Visiting Gulfoss and Geysir : An Amazing Iceland Road Trip-2

On our second day of our Amazing Iceland Road trip we planned visiting Gulfoss and Geysir. This was the second day of our trip,. We had flown into Reykjavik the previous afternoon and had driven about a 100 kms to our cottage at Uthlid. This day we visit The famour Geysir ( steam blowing natural geysers in the snow) and the majestic gulfoss , one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland and part of any travel lover’s itenerary to this island nation.

When I opened my eyes the next morning ,the rooms in the wooden cottage at Uthlid Cottages felt hot . The heat was generated by the thermally heated floor of the cottage. I parted the shades and peeped out of the window. The sun was yet to rise, no sight of rain or clouds and the sky looked bright. The bluish early morning light illuminated the earth, still under a blanket of snow. Rest of the group members were also waking up, one by one. A hot cup of coffee and a bite of Icelandic cake tasted absolutely marvellous.

It looked like a great day ahead and the sun brought our enthusiasm to the fore. The cottage door opened to a muslin carpet of snow, unmarked and unblemished, except the pugmarks of some unknown creature which must have loitered near our door sometimes during the night. Was it an Elf ?? The thought seemed to rake the brains of the children of our group since Iceland has a history of Elves !! This is the second part of my Travelogue on our Road Trip across south of Iceland, titled ” Elves, Geysir and Gullfoss.

Early morning at Uthlid Cottages, Iceland

The team was overwhelmed with their first morning in an uninhabited locale around Uthlid. We had booked the fantastic apartment through Booking.com.

Iceland and its History of Elves

Known locally as Huldufólk, Iceland and its Elves have a very deep-rooted connection. Hardly would you find an Icelander who doesn’t believe in the existence of Elves. A strange mythical half-human, prominent among European mythology and Scandinavian folklore and literature (Remember – Middle Earth from the Lord of the Rings !!), Icelanders love and revere them. Iceland respects Elves and has been known to bear allegiance to this influential group often in the past while making private or pubic decisions. Fishermen sometimes rule out going out to the sea, citing the warnings coming from Elves.There are instances when the civic administration have changed, moved or cancelled building of dams, roads or infrastructure because of the influence of the Elves community. Strange as it may seem, even some Anthropologists claim it !! To know more, here is an article on Elves: 🙂

You can find more about this history of Elves here

Travelling in Iceland

Northern Iceland is more desolate, barren, cold, uninhabited and isolated. We didn’t visit the northern part of Iceland on this trip but were more located around the central and southern parts of Iceland.

Geysir and Gullfoss from the Golden Circle Tour

We had plans to visit Geysir and Gulfoss today, two of Iceland’s iconic and most visited sights on the Golden Circle Tour. These are about 25 kms apart and can be covered in half a day.

Fun with the horses, Iceland Road Trip

As we drove downhill towards the main road towards Geysir, we met a troop of horses on the side of the road, behind a wired fence. Immediately the Team braked and went off to meet them and pose for photographs. An icy field behind them, the horses presented an arresting sight to our eyes. Their backs glistening in the morning sun, the horses nudged and muzzled the tourists. By then, more cars had started stopping by and it was a field time for the tourists and photographers. Few of the them started to feed the horses some tit-bits too and I am still not sure if that was the right thing to do. We ultimately started back on our direction towards Geysir thermal springs.

GEYSIR HOT SPRINGS

Geysir, is about 12 kms away from Uthlid, and we reached it in about 15 minutes. It was a sunlit morning and the skies were absolutely blue and cloudless as we parked in front of Geysir Center. The road still had snow and icy water running on its edges. Geysir Center consists of a few restaurants, cafes, rest rooms, souvenir shop and a couple of hotels towards its back side. It was buzzing with tourists by then. The area is well demarcated and the path leading to the geysers showed a moving line of tourists, a distance of about 250 meters from the road.

Geysir is the first geothermal geyser known to Europeans but is now dormant. The neighbouring Strokkur is still active and shoots out hot steamy water every five to ten minutes. Gulfoss is the most popular and iconic waterfall of Iceland, and also its second largest. The majestic falls with its series of water rivulets dropping into icy, watery foam and mist inside a ravine will captivate you.

Information Centre at Geysir, Iceland

You would need to walk towards the extreme left end of the falls which gives a surreal view of the snow and gushing water. The mist and the spray creates rainbows on the farther side of the waterfall every few minutes. Both Geysir and Gullfoss are prominent attractions and are included in the Golden Circle, Iceland tour.

Strokkur comes first and people were already encircling the miniature, volatile pond-like structure, as vapours, gases, steam and bubbles formed on its slow moving surface. It was a moment of eager anticipation for everyone around. The burst comes suddenly, a huge column of spraying smoke and gas shooting up into the air up till about 30 meters. A shout of exclamation from the crowd runs around every time it shoots up. Though it looks easy it actually always baffles an amateur photographer like me in positioning and shooting the outburst and so after a couple of cycles I called it quits.

Geysir, is the bigger pool , about two hundred meters upstream and it is now a pool of hot water and gases, its heavy sulphur -laden aroma reaches your nostrils and feels heavy at times. We took our time in examining the various geysers, trying to capture the exact moment of their outbursts.On our return, it was hard to keep the group from picking up a few mementoes from the local souvenir shop at Geysir.

Here is the one good photo I got from Strokkur. 🙂

Strokkur near Geysir, Iceland. Geysir and Gullfoss Iceland Travelogue part 2

Point #7 How to travel around Iceland?
Iceland is an ideal country to go on a road trip. Dazzling sunsets and breath-taking waterfalls will force you to stop your car at every nook and corner. You need to book an SUV or a 4X4 vehicle if you do not have prior experience of driving on snowy roads and icy terrain. The earlier you book, the cheaper you get and a three month prior booking relieves some good pressure on your purse.

Camper-vans are also a good option for the more adventurous traveller. You get them in different makes and amenities. They include bed arrangements, pitch-in tents while some includes a kitchenette, and even a toilet. There are many parks available to pitch a camper-van and use the toilet and washroom facilities, but during winter it is better to check ahead to identify the ones which stay open based on your route. The maximum speed when driving inside Reykjavik is about 50 kmph while the maximum speed on highways and Iceland’s Ring Road Route #1 is 90 kmph. Be courteous to the other driver when you are passing through single lane bridges. You do not hurry on Icelandic roads.

In case, self-driven road trips are not the best option, you can avail different conducted tours from Reykjavik. They have options starting from a Single Day Tour to 9 Day Sightseeing Tours covering most of south Iceland. Availability can be an issue and it is better to book in advance.

GULFOSS

Our next stop was Gulfoss, meaning the Golden Falls. By this time, I had picked up that Foss in Icelandic means waterfalls and Jokul ( pronounced Yokul) means ice. Before starting for Gulfoss, I had my coffee maker mug which plugged into the cigarette lighter port inside the car and could heat water in about 10 minutes, running. Pour an instant sachet of Nescafe and you have a great coffee on the go. After a break of about an hour here at Geysir, we drove towards Gullfoss, a further 20 minutes up. Gulfoss was the highlight of today’s tour.

In the early 19th century, there were plans to build a dam to produce electricity, but it was the fight of the daughter of a shepherd who wanted to protect Gulfoss and preserve its natural beauty that stopped that from happening. Behind the falls, on the icy mountainous terrain, a rainbow peeped every now and then as the sunlight refracted in the icy mist all over the expanse. Heavy winds blew, the cold air hurtling against our faces, as we went down a flight of stairs to reach the viewing deck. It was hard to bring our hands out in the open without gloves, and we needed to keep hold of our caps too, unless the wind swept it away. The frosty spray brings a feeling of numbness to your faces and exposed parts of the body,as the winds played havoc with the foam and the chilling spray. My Nikon DSLR shut off a couple of times, the lens accumulated water and mist every couple of minutes and my hands shook from icy numbness.

Gullfoss, the next stop far exceeded my expectation. It was still bright and sunny, a minus five degrees Celsius on the temperature scale ,as we climbed out of our car and made way towards the waterfall. The waterfall is not visible from the parking lot, deceptively hidden behind a canyon of the Hvita river.

You would need to go up a small ridge from where suddenly the horizon spreads unlimited. Stretching over three kilometers end to end, the majestic waterfall is a stunner. It was ice and ice everywhere with water flowing through a stream and a series of rivulets dropping into the misty and frosty ravine below. Here is the official site. There are different pathways around the falls, merging at different levels where you can walk and enjoy the spectacular view from different angles.

The mountain ridge leads you further north, bordering the falls and you can walk along a pathway to the extreme corner where the river makes a slow move before it starts breaking into cascades. From here , you get a surreal view, as you can see the river forming into dozens of layers of little falls till it comes crashing through the gorge. I whisked my phone out and took this quick video which is posted above. The rippling sound of the flowing stream was submerged under the ferocious crashing through the gorge as it dropped 70 meters below.

Gullfoss, Iceland with family

We stayed around for an hour and a half, and then painstakingly trudged, half a kilometer back to reach the parking lot. The warmth of the cafeteria beckoned us inside as by then most of us were a bit agonized by the cold and the sharp winds which were blowing across the wide expanse of the falls. As it turned out that the day was also special, since it was the birthday of one of the children in the team. A few slices of carrot cake from the cafeteria, some chocolates, a couple of gifts and we celebrated an impromptu Birthday party for the boy out in the open . Between cars and trucks, out in the parking lot, in front of icy landscape and with the freezing cold we all sang “Happy Birthday to you “!!! 🙂

As we were coming back, we passed the same team of horses close to our accommodation. It was the dying moments of a great day passing by . The sun was lost behind the horizon , the clouds still carried its last rays and the horses were grazing in the icy fields . The horses gave special meaning to the transcending natural beauty of a setting sunset among icy plains and little hillocks in the distance and would probably stay as one of the most beautiful sights I had seen in Iceland.
Today the Aurora sighting scale reading showed 6. The sky was clear. The new moon was just around the corner. We did have our chances . The team was elated and we were mentally gearing up. During the evening, we joined hands to cook some hot dinner while the children splashed water at the in-house Jacuzzi. It was time to eat, drink and be merry.

The aurora did come, but we didn’t really feel the magic. It appeared like a streak or band stretching all across the sky up above our heads. But the streak did not really take on its full colours. It looked more like a band of pale and translucent cloud formation, shady white across the skies. The children waited too, till 1 am into the night, in the freezing weather. Every few minutes we walked out into the back porch and peeked up and around, but not much did we see. Later the photographs showed the faint green light though our eyes did not catch it at all. 🙁

Some other day, perhaps. Keeping our fingers crossed.

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