Today was a day of contrasts. Iceland is frequently referred to as the land of fire and ice. Fire because of all of the volcanic and geothermal activity and ice because of all of the glaciers, snow, and ice. It's quite the juxtaposition of extreme weather and terrain, and we experienced both today in the span of about two hours.
We took a day trip to what's referred to as the Golden Circle. This is a popular series of attractions including Pingvellir National Park, Geysir hot spring geothermal area, and the Gullfoss Waterfall. This is a popular tour that several companies offer that you can take by bus or by what's called a Super Jeep. The Super Jeep is a large SUV type of vehicle (not necessarily a jeep) modified for off road terrain with giant tires. Think Monster Truck. Except in our case, think of Monster Truck combined with Ford Econoline Van. Yes, we had a Monster Van!
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| Mona sitting in front of Strokkur |
Iceland is well-renowned for its geothermal activity. Virtually all of the country's buildings are heated with geothermal energy. They even pipe hot and cold water separately. There are also five geothermal energy plants that produce approximately 25% of Iceland's electricity. The Geysir hot springs area is probably the most well-known, in part because it's the easiest to get to. The generic word geyser that we use in the English language originates from here. The actual hot spring that is named Geysir rarely erupts any more. However, about 50 yards away is the geyser named Strokkur. Strokkur is the largest continually active geyser in Iceland and will erupt every five to ten minutes. Several other springs and boiling pools of water were also present, as steam continually wafted through the air. Omnipresent signs constantly reminded you the water temperature was between 80 and 100 degrees Celsius which would easily burn you should you choose to touch it.
From Gesysir, we drove to Langjokull, the second largest glacier in Iceland for an hour of snowmobiling on the glacier. This is where the Super Jeep tour has its advantages. In order to access the glacier, you are driving through very rugged, desert-like, rocky terrain. A tour bus is simply not an option. At one point, we had to stop and let air out of the tires in order to have sufficient traction and to better distribute the weight as we traveled up to the glacier. We reinflated the tires on the return trip -- the tour companies equip the vehicles with air compressors for this very purpose.
Snowmobiling was awesome! We had never done it before, so it was a real treat to try something new. Snowmobiles are very easy to operate, much like a jet ski or wave runner. We rode two to a snowmobile and took turns driving. The scenery was magnificent. All you could see was a sea of white with the occasional mountain peaking through. We were only about an hour's drive away from the geysers, yet it seemed as though we were in another world. Even Mom drove the snowmobile and seemed to love it, although Pop was later complaining about a sore back. I'm sure the two were totally unrelated.
Iceland can appear to be a land of extremes. Fire and Ice is an apt description and one we witnessed first-hand today. However, it is a country of rugged beauty and fabulous people, and a place we are thoroughly enjoying.
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| On top of Langjokull Glacier |
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A sea of white in all directions while
snowmobiling on the glacier |
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