Iceland 5: A hasty tour of mostly waterfalls

We began our second tour by being picked up by a gruff, older man.  Picking up other people was fairly smooth, however we did have to make a brief stop on the way to our first destination in order to pick up a trailer for him to store the luggage and to pick up a piece of equipment that was forgotten. 

We first stopped at Thingvellir National Park.  The driver seemed impatient as I chose my camera gear and was waving us to, I guess, run to the group to catch up.  I simply kept walking.  Luckily he seemed to have eased up after this.  We looked around at the interesting rock formations and walked along the path between two tectonic plates.



Next, we made a five minute stop to examine the fault line, I believe it was.



Geysir hot springs was up next.  The biggest geyser was ruined years ago by human interference, and so they leave this smaller one along.  It blows every 7 minutes or so.  Some of the expulsions were quite mild, but one was larger.  I was trying different camera settings and finally found one that worked, but it blew larger than I had expected.



Gulfoss Falls was the next stop and this massive set of waterfalls were stunning.  There were a few views but I liked this one best.



We eventually came to Seljalandsfoss, a set of three waterfalls.  You normally can hike behind the waterfalls, but due to deadly ice that could hang on the cave ceiling, that part was barred off.



We made an unscheduled stop at what looked like a small town, I believe the driver spoke of the significance of the volcano located here.  In any case, it was picturesque and the sunset on the other side was just as nice.



Since the weather was so clear, we made a final tourist stop at Skogafoss.  I couldn't decide on which picture to use, so I posted both.  The ground was quite icey, but the ice made the area likely even more beautiful than it normally would be.  There were a set of steps going up the mountain to the top of the falls and I decided to go.  Happily, Miles came with me despite reluctance.  The views from the top were very nice.  I am glad we had this little moment to ourselves.



We stopped at a supermarket before going to our countryside hotel just east of the town of Vik.  We had some good conversation on the bus with fellow passengers.  I ended up at  the restaurant to drink coffee.  I asked if they had any skyr.  They said yes.  I was expecting the yogurt that was brought to me a few days prior.  Instead, it was a cake, which funnily enough, was what my first guide wanted me to try.  I asked our current guide about this discrepancy, and he informed me that Skyr encompasses a wide range of products.  I joked with Miles that if the marshmallows he bought at the supermarket said Skyr, it could have tasted like pizza or bacon for all we knew.