come equipped with snow tires in winter so no need to rent a
four-wheel drive unless you’re planning on going off-road.
· Bring: Warm,
windproof, waterproof clothes and boots (especially in winter!) and be sure
to have a GPS when driving.
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Links:
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