There were times during the night where it was a torrential downpour! We needed to keep our window open as the room is normally too warm. Plus, the wind was howling on and off. We decided to get to the breakfast buffet much earlier than yesterday morning so we arrived around 08:15. Much less busy which was a good outcome. A large group of motorcycle enthusiasts arrived before we were finished. Not sure how they manage navigating the roads in the kinds of winds we experience here? We checked out just before 10:00 to give us an early start on the day as the plan was to do a lot of driving.
Our goal is to drive the Golden Circle or it is called the Golden Triangle as it really is not a true 'circle'. This drive is up to 300 kms long and we will join it at Selfoss (west of Vik). Randy did quite a lot of research, but we were not totally sure of where to veer off at Selfoss? The conditions are super rains then sunshine then super rains, rains and then sunshine during the day.
On the internet this is the description of the winds in Iceland: "Iceland is a very windy country. Add this to the erratic weather and you will understand why a calm day on the island is rare." I have mentioned this in earlier blogs, but now it all makes sense. Driving our Jeep is a physical chore as the winds want to push the vehicle either off the road or into oncoming traffic. Walking or hiking can be challenging as the wind gusts are super strong. When it rains (which is often) it forces the rain to hit you from the side. Anyway, enough complaining as we would still be here regardless of these winds.
The reference to Lethbridge is the fact it is the windiest city in Canada. My good friend from High School, Bob, moved to Lethbridge to play University ball and then married and stayed in the city until moving back to Vancouver a number of years ago. Whenever I visited Bob in Lethbridge it was always windy. Golfing or playing tennis was quite the experience given the severity of the winds! If I attempt to compare the winds Iceland is much worse and can be unrelenting. Right now as I update our blog the winds are howling! and shaking our domed tent (Glamping).
Geodesic dome outside of Selfoss (Golden Circle Domes)
We figure it will take about 90 minutes to drive westward from Vik to Selfoss to then join with the Golden Circle route. In addition, we have our first ever "Glamping" experience organized for a place just outside of Selfoss. Lana is not a camping or tenting type of person, but was very keen on a "glamping" experience. Basically, glamping is tenting for the "bougie" types. In case you have never encountered the term bougie: "relating to or characteristic of a person who indulges in some of the luxuries or comforts of a fancy lifestyle." Bougie = Lana.
While this geodesic dome is super expensive, it is a once in a lifetime experience so we will indulge ourselves while in Iceland. Plus, there is the opportunity to see the Northern Lights if the night sky is clear enough.
Online Map of the Golden Circle aka Golden Triangle
Lana gets a text from the host of the Golden Domes about our check-in time? She indicates we can drop our luggage early and then carry on for the day. We stop for gas on the way and make it to the domes in about 90 minutes. The cleaner is in our dome (#2) when we arrive and doesn't speak very good English which is the very first time we have encountered that. We do figure each other out and drop our luggage and head towards our first stop on the Golden Circle. It is reasonably close to our Dome area so that worked out very well. Back in the Jeep and off to our first stop on the Golden Circle.
Lana pulled this off her iPhone as it offered some good directions to the major tourist sites on the Golden Circle.
We are driving along the highway and see a large Icelandic flag and lots of vehicles parked. We pull over and make a u-turn to
Keriõ (Kerid Crater). I then remembered this in my research so we found a parking spot and added on our layers of water resistant clothing and footwear as the weather continues to confound us with sun and then rain, but always windy. we really like this site given its uniqueness. It is 6500 years old and is the result of an ancient volcano when the cone volcano erupted and emptied its magma reserve and then the weight of the cone collapsed into the empty magma chamber creating the current crater. The sides of the crater are very steep.
The entrance sign confirming "no drones". For a Canadian the price is around $4.50CAD each. Parking is hard to find, but free. No discount for seniors!
View showing the steepness of the sides of the crater.
You can walk around the upper perimeter of the crater and then there are stairs at one end that take you to the lake below. Apparently the lake is a result of underground water sources.
Another angle.
Yup, it is that steep!
Just before the rains hit!
Trail around the lake. That small blue figure is Lana.
Lana way across the lake walking the trail!
I wonder if there are any fish in this lake?
OK, our next stop is to the famous Geyser area. It is one of the three main attractions of the Golden Circle. The Icelandic term in Geysir. Wow, this attraction is massive in terms of buildings and the number of fellow tourists! My expectations are immediately heightened. We find parking that is not close to the actual geysers, but we follow the crowds across the highway and then a hike into the area more up the mountain. This is free and the parking is free.
Information Map of Geysir. Basically, this area has a number of small geysers and then larger geysers. The crowds are found at Strokkur Geysir given it erupts although not on a regular basis. The springs are super hot and lots of steam. Plus, you cannot avoid the smell of sulphur in the air. My point of reference is being in Yellowstone National Park in the USA and seeing Old Faithful geyser. This really spoils my experience as Old Faithfull is a huge eruption and on a regular basis. 
They name each geysir. This is a very small one with no eruptions but constant bubbling. 
This is their famous Strokkur geysir that is ringed by many many tourists each with their cellphone cameras holding them up and waiting for the next eruption. The eruption is brief and not much. A big puff and that is pretty much it.
What the heck is the name of this geysir?
You can hike up the hillside/mountain to get better vantage points of the many geysers below. Lana found this Sun Dial which was pretty good at showing the time. 
We did walk up 75% of the way and then thought that we were not seeing any more geysers and it was just a matter of getting higher up the hill. 
At the centre below a map of the various geysers. 
Our next stop is another of the big three being Gulfoss Falls. Not too long of a drive from the geyser area and another huge parking lot and it is free parking. In fact, like Geysir you do not pay any entrance fees. You walk down a paved path and get to a point where you can head left up stairs to an observation area high above the Falls or walk down a set of many stairs so you are looking head on at the multiple falls. We chose to not hike to the observation area. At this point the wind is howling and the rains are pelting down. Then the sun comes out....
Information Board.
Lana's picture of the basalt rocks which form the canyon under the Falls. 
Another example of the basalt rocks found all over Iceland. 
These Falls are amazing and powerful. They are spread out and form a kind of triangle with multiple levels.
Another angle from our vantage point. 
On the left you can see tourists hiking towards the spray wearing their rain ponchos.
We head to the main building/centre that houses many shops and a cafeteria. We are both hungry, but know that these tourist places charge even higher prices. Nothing really appeals to us so we get back in the car with the idea of getting to our final location being Thingvellir. The dark clouds are rolling in and the wind speed increasing. It is already getting late so we decide to head back to Selfoss and get something to eat and purchase some groceries for our own breakfast in the dome tomorrow morning. It was a good decision as shortly after our decision there is a massive storm of wind and rain. Then the sun comes out.... Oops, still windy.....
There is a food "hall" in Selfoss that we would term a food "court" although it was not in a mall. It was close to 15:30 when we arrived in Selfoss and we were both pretty hungry. We did not have lunch although Lana made some small buns for a salami sandwich and a tuna sandwich, but these were bite-sized. In the car on the way to Selfoss Lana did her online research and came across a Thai restaurant "
Menam" that had good ratings. Plus, trying Asian food in foreign countries can lead to some great discoveries.
Randy's plate of deep fried shrimp, Panang chicken and spring rolls with rice. Pretty decent although not up to Vancouver standards in terms of Thai cuisine.
Lana's bowl of Cashew Chicken with vegetables on rice. Portions are definitely on the larger size here in Iceland. Lana declares the thai food was a bit disappointing, but when you're hungry, anything tastes good!
In addition to this meal, we decided to get a pizza to go and that could be our dinner. Lana was craving a salad so we stopped at the main grocery store in town being
Krónan. Lana bought a salad, bananas, licorice, a 'pancake' for Randy and some bread with a cost of $16CAD. That is a great deal compared to the prices we have faced earlier. We head back to our dome in the woods and now we are familiar with the red road through the forest.
We thought it would be informative to discuss the prices in Iceland as we believe pretty much everyone knows it is expensive. It isn't until you are in the country that you really experience just how expensive everything is. The prices can be staggering to us Canadians although we bet that any other country in the world would have the same experience.
When Randy was in Mexico in March with his friend Brent they were paying $1CAD for a delicious taco. The prices here were $18CAD for a taco. Yesterday a bowl of chicken soup was $20 at a casual lunch place. You definitely get sticker shock over the price of food in restaurants. Prices for things like fresh fruit that must be shipped over here are also very high--a package of blueberries was $12. Other things like yogurt, bread seem more reasonable at least. Overheard at the bar yesterday, when a woman ordered a large glass of beer, "that will be $5000". Yes, that's $50 for a large glass of beer!!
We have the middle dome.
Side angle of our dome.
We had the code for the key box and the key worked for our entry. There was a bottle of 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile as a gift. We will drink that with our pizza!
The dome is super-comfortable and is set up to have a square structure in the middle complete with a kitchen on one side, the main bed on another, the entrance to the bathroom inside the structure and then a step ladder to climb to the top of the square that has another bed for sleeping. Around the dome is the dining table, wood burning fire place, a couch and some lounge chairs. Everything is sleek black and very modern inside our dome. It comes complete with hard-wood flooring and a large circle opening at the top so you could lay in the top bed and look straight up at the sky. The main bed is positioned to look right outside the plastic windows. The following pictures are of the inside of our dome.
Do you see the happy face in the log second from the left? This is a real log fire!
View from our bed overlooking the field below with the tents and trees. Hoping the clouds stay away so we have a chance at seeing the Northern Lights!
Another busy and fun day in Iceland. We have our dinner inside our dome with the complimentary bottle of wine. The pizza was very good and Lana's green salad was perfect. We finished the blog and just enjoyed our room. The rain quit finally and the wind is not as violent. It is quiet here in the woods except for the guests in the dome beside us. It is now around 21:45 and they are just as loud now as when they arrived about three hours ago. In fact, they have not stopped talking since they arrived. It is now 22:17 and finally we have some quiet.
Pretty cloudy overhead so unlikely we will see many stars or the Northern Lights. 😩
Still cloudy so no chance of lights and there are a few stars visible only. Too much cloud cover. We have the portable heater going. It is 6 degrees Celsius so it will be a chilly night. We both got in over 11,000 steps and about 33 floors of elevation gain.
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