Into the Tourist Den: Golden Circle > Keflavik [6/30-7/04 - 230mi]

I left Gardur's farm overloaded with frozen Icelandic meat products and headed towards the famous tourist destination of The Golden Circle. Near enough to Reykjavik for convenient day trips, the area is swarming with tourists and their large coach busses. Alas, the items on most of their checklists are Geysir (yes, a geyser- but the english word "geyser" stems from the Icelandic location.) Geysir itself only spouts every hundred years or so, albeit very impressively; however there is a small fountain right next to it that spits up a flume of water every 10-20min. Nearby is Gullfoss, a massive 3-tiered waterfall. Deciding that I would avoid the masses and tempted by the idea of leaving my gear at the campsite for the 14mi round trip ride, I made the journey to Gullfoss around 1am and literally had the place to myself. Finally there is Pingvatn- Iceland's largest lake and the nearby village of Pingvalla that is the historic site of the first Parlimentary assembly in Europe.
Geysir had all the makings of a tourist trap, but Gullfoss was very impressive.

Gullfoss

 

 

 

And then it rained- amazingly, for almost a month in Iceland I had avoided the rain except for a few brief showers. Today was not so lucky and I rode for hours in a cold steady rain. Despite this, I detoured 12mi extra to see Pingvatn. As you can see, the view was tremendously worthwhile:

Another day riding along the southern coast out to Grindlavik, I found a fantastic campsite perched on the cliffs above a black sand cove and listened to the crashing waves as I cooked up Gundar's shark fillets for a late night dinner.

near Grindlavik

My final day led me to the famous Blue Lagoon Hotspring Resoprt, which they are quick to point out is ranked as one of the 25 Wonders of the Wolrd by National Geographic, with prices to match.
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outside Blue Lagoon... you'll have to see inside for yourself.... if you dare

The entire experience felt like being part of a sci-fi movie: after ponying up the $45 entry fee, they give you a microship encoded bracelet that is both your locker key and expense account for whatever fantastic goods and services you want to indulge in. Massage? Beauty products derived from their silica mud? An overpriced beer in the pool from the Tiki Bar? Have at it all, just scan your wrist....

The surroundings were just as eery- turquoise blue pool backed by jagged black lava speckled hills, a steamy geothermal powerplant off to the side, hoards of people soaking while their faces are caked with the white silica skin elixer. I couldn't decide if this was paradise or a high-end concentration camp. But if you go all the way to Iceland, you kinda have to go to the Blue Lagoon.

I made it out alive and back to my original campground near the Keflavik airport to retrieve my bike box and pack up for the next phase of my trip.

goodbye Iceland, you have sure been good to me!