Day 5 – Gullfoss and HotPot

I froze last night. The temperature definitely dipped below -2C. I woke up in the middle of the night to put on all the clothes I have. I considered boiling some water to heat up my tent, but it was too cold for me to even step out.

Also super windy, I guess the highlands aren’t the friendliest camping spot. Earlier in the night, I had met some guys from Quebec who had a camper-van. They seemed to think I was crazy for sleeping in a tent, maybe they were right.

Gullfoss was a 10km drive from Geysir. The falls were beautiful, but I still would say Niagara Falls is more awe-inspiring with its sheer force and beauty.

At some point, throngs of tourists started to arrive in buses and I figured it was time to leave.

Based on a recommendation from a guy I met in Reykjavik, I drove to Flúðir in search of a secret lagoon. After getting lost a bit and annoying some locals, I managed to find it. After freezing last night, I welcomed the hot water.

The water has a gel-like viscous feel to it due to the silica-deposits. The lagoon also had a sulphur smell and the water was pretty damn soothing.

After a while, I met an awesome couple visiting from Denmark – Ashutosh and Fatima. We chatted up over a few beers, and hanging out with them really made the time fly.

I left at about 9pm, after five hours in the lagoon. My skin had wrinkled completely and I figured I should probably leave.

I drove to a nearby town of Arnes to set up camp. The town was completely deserted! I saw no cars, no people, no lights on, nothing. The campsite was empty too. Whatever, I was too exhausted to care. Cooked up a quick dinner and to bed it was.