September 27, 2017 - Lake Mývatn, Goðafoss Waterfall, Dimmuborgir, Natural Baths, Dettifoss Waterfall

Our itinerary called for visiting of Lake Mývatn.  On the way to Lake Mývatn, we stopped by the Goðafoss Waterfall (named the "Waterfall of the Gods" according to Icelandic Sagas).  The Goðafoss waterfall is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 meters over a width of 30 meters.  It was a very windy day and we had to walk about 10 minutes to this waterfall.  However, the view of this waterfall is spectacle. 

When we got to Lake Mývatn, we realized that the name Mývatn is sometimes used not only for the lake but the whole surrounding inhabited area. The River Laxá, Lake Mývatn and the surrounding wetlands are protected as a nature reserve (the Mývatn-Laxá Nature Conservation Area, which occupies 4,400 km²).

Then, we took a walk at Dimmuborgir which has twisted towers of coagulated rock breach the earth’s surface to form a lava field full of giant pillars, chimneys and tubes to scramble across.

We had an optional tour of taking a bath at Natural Baths.  It is smaller than the Blue Lagoon and has not mud. However, it was very enjoyable.  

After the wonderful bath, we visited the Hverir which is a Geothermal spot noted for its bubbling pools of mud and steaming fumaroles emitting sulfuric gas.

We visited the Dettifoss Waterfall which is with the greatest volume of any waterfall in Europe, 500 cubic metres of water per second plunges over the edge. Dettifoss is 45m high and 100m wide. It is located in Vatnajökull National Park in Northeast Iceland, this waterfall is so thunderous that it makes the surrounding rocks vibrate.

According to the Northern Light Forecasting web site, the northern light activity level was strong for tonight, however, there were too cloudy.  Some of us did not want to give up the chance of seeing northern lights, therefore, we still ventured out to the boardwalk by the water trying to see northern lights.  However, the cloud did block all activities and we tried without any success. 

September 28, 2017 - Drove back to Reykjavik; Glaumbaer Turf House

We supposed to visit the east side of Iceland and have overnight stay at Höfn. However, the consistent rain in the east side caused roadways washed away and became impassable. After discussion between Gate1 and the tour bus company, they decided to drove us back to Reykjavik instead.  

It was a long driving day, the only stop we made was the Glaumbaer Turf House which is a farm/museum.  It is owned by the National Museum of Iceland.  It was a complex of separate buildings, united by a central passageway.  This style of the turf construction was universal in rural areas of Iceland until 1910-30, when it was gradually replaced mainly by the reinforced concrete. This turf house provides an inside of how life in Iceland was back in the 18th and 19th century. Turf is the surface layer of fields containing a dense growth of grasses with their roots.  After seeing the way of Icelanders lived in the turf house, it makes you appreciating the living standard in our modern world.

After we checked Into the Fosshotel Reykjavik, we had dinner on our own.  We went to a nearby Hamburger Factory for dinner.  While we were waiting for our food, a waitress  announced something over the speaker and everyone clapped, then another waitress changed a display from 344,036 to 344,037.  One of a nice Iceland ladies sitting next to us saw our questionable facial expressions, she explained to us that they are counting the population of Iceland.  A little girl just born, therefore, they updated their population by 1.  Interesting!

After dinner, the northern light activity was very strong and the sky was clear.  While we were still thinking about where should we go to see northern lights, one of the tour members came out of his room and told us that northern lights were happening just outside of the hotel.  We rushed out and saw wonderful northern lights.  Fei and I walked to the seashore boardwalk area and spent a couple of hours enjoyed and took northern lights photos.  With the chance of seeing northern lights, it made us less disappointed about not being able to visit the east side of Iceland.

September 29, 2017 - Hellisheiði Power Plant, Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, Gullfoss Waterfall (Golden Falls), Friðheimar Tomato and Horse Farm

We started the day by visiting ON Power's Geothermal Hellisheiði Power Plant.  This is a 3 floors exhibition center showing the exploration and the utilization of geothermal energy.  It demonstrates how geothermal energy can be utilized in a sustainable manner with interactive presentation of their production process. They also have exhibitions for the origins of geothermal energy, turbine room, renewable energy cycle, geothermal heating system and rocks & minerals.  Iceland uses it's geothermal to provide all the heating and hot water needs.  It was very educational.

We went to Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, which is in southwestern of Iceland with historical, cultural and geological significance.  The park lies in a Rift Valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Þingvellir is associated with the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which was established at the site in 930 AD. Sessions were held at the location until 1798. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930, marking the one-thousandth anniversary of the Althing. The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area, and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2004.

We visited Geysir, sometimes known as The Great Geysir with eruptions of hurl boiling water up to 70 meters in the air. However, eruptions are infrequent, therefore we had to standing around and wait for it patiently.  

Then, we visited the Gullfoss Waterfall (Golden Falls).  It is a part of the Golden Circle tour and located in south Iceland on the Hvítá (White) river which is fed by Iceland´s second biggest glacier, the Langjökull. The water plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon which walls reach up to 70 meters in height. 

Our last stop today is to visit the Friðheimar Tomato and Horse Farm.  This is a family owned greenhouse which grows tomatoes all year round, despite Iceland's long, dark winters, under artificial lighting. They also breed Iceland horses and provide horse shows.  After the explanation of greenhouse processes, they also provided wonderful tomato soup and homemade bread for us to taste.   

September 30, 2017 - Vatnajökull Glacier, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon

We started the day by visiting Skogafoss Waterfall. The Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 15 metres (49 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft). There is a path way for climbing up to the back of the waterfall to see the fall in different angles. It is worth to climb up and walk behind the fall.

Then, we visited the Reynisfjara black sand beach located in Vik. it was created by lava flowing into the ocean which cooled almost instantly as it touched the water. The beach was actually with various sizes of shiny black pebbles and stones which is different than the white sand beach we used to know. 

Opposite of the sea is an enormous natural pyramid made of basalt columns that looks like a staircase to the sky. This basalt cliff is called Gardar. The symmetrical columns were shaped when, once upon a time, lava flowed out, cooled and contracted. The slow speed at which the lava cooled made it crack and create these hexagonal forms.

Later, we drove to Vatnajökull Glacier in greater Vatnajökull National Park. Vatnajökull Glacier is the largest ice cap in Iceland and the third largest glacier in Europe, covering 8% of the island's landmass. 

We had lunch at Veitingasala restaurant for lamb hamburger.  After lunch, we got free time to take more pictures of the Vatnajökull Glacier and also a chance to take pictures of some sheep eating grass in the nearby grass field. We had seen thousands of sheeps while we were on the tour bus, and this was the first chance we had to take pictures off the bus.

We drove to Glacial Lagoon to view wonderful floating icebergs flowing down from glacier into the ocean.  Various large sizes of icebergs with clear blue crystal color flowing on the lagoon with some seals swimming around the icebergs.  It was a wonderful scene.  The only set back was the rain.  But it did not stop us of taking wonderful photos.

One more photo stop was the moss-covered hills.  It takes thousands of years to get this moss on the lava land,  and it is a unique scenery.

The last attraction of the day was a beautiful waterfall Seljalandsfoss.  We had only 15 minutes. but we got wonderful waterfall photos.   

Oct 1, 2017 - Flew Back to US

In the morning, we got up early for breakfast and then went directly to Keflvik International Airport for flying back to the US. We arrived at JFK around noon, and had to wait for our flight back to Houston.  There was a delay at JFK, we finally got back to Houston after 1AM.