Yesterday was a very full day. There is active lava flow in the area. Wouldn’t it be cool to see it? Unfortunately, locals are very reluctant to let tourists die from falling into hot lava or from inhaling sulpher fumes. The only way to see the area is with a helicopter ride. At $900. Per person. We took a pass and instead toured what they call the Golden Circle. This 9-hour tour started at 1 PM. Days can be very long when one is close to the artic circle.

We started with a geothermal energy plant. It taps deep into the earth to extract very hot water under very high pressure. (You can insert your own numbers. I don’t remember them.) They convert some of the water to steam which turns turbine generators that make electricity. There’s plenty of electricity for everyone with enough left over to power an aluminum smelting plant. And there’s enough hot geothermal water left over to heat the houses and buildings in Reykjavik. Nation wide, about 90% of all buildings are heated with geothermal energy. The guide that explained the process was excellent. He was answering questions as they popped into my head.

Geothermal turbine

Our next stop was the amazing Thingvellir waterfall.

Waterfall

There was no time to dawdle. We moved on to an area with steam ominously venting to the atmosphere. Here was the location of an ever reliable geyser. I was unbelievably lucky to catch this pic.

Geyser

The last stop was the best of all. It was the location of Iceland’s Althing, or parliament, circa 930 AD. It doubles as the place where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly moving away from each other. We could clearly see the edge of each tectonic plate. The land between them was incredibly dramatic. My pictures didn’t turn out. Here’s a cheat from one of the billboards.

Today we stay in Reykjavik. We plan to actually tour the city we are visiting for a change.