Iceland Adventure Braurfoss, Geysir, Gullfoss, Secret Lagoon

So we left off with what already seemed to be a full day.  But we still had several adventures ahead of us.

Our next stop was to be Brúarfoss waterfall.  Our itinerary was taking us counterclockwise around the ring road.  This waterfall is not visible from the road and you must be paying attention to find it.  Our directions did not exactly match where the entrance is now but fortunately there was a small car park and a sign that we saw to lead us there.

As difficult as the Icelandic language would be to learn there are so many things about it that seem practical and make it seem that it would be much easier than English.  You needn’t be there long to learn that any word that ends in foss signifies a waterfall.  And the name of the waterfall usually has to do with something obvious that identifies its location or some reason for its name.  Brúarfoss waterfall derives its name from a natural stone bridge over the river near the waterfall.  The name actually translates to Waterfall Bridge.  It is famous in large part for its brilliant blue color that occurs as thousands of small waterfalls converge into an icy blue gap.

The sign advertised a 3.1km hike to our destination.  I was excited because we were getting to see our first Icelandic horses up close.  The farmer was bringing them hay so they were in a very energetic mood.  I had been looking forward to meeting these beautiful beasts.  We’ll talk more about them later.

We’re thinking that at some point the farmer became tired of people traipsing by his house and moved the entrance to the falls.  Either that or we just didn’t see the entrance that had been given to us is in detail in our directions.  This talked about crossing a little bridge and taking a 5-7 minute walk to the waterfall.  I knew 3.1km would take longer than that but Jeff and I were excited for a hike.

Little did we know what type of hike we had taken on.  I knew some areas had been closed that we had hoped to visit due to trails being too muddy and damage occurring from tourists.  I am surprised this trail was not closed.  This was actually a very dangerous hike.  At times the trail was very narrow, very muddy, on the edge of a cliff.  I won’t lie – after very little sleep and being aware of my natural clumsiness when well rested – there was more than one time I thought the possibility of falling to my death was very real.

Fortunately though we made it to our destination and were rewarded with this amazing awe inspiring site.  My pictures are raw and unedited and taken by a point and short photographer.  They most certainly do not do justice to anything we had the pleasure of seeing but trust me when I say this hike is a must do.https://ramblingebet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stop-2-Bruarfoss-068.mov

It was about a 17 minute drive to our next stop – Geysir.  Geysir, also known as the Great Geysir, is responsible for the English word geyser.  It has been active for 1000 years however now it is going through a dormant phase with little activity.  Strokkur geyser sits very close and puts on a frequent shows for visitors.  Every few minutes it would send up a spout.  It has been known to shoot up to 130 feet but most often it spouts 30 to 65 feet.

It was fun walking through bubbling mud pots and spouting geysers.  It felt like I was in the Iceland I expected.  Of course it also brought to mind Yellowstone National Park and gave us a topic of comparison to our homeland.

A 10 minute drive now took us to one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland – Gullfoss.  All I can say is wow.  Apparently the name means Golden Falls because on sunny days the water tumbling down the 32 m crevice has a golden appearance.  We were there in rainy weather so we did not experience that but it was still beautiful.  We started by walking to the overlook above.  We then walked down and as close as we could get to the falls.

The history of Gullfoss is an important testament to what a difference one person can make.  These falls had been visited since 1857.  Try to envision the power of these falls.  About 1km above the falls the Hvitá river turns sharply to the right and flows down into a wide three step “staircase” and then abruptly plunges into two stages into a 32m deep crevice.  This crevice is about 20 m wide and 2.5 km long and extends perpendicular to the river with the average amount of water going through the falls in summer being 140 m3/s.  So it is no surprise that in the 1920’s a team of foreign investors wanted to dam up the river and harness that power for a hydroelectric plant.  The landowner refused to sell to them.  So they went behind his back and had the government give them permission. The landowner’s daughter, Sigridur Tomasdottir, made it her mission to fight the destruction of the falls.  She walked barefoot 75 miles to Reykjavik in protest of the sale and threatened to throw herself into the falls.  She is considered a national hero.  Fortunately the deal fell through and in 1975 Gullfoss was donated to the nation and became a nature reserve.

We were starting to feel like if this was day one how incredible was the rest of our trip going to be?

Back in the car we made the 45 minute drive to our last stop of the night, the Secret Lagoon.  We were so hungry when we arrived. A fish and chips stand was open and doing a brisk business as we exited the car into snow.  We went inside and asked how long it would take to get to Hella so we could decide if we could take time to eat.  It would be a 45 minute drive and check in at our hotel ended at 10.  It was 7:30 and we wanted as much time as possible in the lagoon so we sadly passed up the food.

Time for a true confession.  I am very uncomfortable not being fully dressed.  Anyone planning a trip to Iceland has read about the shower police at the Blue Lagoon.  Jeff and I had gotten up around 7:00 AM in Texas on May 17.  There is a 5 hour time difference between Iceland and our home.  We had not had much sleep on the plane.  Really we had not had much t o eat.  We hadn’t even brushed our teeth!

We had brought quick dry towels with us but we were so tired we decided to rent a towel at the lagoon.  We left out boots on the rack and headed into our respective shower rooms.  Oh God.  It was true.  I was going to have to strip down right here with other people around.  This may have been my worst nightmare coming to life.  Fortunately the dressing room wasn’t crowded but yes I was uncomfortable with several nude women around me.  I undressed and headed for the community shower.  Multiple shower heads in one large shower.  Some women were showering preparing to go the pool and some were showering having gotten out. I just tried to keep my eyes down.  Of course many signs reminded you to wash thoroughly with soap before entering the pool.  Other than being terribly uncomfortable with my circumstances I will say that the shower felt amazing after the day I had had.  Finally showered I put on my swimsuit and rushed out to the pool.  Because yes it was freaking cold!! It was snowing after all.    

The pool felt amazing!  We were told one was closed due to it being too hot.  I had all I needed right here.  Noodles were available to float on.  Some areas were hotter than others.  Every so often a geyser would spout around the pool.  I could have stayed there for hours.  It was the most wonderful  and magical experience.

Since we did not know where our hotel was exactly we cut our stay shorter than we had wanted to.  My fear of sleeping in the car was real.

On our way to Hella we tried to call the hotel to let them know we would be there but we could not get our call to go through.  We were starting to panic when we reached Hella and had not yet seen our hotel and could not find it on GPS.  We stopped at a restaurant.  They were nice enough to call and let them know we would soon be there and printed directions for us.

Hotel Laekur was on the other side of Hella down a side road seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  We arrived a few minutes after ten.  This was a family run hotel and farm and the owner had waited for us.  He told us to call him Stu.  He showed us around.  We asked if there would be any place in town that might still be open for us to get food.  He told us not at this hour.  We said we had packed some snacks and would get by with them.  He asked if we would like him to see what he had left over from dinner and said it was no problem.  He prepared two beautiful dishes of lamb curry with rice and salad and then carried it through the rain (trying to protect it) to our room for us.  We must have looked like the walking dead when he greeted us that evening.  As we ate I proclaimed that this was the best lamb I had ever eaten.  I became convinced that Stu was an angel sent from God and half way wondered if I actually was dead and this was heaven!

Finally rested we awoke the next morning ready to take on another day full of adventure.  What a beautiful location we were in.  I wished we could have spent a second night here.  Breakfast was fabulous.  We thanked Stu and his wife again and told them that if we return to Iceland we will happily stay there again.