Iceland, The Healing Journey- Part 3/9: Golden Circle

Checked out our BnB in Reykjavik early the next morning and headed to Golden Circle. We estimated to spend half the day there before departing to Kirkjubaeklaustur slightly past / above Vik where our next BnB, Giljaland Accomodation was located at.

// On the way to Golden Circle. As we left Reykjavik, we were greeted by the snowy hills and sides

// And as we drove near Thingvellir National Park, we were greeted by the frozen lake!

If day 1 started with cool-rainy-morning-turn-clear-blue-sky, day 2 started off with bright blue sky amidst the snow-capped mountains and landscape throughout the journey to Golden Circle. 3 main attractions in Golden Circle- Thingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area and Gulfoss Waterfall. Thingvellir National Park is about 45km away from Reykjavik so it takes roughly under an hour to reach there. The whole Golden Cirlce is about 200+km, takes around 3 hours driving in total, not including stops, sightseeing and other delays. You can also opt to book Golden Circle tour/s from Reykjavik.

D took the driver seat and N became the co-driver, and we couldn’t stop gawking at the sceneries unfolding before us. I'll just let the pictures describe them okay.

It's a huge park. In the summer it gives you a totally different scenary.

First stop: Thingvellir National Park, where there are a lot of hiking trails & waterfalls you can discover, especially during summer time. The park is HUGE and the lake was frozen still in March. But the white landscape that was before us was breathtaking nonetheless. There's a visitor centre and toilets along with small cafe and souvenirs sold. There's a parking fees per vehicle but there are no other entrance fees and you hike up the trails at your own risks as long as you walk within the stipulated paths- which is pretty much similar every where else.

The hiking trails

The view from near the Visitor's Centre

As you walk down the walking trail on the right, you'd hear the sound of waterfall & river rushes

And if you walk down further on the trail, you may find the Oxararfoss Waterfall

Next: Geysir Geothermal Area where you can hike up the viewpoint area and witness an epic view of the valleys below. There are a few geysers around- Strokkur erupts intermittently so you can wait to catch it. I didn't manage to catch it on the video unfortunately and we didn't want to wait for another round to walk up to the viewpoint. 

Ok, so we took the wrong entrance, but the background was perfect for photos!

Finally found the right entrace; this is Litli Geysir

Strokkur is the biggest one, couldn't catch it in action when it erupted

Blesi- yes, the temperature of the hot spring is 80-100 degree celsius!

On the way up...

The view from up here was just breathtaking

And the weather suddenly changed while we were up at the viewpoint. So we decided to go down to the visitor's centre for lunch before going to the next stop.

Gullfoss waterfall is just around 10-15 minutes away from Geysir- I have no other word except MAJESTIC to describe the waterfall where the glacial water run below us! In summer, the trails along the waterfall (the Trail of Sigridur) are open to public and you could walk alongside it and just appreciate the sheer magnificent beauty of the waterfall- you might even catch a rainbow!

The first thought that came to my mind when I saw this before my eyes: MAJESTIC!

The yellow lines are the hiking trails

Presenting to you: Gullfoss!

We decided to have lunch at the Geysir- each of these attractions, they have visitor's centre with restaurants and souvenir shops. You can either make your stop at Geysir or Gullfoss for lunch/meals. We made that decision because it was starting to be windy and snowy, and we were already hungry. 

From Gullfoss, it took us another 2 hours to get to Kirkjubaeklauster, where we would be staying. 

I overlooked the fact that Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and Skogafoss Waterfall were just off the road along the highway to Vik so we had to forgo Skogafoss in the interest of time and decided we would drop by on the way back. We were able to stop at Seljalandsfoss waterfall however but it was getting late and the walkway to walk behind the waterfall was closed. There were 2 smaller waterfalls near Seljalandsfoss if you walk along the trail path.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall- where you can walk behind the curtain of the waterfall falling

These were the other two smaller waterfalls along the hiking trail

Freshwater where you can refill your water bottles

I kid you not, we did just that

Short walk due to an interest of time, but it was worth it! Wish we could spend more time here.

Seljalandsfoss in a nutshell:

The scenery changed from snowy mountains to roads alongside yellowish-greenish hills with a lot of small waterfalls at the back of houses and accommodations. Imagine, having a waterfall at the back of your house! A scene you will never get bored of. 

We then passed by the seaside area of Vik and made our journey further east back into snowy hillside and gravel roads into small wooden cabins in Giljaland. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes, it was like a scene out of a book, the place we were staying. Small but cozy. And dreamy.

Small but cozy...!

And comfy!

And convenient!

Another bed up there! How awesome is that?

And the view...!

Our host informed us that you could even see Aurora from where we stayed. D installed the Aurora Forecast app on her iPad; unfortunately, both nights when we were staying there, the sky was cloudy and we couldn’t see any Aurora. 

There are a few factors that increase your chance to catch Aurora- cold air/night (and hence why the chances are pretty slim in summer), a clear sky without low hanging clouds, out-of-air-pollution area (so if you’re traveling away from the city, the higher your chances are) and highly active aurora activity. And a lot of luck. And that’s why some websites suggested to increase your chances, book a tour because they will try to forecast where the Aurora activities best take place; but there’s also a lot of waiting time so you have to be patient. We didn’t have that much luck on our side, however.

Next: Part 4-  Fjaorargljufur Canyon & Black Sand Beach in Vik
It will be another long post with loads of pictures and videos

And also, because I still can't move on from Gulfoss, enjoy the slow-mo of the waterfall!

Iceland, The Healing Journey- Part 2/9: Reykjavik

 Our journey took a total of 27 hours from Kuala Lumpur to Reykjavik, via Doha and Heathrow. So I was pretty much jet-lagged and kinda disorientated when we first arrived... So my best advice is still to try to get as much sleep as you can while on the flight.

When you're cleared from the custom and claimed your baggage, first thing first- toilet, simcard, and car rental. Toilets are clean and well maintained. Simcard provides you with 5G of data at least, so bring a spare phone as a hotspot point- Waze is pretty reliable throughout the journey; our accommodations were easily found via Waze, even the off-road one. The car rental process however took a bit of time. Your alternative is to book the bus chartered to the point of drop-off near your accommodations.

We have booked an Aurora tour on the day of our arrival so that in case it got canceled, we could rebook it again. Which was what happened- the unfavourable weather made it impossible to catch Aurora on the day we arrived so we rebooked it for the next night, decided to unpack, have dinner at our BnB, and have a good rest instead while re-look into what we were supposed to do the next day. 

The playground in the neighbourhood

Going out so early in the morning to explore the area around

Our itinerary on day 1 the next day would be driving to Sneafellsness Peninsular. However, looking at the weather and studying the roads leading up to the northwest side of Iceland, they were quite inaccessible by our Kia hatchback with 3 inexperienced drivers to drive in the snow, so we decided to postpone the trip and planned to book a tour to Sneafellsness instead. So we decided to explore Reykjavik and to find tourist information centres and maybe book our tour(s) from there.

Entering the city and greeted by the frozen lake!

Parking in the city is quite convenient

Partially frozen lake, from the other side of the city

Walking around the town early in the morning

Hallsgrimkirkja, the largest church in Iceland, you can go up the tower to see the surrounding Reykjavik view

Unfortunately there’s no centralized tourist centre, rather they are scattered throughout the city, so we walked around the city, finding that most shopping places save for some tour booths and eateries were closed on Sunday. While walking in the city, we stumbled on Braud and co- do check them out! The pastries are just so soft and yummy and so did their hot chocolate!

Inside Braud & co.

The Sun Voyager and the view it offers

When when you have so blue and white as your background, what do you do?

You take photos!

Near the art museum

Art Museum

We decided on whale-watching with Elding Whale Watching. They also helped us to book for Sneafellsness tour that we schedule on the last day we’re in Iceland, which would be the coming Saturday.

Some of the tour companies could be found at the Old Harbour- including the bout tour for aurora watching. There are also a few eating places near the Old Harbour- please do try the Sea Baron Restaurnt- the lobster soup is just too delish! We arrived there at around 11.30 am, just before the crowd came in.

Quick brunch before boarding the whale watching boat at 1pm

Inside Saegreifinn, the Sea Baron Restaurant

Lobster soup and salmon grill

The whale-watching boat tour takes roughly 3 hours- if luck is on your side, you might be able to watch a lot of them playing around. Ours came nearing the end, but they were shy enough to surface for too long. Oh, do take the anti-motion-sickness pill provided. I usually don’t have any but took one anyway and the way the boat swayed while waiting for the whales to surface, you WILL get sea-sick even if previously you don’t experience it. 

Whale was too shy, could only catch the glimpse of its fin

By the way, there are Hop-on-Hop-off buses around, near the Old Harbour / Harpa Concert Hall- do check them out if you have time. 

We decided to go home to eat and rest before our re-schedule Aurora tour that night. Unfortunately, it was again canceled, which puzzled us because the weather was quite bright and clear during the daytime. But alas, it was out of our limit.

Next: Part 3- Golden Circle
Please bear with the many photos in coming post