Breakfast was slightly better though it was still the normal western fare. For the first time we had poach eggs.
Breafast area
After checkout, the first stop was Faxi waterfall situated a few steps from the road, hidden and not visible from the road.
We were so overwhelmed by the sheer number of waterfalls in Iceland! Even along the roadside, one can spot a waterfall here and there.
The Faxi waterfall is located on the Golden Circle, a popular tourist trail east of Reykjavik. The waterfall is located on the Tungufljót river.
Driving further on 35, we arrived at the volcanic crater Kerið. Admission fees of 400 ISK apply.
Kerið is a volcanic crater lake located in the Grímsnes area in the Golden Circle. It is one of several crater lakes in the area, known as Iceland's Western Volcanic Zone, which includes the Reykjanes peninsula and the Langjökull Glacier, created as the land moved over a localized hotspot, but it is the one that has the most visually recognizable caldera still intact. The caldera, like the other volcanic rock in the area, is composed of a red (rather than black) volcanic rock. The caldera itself is ~55m deep, 170 m wide, and 270 m across. Kerið’s caldera is one of the three most recognizable volcanic craters because at approximately 3,000 years old, it is only half the age of most of the surrounding volcanic features. The other two are Seyðishólar and Kerhóll.
While most of the crater is steep-walled with little vegetation, one wall is sloped more gently and blanketed with a deep moss, and can be descended fairly easily. The lake itself is fairly shallow (7–14 metres, depending on rainfall and other factors), but due to minerals from the soil, is an opaque and strikingly vivid aquamarine.
Then we continued on 47 along the shores of Hvalfjörður Fjord towards Reykjavik. At Mosfellsbær town, we took 36 to Þingvellir National Park, a unique place from a geological point of view. Research has shown that Þingvellir is a natural wonder on an international scale. The faults and fissures of the area are evidence of the rifting of the earth's crust. There are few places on the planet,- if any, where evidence of continental drift is as clearly visible as it is at Þingvellir.
Car Park
Þingvellir is one of the most historical sites in the country and a place of exceptional beauty.
Þingvellir National Park (pronounced Thingvellir) is a national park in South Iceland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park was home to the world's longest running Parliament, Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, first established in 930 AD.
It also has a rift valley formed from the mountains in the northeast and down towards lake Þingvallavatn as a result of sitting along the border between the North American and European tectonic plates. ver the past 10,000 years the valley’s appearance has been shaped by the spreading and sinking of the Earth’s crust. The tectonic plates west of Almannagjá and east of Heiðargjá are gradually moving apart by an average of 3 mm per year. Measurements suggest that the graben (the floor of the valley) has widened 70 meters in the space of 10,000 years, and sunk by 40 meters at the same time – the difference between the top of Almannagjá and the plains below.
Rift of the North American and Eursian Plate
Upon arrival in Reykjavik, checked in to Hill Hotel again for the last night in Iceland. We had 2 twin rooms and 1 single room. Layout of these rooms were slightly different from the first stay. They are actually bigger.
Bathroom
Room number
Bathroom
Double Room
Walked to the town area to have Thai soup noodles at Noodle Station. This was the 3rd Thai eatery we had meals.
Tasted good as it warmed the tummies.
Enroute back to hotel. The streets were more crowded this day.
22 Hill Hotel
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