Reykjav

[Boringchap]

As part of a cruise ship stop in June 2014, we were in Reykjavik, Iceland for a day. We decided to rent a car and self-drive the Golden Circle route.

Although we didn't have too much time, we managed to see Thingvellir (briefly), Gullfoss Waterfalls (the highlight!) and Geysir/Strokkur.

 

From a car point of view, a nice surprise was that the car company gave us a Volvo XC90 to drive! Cool stuff. Prior to this, I had never driven a Volvo before, let alone their flagship SUV. Back home, I drive a Corolla, so obviously this was going to be fun!

 

As expected, the car performed very well. It was quite new, about 35,000km on the odometer. It was a diesel!

 

How would I describe the car? It was an automatic transmission. The engine was definitely very responsive and I could overtake very easily. The car felt very stable. In terms of drive, it was smooth and comfortable, unlike say the Honda (or subsequently the BMW which I would get to drive later this trip).

 

I am not the 'must-feel-the-road' type of person so I like the Volvo feel over the BMW feel.

 

Here are my blog links with many pictures -

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/06/adventure-of-seas-day-4-reykjavik.html

 

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/06/adventure-of-seas-day-4-reykjavik_21.html

 

Video of Gullfoss Waterfalls

 

Video of Thingvellir Toilets - 200 Icelandic Kroners per person (pay by credit card!)

 

 

[Volvobrick]

Awasome waterfall! And view from the toilet!

 

Looks like they can charge so much to use the toilet because there is not a single bush nor tree to do "business" in the entire Iceland.

[Boringchap]

Awasome waterfall! And view from the toilet!

 

Looks like they can charge so much to use the toilet because there is not a single bush nor tree to do "business" in the entire Iceland.

 

At first, that was what I thought. We were going to have to pay 200ISK each time we used the toilet.

 

Fortunately, this was not the case. This was the one and only time we had to pay to use the toilet in Iceland. The rest of the time the toilets were free. I guess it depends on where you go.

[Boringchap]

After Gullfoss, the next (and final stop for us that day) would be Geysir and Strokkur. This tourist attraction was just a 10 minute drive from Gullfoss, in fact we passed it on the way to Gullfoss. It was easy to get to.

Actually, Geysir isn't active anymore, because some people threw rocks into her and they couldn't unblock her. Sad.

Strokkur, however, erupts every 8 to 10 minutes. So you are almost certain to witness an explosion when you are there.

See this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMb6zcc3Bxw

Inside the visitor center for Geysir/Strokkur. They had a cafe, shopping area and complimentary toilets!

You could buy a can of fresh air for your friends. Seriously, those cans felt really empty, as if they contained only air. Oh.

Anyway, it was time to head back to the ship, after we were done with Geysir. So I drove back using the same route. It was more than 100km. Took us more than an hour.

Check out this video of the drive -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-cPJceA6z4

Blog post for more pictures.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/06/adventure-of-seas-day-4-reykjavik_22.html