Day FiveIt may have been our last day in Iceland, but we were ready for a jam-packed schedule. At 8:15AM we got picked up (free) from the hotel and taken the short drive to
SIXT car rental. With a discount for being SIXT Platinum, we got an automatic Opel Meriva (a little hatchback) for $115, covered by 11K A+ points (including the one-way fee to drop it off at the airport). We opted to pre-pay for gas ~$83 since we expected to use a full tank and were told that the gas station near the airport was always packed. When we passed by the next day, it wasn't, although the price would have been pretty similar that the convenience of not filling up was worth it. We also rented a device to have wifi in the car for $11, which was necessary as my phone didn’t have service (and we only lasted in the camper because of the wifi there).
Ready to go, we headed off for the
Golden Circle! After the Blue Lagoon, this is probably the most touristy activity in Iceland, likely because of its close proximity to Reykjavik. However, we were going to add a few stops to the classic Golden Circle trip that the tour busses take. An hour after picking up the car, we made it to
Thingvellir National Park (didn’t really notice when the road even entered the park) for our first stop at
Into the Blue – Silfra Snorkeling, which is a snorkeling site in the Silfra Fissure, separating the tectonic plates. In English, you can snorkel in the water that separates the American and Eurasian continents! There are several dive companies that run tours here, but again, we booked with Arctic Adventures to get 10% off, which made this activity cost $130 a person, covered with A+.
Because the water comes from a melting glacier, it is extremely cold and extremely clear. There were lots of guides helping everyone get into their gear – first a bear suit, then a wet suit, waterproof mittens, snorkel mask and flippers. Our face under the snorkel was the only part of our body that was somewhat exposed to the temperature of the water. They told us we wouldn’t notice the ice-cold water, and they were right. However, because of the sizing of my wife’s gear, they required her to wear a belt tightened around her neck to ensure water couldn’t get in. It was much too tight and unfortunately, impacted her experience quite negatively. Nonetheless, she still had a great time. It took a while from parking till we actually got in the water (total activity time of 1:45 hours with only about 30 minutes in the water), but finally it was our turn, and the guides basically just dropped us into the water on our stomachs. Instantly, you realized this would not be a swimming experience, but rather a floating one. With so much gear on, that seemed to have inflated upon contact with the water, I could barely move my arms or flippers. But with a slow tide, we all moved along just fine. Looking down below was incredible to say the least. You really could see 100+ feet below. While there are no fish, the green and blue colors of the rocks illuminated by the sunlight were mysterious and awesome. The fissure is quite narrow and every once in a while I peeked my head above water, which reminded me that it really looked like we were just chilling in a small stream, the depths of which completely unknown to someone on land. At the end, the fissure opens up to a large cavern with more room to move around before you climb out back onto land.
Pictures taken on a GoPro with floating handle attachmentAfter changing into dry clothes and getting back in the car, we decided to postpone the next two smaller stops and go straight to our scheduled
Gulfoss Canyon Rafting on the Hvita River tour and afterwards backtrack to what we skipped. This was booked as well through Arctic Adventures for $100/person, covered with A+. Towards the end of the drive (put Drumboddsstaðir into Google Maps), the nice pavement road gave way to a terribly pot-holed dirt road just as the GPS stopped picking us up. It wasn’t such a big deal, as the road was mostly straight, and we drove slowly so as not to damage the rental car. We arrived about 20 minutes early, so we ate a sandwich lunch and then went inside the small building. They had changing rooms to get into bathing suits and once again into wetsuits (you definitely get wet – don’t wear socks in the boots they provide), grabbed paddles, strapped the GoPro to my helmet (seemed like everyone had one on the tour, although apparently I took the wrong pin with me because it kept slipping down) and packed into… a very old school bus. If the road was bumpy in our little car, you can only imagine what it was like in a school bus. The ride down to the river took about 20 minutes and then we loaded up into 2 rafts. We had an amazing guide and faced a few decent rapids. I was a bit surprised that there weren’t more of them, but the guide really kept things interesting and had us do some cool things in the water that kept the trip exciting throughout.
Along the journey, we passed by an interesting formation and the guide asked where else in Iceland you could see basalt columns. Being the Iceland-pro that I was (no big deal), I answered “Svartifoss and Reynisfjara Beach,” impressing the guide.
However, this formation was different as the columns not only formed vertically, but horizontally as well.
At one point, they had us pull over the boats and everyone climbed out to have a chance to… jump off a cliff!
Such is not my kind of thing, but my wife enjoyed the plunge!
The view of what the crazies looked down intoBack on the water, the guide took count of who had jumped in. Only myself and 1 other didn’t. That began a quest for him to find a way to get us wet. I was content sitting in my seat, but he had other plans. He tried flipping the boat several times, but to no avail. Finally, he had us stand up on opposite edges of the raft and lock oars. We each had to lean back over the water, and he said if we do it at the same time/strength, we’ll be able to hold each other up. Well, we did a fantastic job of this I must say, until of course he took his own oar and smacked our paddles making us lose balance. My dear friend fell into the cold river. I, however, anticipating such deceit, was prepared and jump back into the boat just in time. Unfortunately, though, it was time to admit defeat as I saw our 250-pound tour guide dive across the raft hitting me squarely in the chest and knocking us both into the river. My wife will let you know that I was not pleased, to say the least, as I was hoisted back up. Of course, it was all smiles afterwards
and as it turned out we had reached the end of the 1.5 hour trip.
I guess a GoPro can come in handy for some interesting shotsOur guide
Back on solid ground, the school bus took us the 20 minutes back to base where we dried off, changed and people got ready for the included BBQ dinner. It sounded quite delish, but we got in the car and drove back to the Golden Circle activities we had skipped.
It was now 5PM, and we had several more stops to make. We headed back the way we came until we got to
Strokkur Geyser. Across the street is a rest stop, where we first picked up some souvenirs and found (some very overpriced)… Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! Back on the street, you could see steam rising out of the ground by the geyser, but the geyser itself was further off the road. With the ominous sky and exhaustion hitting us, we decided that seeing the blowholes on Kauai and Maui in Hawaii were enough for us, and we just got back in the car and ran off to the next stop.
Another “ah, Iceland” sceneGulfoss is one of the classic Golden Circle stops, and it’s really so easy to get to. Right off the road is a nice-sized parking lot and you can just walk up and gawk. There didn’t seem like a way to get a great angle/view other than from where a lone photographer was standing, somehow across the gorge. Nonetheless, the power of the falls was remarkable.
Back in the car, we were off to our final stop along our extended Golden Circle trip. Along the way, we passed by yet another horse pasture, and stopped to play.
“Okay everyone, gather around, gather around.”
“It looks like there’s a nice lady coming over who might have food, or at least offer some scratching. Go over slowly and say hi.”
“Oh Buster, if you must scratch your head against the barbed wire, so be it.”
“Here she comes… score!”
“Now nobody do anything stupid to scare her off… OH C’MON RUSSEL!”
A few minutes later, we pulled up to
Secret Lagoon, another natural hot pool, amidst a slight mist. Inside, we paid $24/person and were treated to nice facilities – changing rooms, lockers and (public) showers. Outside, the waist-deep pool had about 30-40 people in it, although it was very large, so it was easy to get our own spot. There were noodles to use and parts of the pool were literally scalding hot, so you had to be careful where you went. The temperature – about what a hot tub feels like – was much hotter than the pool we visited earlier on the trip. There was beer and soda available for purchase. If you’re out this way, I recommend stopping by.
Back on the road, our last stop was supposed to be checking out
Kerid Crater Lake, but it was already 9PM and this activity was only a “maybe” on my interests list, so we skipped right past it for the 1.5 hour drive back to the hotel. We parked for free in the lot and packed up our stuff before calling it a night.
On Friday morning, we were out of the hotel by 7AM to return the car to SIXT at the airport. We waited a minute for the shuttle before deciding to just walk to the airport ourselves as we could see it nearby. Check-in included some customs questions similar to what you find in Israel, but it went quickly. With not much time till the flight, we ran around looking for the lost and found office. The lady pulled out a box full of cell phones, and there it was.
The ~6 hour 10:30AM Delta flight in coach was comfortable with a surprisingly good Kosher meal from KoshAir (under the OU) of essentially cholent meat and noodles. We got into JFK at 12:30PM with plenty of time before Shabbos. This was our first time using GE and boy did it save us a lot of time at customs. We Ubered with a coupon for $3 to our friend’s house in Queens, where we picked up our car and drove home for Shabbos.
Iceland is so close to home and so incredibly amazing. We both agree that it was our most exciting trip we’ve taken. I hope by now you’ve booked your flights.