Reykjavik, Iceland, 13 Aug 2015
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| We were lucky - no volcanoes erupted during our visit......Internet Photo |
A special day today: I am partaking in a tour organized by
the ship – the only one of this kind on this voyage. Start time 7 a.m. – it is
a long tour covering ‘the Golden Circle’ drive and a demonstration of Icelandic
Horses at an equestrian centre – all in all eight hours. And we have to be back
at the ship by 3:30 p.m. to make scheduled departure time.
The weather was at best atrocious: storm force winds whipped
across the docks even within the harbour, horizontal sheets of rain reduced
visibility to almost zero. But – the tour goes on, and it is definitely not
refundable should one decide not to come along for what promises to be a gray
and uninviting day. It’s going to be ‘challenging’ to get out into the elements
to look at natural attractions of the south west corner of Iceland.
We made it to the bus without being blown off gangway or
dock, and settled down to vistas or rain running down the outside of the bus
windows. First stop Pingvellir National
Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where centuries ago Vikings held their
parliamentary meetings (and feasts). Where since eons and for more future eons,
the tectonic plates of Asia and Europe have a parting of the way, to the tune
of two centimeters a year.
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| No fissures erupted during our visit, either.....Internet Photo |
Intrepid as some of us felt – after all the Vikings did it
without weakening – I joined the part of the group which had opted for ‘hiking’
about a mile through the park starting from a high vantage point, through the
fissure and deep chasm between the plates, crossing a bridge over a waterfall
(artificially created by the Vikings to bring water to the Parliament Camp) to
a low lying parking lot, where the bus would meet us again. It was a one way hike…if
we changed our minds about the hike halfway through – too bad - we had no other
choice but to continue on, if we did not chose to be left behind.
It started out pretty ‘benign’ with gale force winds
whipping us into shape (no photo op, as the cameras would have blown away), but
a couple of minutes into the hike, the heavens opened up with a vengeance.
Outer clothing was permeated in a few minutes – but we trudged downhill with a
will, hoping that at least the tectonic plates would keep their peace until we
reached the at least dry ‘safety’ of the bus again. My little umbrella – with a
bit of dexterous handling – avoided being torn to bits, and gave me at least some
‘upper’ level protection. My jeans were dripping wet.
Steaming and sodden we were all seated again in the bus –
but one Chinese man had gone missing. His wife sat in the bus not saying a word
– I wonder why? Well, the lady guide had to do her SAR (search and rescue)thing,
and go look for him, which meant that she had to RUN all the way back to the
originating viewpoint, cover most of the side trails, to do a ‘blanket search’.
She found him – on the very top – and the two of them trudged down through more
rain and wind, she continuously talking to him (what I could discern through
binoculars) – probably reading the politically correct riot act. (It did not
take – as he had to be ‘herded’ again later in the trip).
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| Strokkur burping.... |
Off to the Geyser, the emblematic spurting hot steam vent
called Strokkur, which bursts forth with accurate and routine timing every
seven minutes. Taking advantage pf a break in the tempest, we ventured on another
little hike to Old Faithful of Iceland, standing downwind to be ready for ‘the
photo-op’ of the 25 meter high eruption. Downwind for obvious reasons, I don’t
want to be steamed alive by drifting superheated steam.
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| Every seven minutes one spurt..... |
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| Boiling hot steam....but no sulphur odour.... |
And on we drove along the line of ‘tectonic widening’ to
Gullfoss (Golden Falls). The River Hvita
which originates in Langjokull (Long Glacier) roars first over awe inspiring
upper rapids and falls, then cascading into a lower narrow gorge with the force
of a couple of Niagara Falls, which according to an interpretive sign are
located in the USA – Canada just lost out.
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| Description of Gullfoss, with a comparison to Niagara Falls of USA... |
Of course there are sagas….one says the name Golden Falls harks
back to a time when a super-rich Viking, not wanting to leave his accumulated
hoard of gold to any of his descendants, threw the lot into the falls where
they are still supposed to rest. Another story maintains, Golden Falls refers
to the shimmering hue of the waters of the falls, when the evening sun strikes them
an colour them golden. And yet, another says, it refers to the ever present
rainbow, which hovers over the falls, and supposedly rendering them the most
photogenic in Iceland.
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| No photo could capture the magnitude of these falls......Internet Photo |
Well, today we had the rain…but none of the bow. Despite the
uninviting conditions we hiked – of course – along the edge of the cliffs and
chasms to various look out points where one could hardly comprehend the all-powerful
physical force behind the thundering torrents of water
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| Upper Rapids of Gulfoss ... |
The gorge is indeed narrow, one can hardly see the bottom of
it. The surrounding upper land is flat with green meadows reaching almost to
the horizon, and the distance between the edges is a little more than a hundred
meters. Which gives grounds for another saga….a young girl and a shepherd
working on opposite sides, were close enough to fall in love ‘across the
divide’ and kept looking longingly at each other, without any means of reaching
each other. The upper river was too rapid, too dangerous, too deep for either
man or horse to ford across. However, love conquered all, and one day the lad
waded into the rushing river – and against all odds made it across. Obviously
he never walked back again – and the two lovers were united and produced a
flock of children who still populate the ‘happy ending ‘side of the river.
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| Looking into the gorge below the lower falls of Gullfoss....note the flat country around it |
Talking about children – Icelandic people rarely marry until
after they have parented a number of children. Apparently that custom is
followed in order to be sure, that they REALLY love each other, and desire to
stay together. It seems to work – for them anyway.
At Gullfoss we had a chance to dry out over lunch – delicious
tomato soup, Arctic Char, rice…
Fortified and a little dryer, we continued our ‘expedition’
– a couple of short (hiking optional) stops to a 3000 year old volcanic crater
lake named Kerid, which even is this awful weather looked like a mystical
aquamarine eye surrounded by perfectly symmetrical lava slopes (it was still
pouring – no one hiked), and another quick look at Faxi, a very pretty
waterfall where a salmon ladder helps
salmon upstream and circular sheep pens help succulent and wool-covered sheep
on their way to the grill – or shearing shed.
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| Faxi Waterfalls with Salmon Ladder to the left |
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| Sheep pen beside Faxi Falls....the sheep are herded into the inner circle and then sorted out and driven into the outer compartments after identification.... |
A full day indeed, and we are not done yet. One has to at
least ONCE on a visit to Iceland meet its one and only resident horse-breed:
the Icelandic Horse. It deserves a separate post….
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| The Icelandic Horse |
