caught our first glimpse of the mighty
Gullfoss Falls with the river appearing to
plunge into a deep crevasse. According
to Mike, this fearsome waterfall has
all the natural power and spectacle of
Niagara Falls without having to travel
half way round the world to see it. As
the weather was actually quite cold
and drizzly, we decided to go back the
following day and clamber down into the
valley to get a closer view.
We then got back in the car and off
for an evening visit to the site of the
Geysir Geothermal Area in the valley
of Haukadalur. Our timing was good
as the coachloads of day-trippers had
been and gone. By now just a few
scattered groups of people were walking
among the hot springs. In the cool air,
sulphurous steam billowed eerily across
the rocky landscape. Hot pools of all
shapes and sizes ringed the central
geyser, some lively with bubblings and
splutterings, others ominously calm
and tinged green, turquoise and pale
blue. In the air, the smell of the earth
was warmand dank. No wonder this
volcanic “land of fire and ice” is rich with
tales of strange, other-wordly spirits
and trolls. A small crowd then gathered
around the pool of the famous Strokkur
geyser, watching and waiting. All eyes
and cameras fixed expectantly on the
simmering, rising, falling, fizzing liquid.
Far beneath the surface, water is steadily
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