Iceland 3/9/2019 - 3/17/2019

Friday, March 15, 2019 - Gullfoss, Snowmobiling at Langjökull, Ice Cave, Secret Lagoon

This morning we awoke early and had our standard buffet breakfast at the hotel. We made sure that we were at Bus Stop #3 by 8:30 a.m. for our pickup by Mountaineers of Iceland for a snowmobiling / hot spring adventure.

Many people were waiting at the bus stop for various excursions. Shortly after 8:30, a behemoth vehicle rolled up to the bus stop. It was a custom Mercedes Sprinter, with the axles and drive train of a Ford F-350. It had oversized studded tires which came up to Craig's waist. People waiting at the bus stop all started taking pictures of it, and many seemed to be hoping that this was their operator.

The doors opened and a set of steps emerged. The driver, Stefan, descended the steps and called the names of his passengers: "Stephanie and Craig." Nice! We are not gearheads in any way, shape, or form, but this vehicle was extreme. Who wouldn't enjoy traveling in something that resembled a monster truck?

We climbed inside and got comfortable. There were two others in the van already: young couple Ryan and Alex, who live in Arlington, MA. Small world! Then we picked up mother/son duo Jill and Drew from Buffalo, NY. It turned out that Alex is originally from Rochester, NY, and Ryan and Drew both lived in the same area of NYC for a while. Small world indeed!

So our merry band of East Coasters set forth on a day of adventure. We drove past Geysir, site of the mostly dormant Great Geysir. This natural wonder, which lent its name to the English word "geyser", began erupting in 1294 A.D., and could reach heights of 60 meters." Nearby Strokkur geyser erupts every few minutes, and is a stop on the popular Golden Circle tours.

Our first stop was a nice surprise; we hadn't even known that it was part of the itinerary. Gullfoss (Golden Falls) lends its name to the "Golden Circle" tourist route in southern Iceland, of which it is a primary attraction. We hadn't thought that we would get a chance to see it, so it was a pleasant surprise.

We had half an hour to observe the waterfall, in which the Hvítá river plunges into a gorge in three stages: 36 feet, 69 feet, and finally 105 feet, over a span of 2.5 kilometers. The falls are 66 feet wide.

It looked quite picturesque with snow on the rocky riverbanks and ice clinging to the rocks near where the water was flowing. The winter sun was just starting to hit parts of the gorge, and we observed the geometric basalt formations. During the summer, you can apparently walk down to the base of the falls. But because of the snow, the trail was closed and we observed the falls from above.

Gullfoss
While we were enjoying the waterfall, Stefan was reducing the air pressure in the tires for the journey ahead, which consisted of unplowed roads, and, eventually, Langjökull glacier. Our souped up vehicle was quite automated, and he was able to adjust the tire pressure via a button on the dashboard.

We walked back up the hill to the parking lot. We decided to use the restrooms here, and we followed a sign into a small building. Although I am familiar with the concept of paying to use a public restroom, I have never seen a turnstile that accepts credit cards for a bathroom before! I was grateful though, as I didn't have any ISK (Icelandic krona) on me. We had read that local currency is not really required as just about everything accepts credit cards, and here was the proof! So we paid a couple of bucks each to use the restroom (later we would find out that if we had gone into the cafeteria / gift shop, we could have used restrooms there for free. Live and learn.)

We all met up with Stefan at the van and set off, beyond the tarmac road. The scenery was spectacular. The sky was blue and the sun was glistening on the blanket of snow which extended in all directions as far as the eye could see. The vehicle had no problem making its way through the deep snow.

We arrived at the snowmobile headquarters on Langjökull glacier, we went into a small hut where we were fitted with gear. We each got into a full-body snowsuits (which made me feel like we were characters in The Thing, John Carpenter version), buffs, helmets, and gloves. We gathered outside to wait for the rest of the group to suit up.

Tour leader Yngwie gave everyone a briefing on how to operate the powerful Yamaha Venture snow machines, teaching us how to use the throttle and brake, as well as the kill switch. He told us how to lean into turns and steep terrain. We would ride two to a machine, with one person driving to an ice cave, and the other driving back. The handlebars were heated, as were the handrails on the back of the machine. I had never ridden a snowmobile before, and Craig had done so once, around 35 years ago. Craig jokingly tried to convince me that I wouldn't want to drive, but was unsuccessful.

The conditions were perfect. The weather was sunny, the skies were blue, and visibility was great. I drove the first shift. Being my first time driving a snow machine, I was surprised at how physical it is. It requires so much concentration and physical strength to steer. I had trouble keeping the throttle steady when we were going very slowly at first, which made the ride very jerky at the beginning. The snow was powdery and deep, which means that the skis tended to get stuck in the ruts of the trail. We traveled in a line, and eventually were able to put enough distance between each machine that we could get up to a more consistent speed. I soon got the hang of it, but I found myself very white-knuckle, and it was tiring for me.

One pair of riders a few machines ahead of us dumped, almost in slow motion, tipping over when trying to turn in the fluffy snow. Luckily, nobody was injured and Yngwie quickly righted them and we were all on our way again. But it was a reminder that this was quite possible and that we needed to be cautious. The last thing I wanted to do was to bruise our bodies (or my ego) by tipping my machine in front of everyone.

Our tracks were the only thing marring the blanket of snow. We could see mountains in the distance. We could have been in Antarctica.

After 25 minutes, we parked the machines and explored an ice cave. Mountaineers of Iceland had discovered this cave last year, and they sealed up the entrance during the worst of winter so that it wouldn't fill with snow. As the winter subsided, they dug it out. From the outside, it was a human-sized opening in a wall of ice. Once you entered, the ceiling was a bit low, and the best way to get into the main chamber of the cave was to slide on your bum for a few feet.

They had built a walkway inside for safety, and had lit several ice formations in cool blue light, making them resemble ice sculptures. Beautiful jagged hoarfrost crystals protruded from the ceiling. (Many people in the group felt the compulsion to wipe some of these crystals away; why can't they just enjoy looking at them?)

Some ice caves in Iceland are man-made for tourists. We were much happier to enter a natural structure than an excavated ice tunnel. This particular cave was spectacularly surreal and we enjoyed it very much.

We exited the cave and took in the scenery. We were so isolated, with the snow undisturbed as far as the eye could see. We felt like we were far away from civilization. I flopped down in the snow, taking advantage of a snowsuit the likes of which I hadn't worn since primary school.

When it was time to head back, we mounted our snow machine, with Craig driving this time. A couple of times, when conditions on straightaways were safe enough, Craig got us up to 55 km/hr. One other pair of riders tipped their machine on the ride back, but again there was no damage to them or their machine. The woman on the machine in front of us dropped her glove. We saw it happen and we were able to pick it up as we drove past.

It was a lovely experience, and the weather conditions couldn't have been better. When Yngwie had been giving us the safety briefing, he said that if visibility became a problem, just stop and wait for someone to come and help you. If you can't see the machine in front of you, you would run the risk of driving off course and getting lost. That couldn't have been further from the case today, where visibility went on for miles.

When we arrived back at headquarters, we parked our snow machine and returned the lost glove to its owner. We returned our snowsuits, helmets, buffs, and gloves, and then met up with Stefan and boarded our van. Stefan retraced our path over the glacier, through deep snow, and back to the tarmac road.

We stopped again at Gullfoss, this time for lunch. The parking lot was packed, and Stefan lamented that there were tourists in rental cars parked in the bus and van spots, which meant that he had to try to find a creative way to park his oversized vehicle. The place was crawling with tourists, and we had to fight our way through a group of aggressive people just to get into the building. There was a cafeteria style restaurant, with several different lines and it was just chaos. Somehow I ended up being the last one served, even though I was in line before many of the other people. The food was overpriced and mediocre: Craig got a chicken baguette and I got a ham and cheese baguette, and we each had a small bottle of Fanta. This set us back over $30. We had to fight our way through mobs in the gift shop section to exit the building, where we were promptly assaulted by clouds of cigarette smoke as tourists smoked right in front of the building. We found it all a bit overwhelming.

We were relieved when we got back into the comfort (and relative fresh air) of the van. If this is how crowded the Golden Circle is during a shoulder season, we can't imagine how mobbed it must be during the summer, when cruise ships add to the mix. It was quite a different experience than we had had in Snæfellsnes over the past two days. We realized we like Iceland in winter, especially the more off-the-beaten-path locales.

Stefan had re-inflated the tires, and our next stop was the Secret Lagoon, a hot spring in Flúðir. It wasn't as picturesque as the Blue Lagoon, but the latter has become so expensive and crowded (you have to book in advance and you can only stay for a short window of time despite the exorbitant price) that we decided to skip it in favor of this one, a more low key experience.

Our tour included entrance and a towel rental. We had to take off our boots in an anteroom and leave them on a shoe rack. We then went into male and female changing rooms. Being Europe, everything was communal. There were no stalls either for changing or showering. They require that you shower with soap before entering the pool. I had never showered communally before; even in high school gym class we had individual shower stalls. So it was a bit of a new experience culturally. I was a bit intimidated at first, but everyone treated it as a non-issue, so I was soon more at ease.

We put our clothing and valuables into lockers (the lockers were even tall enough to accommodate Craig's cane), and then walked out to the spring. It is the oldest public thermal pool in Iceland, dating back to 1891, hence its name in Icelandic: "Gamla Laugin" (Old Pool). The original pool has been expanded in size to accommodate more people, but the floor is still natural, with loose stones. The crumbling remains of the old changing rooms stood behind the pool, adding to the atmosphere.

The water was around 100 degrees F, and we enjoyed submerging our bodies as snowflakes sporadically pelted our faces. We noticed a small geyser (Litli Geysir) which erupts every 5-10 minutes next to the pool. Its boiling water can splash into the pool, so you must be careful if you are near that edge.

Once again, this place was packed. I had left my rented towel on a table outside, and by the time I got out of the pool, someone had taken it. We worried about the safety of our boots in the unsecured anteroom, but luckily they were still there after our swim.

Here we met probably the one and only Icelander with no sense of humor. There were lifeguards on duty here, and Baywatch it is not. I have never seen a lifeguard so thoroughly covered up from head to toe: he was wearing hiking boots, black trousers, a black hoodie, a flourescent yellow safety overcoat, a balaclava, sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a hood. He was annoyed when I took a photo. I apologized, saying that I had just never seen a lifeguard so covered up before. He was not amused and glared at me. Jeez...it's not like he was even recognizable at all...he could have been in the witness protection program in that get-up. I respected his wishes and am not using the photo for anything, but I was quite taken aback by his humorless reaction. He didn't really have the temperament to work in the tourist industry!

After our swim we showered again (our bodies having been covered with flecks of black volcanic sand) and then met the group back at the car. The entire stop had only been an hour long, which was probably for the best since with Craig's MS, he is not supposed to spend long stretches of time in hot water.

We drove back to Reykjavik, arriving at around 6:15 p.m What a great day! Stefan dropped us off at Bus Stop #3. We were pretty hungry, having only had a sandwich for lunch, and decided that tonight would be a great night to have a nice dinner. There was a restaurant right next to the bus stop called Messinn. My friend Julia had been to Iceland several weeks ago, and that restaurant was the one must-do recommendation she had given me. Sölvi had also put this restaurant on his short list of restaurant recommendations in the 101 area. We thought that tonight would be a great time to go there.

Until...we realized it was Friday night. And by the time we had freshened up in our hotel room, it was 8 p.m., prime time for dining in Iceland. We entered the small restaurant, and asked about a table, but were told that these were no tables available without a reservation.

We wandered around aimlessly, along with scores of other reservation-less people who were looking for a place to eat. Many places were full, and others were either too fancy (candle-lit multi-course dinners that would set us back a couple hundred dollars), or were gimmicky "Icelandic menus", featuring whale, puffin, etc. These foods, though traditionally eaten in Iceland, are no longer really eaten by locals, and are instead kept alive as novelties for tourists. Although we have heard rave reviews about whale meat, this was not something that we were interested in trying just for the sake of it.

Overwhelmed by choices, we decided to go with a known commodity. We returned to Icelandic Fish & Chips. We had enjoyed our dinner there earlier in the week. It was reasonably priced, (by Reykjavik standards), low key, close to the hotel, and served delicious food. And, most importantly, we didn't need a reservation.

I ordered a Selfoss Lemonade (bourbon, ginger, and lemon) and Craig had an Ulfur IPA (Borg Brugghús Number 3). Tonight we had focaccia with oil as an appetizer. We once again had their a la carte fish and chips offering: redfish with onion rings. Craig once again chose the chili and roasted pepper skyr dip, while I tried the honey mustard skyr dip.

For dessert we split a "creamed skyr with chocolate, banana, and peanut butter." This was a chilled cup of skryr with chunks of chocolate, slices of banana, and peanuts. Skyr really is such a versatile food...over the course of the trip we have had it as breakfast yogurt, dipping sauce, and dessert.

Stuffed with delicious food, we headed back to the hotel after another satisfying day.

Gullfoss Waterfall

Snowmobile Starting Point

Ice Cave

Secret Lagoon