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Diving between tectonic plates


The Silfra fissure, located within Thingvellir National Park, provides an opportunity for visitors to dive or snorkel in the crystal clear waters of the sliver of space that separates the North American and European tectonic plates.

It starts with us stripping down to our thermals in the middle of a parking lot to begin the hour-long process of donning goose down onesies and heavy drysuits that pinch painfully at the neck and wrists. This discomfort is entirely necessary, since gliding between those tectonic plates means submerging ourselves in glacier melt that hovers between 2 and 4 deg C, depending on the time of year.

While the drysuits keep the icy water off our bodies, our faces and hands are exposed as we waddle single-file, like drunk penguins, down a flight of stairs. We kick and bob clumsily through a narrow neck in the lake before we find ourselves floating atop the rift valley. The water here is so pure — filtered as it is through porous underground lava for decades — that if some of it gets through your snorkel or you get thirsty, you just drink it. Another boon is the surreal 100-m visibility that offers the illusion of being suspended in empty space between two lofty skyscrapers. For most of us, it’s fantastic; for those with a fear of heights or watery depths, not so much.

Outside of the chilly waters, Thingvellir National Park is the site of the Vikings’ first democratic Parliament, which was established in AD930. Think of it as an ancient al fresco City Hall, where marriages were solemnised and laws were passed. History aside, Thingvellir — which was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004 — is simply breathtaking.

Note: You don’t need to be a certified diver to experience snorkelling here – as long as you are comfortable in water and ready for a snorkelling adventure which will last about 30 to 40 minutes. Dive.is offers daily snorkelling trips to Silfra. Pick-up services from your accommodation in Reykjavík  are available, and the journey to Thingvellir National Park is about an hour.

 

Geyser watching

An hour’s drive away, Gullfoss, Iceland’s most famous waterfall, kicks up tiered walls of spray that create multiple rainbows in the summer and glittery spears of icy mist in the winter. To realise the magnificence of Gullfoss, one must first understand that Iceland is a land where dramatic waterfalls tumble from great heights at every turn. In other words, Gullfoss is to Icelandic waterfalls what the Vatican City is to quaint country chapels.

After taking the requisite photographs and not skidding into the falls on the icy earth, we head to Iceland’s most famous tourist attraction. Geysir (pronounced “gay-zeer”, which literally means “gusher”) is the original thermal spout for which all geysers are named. Active for 800 years, it once spouted water up to 80m in the air.

but like people, geysers, too, must rest. Since 1916, Geysir’s activity has slowed greatly. Thankfully, right beside it is Strokkur, which shoots water up to an impressive 10-15m every five to 10 minutes, much to the delight of camera-toting tourists.

Iceland was formed by volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is a geological hotspot bearing more than 200 volcanoes, any one of which could erupt at any time. In 2010, when Eyjafjallajokull erupted, it blanketed large areas of northern Europe in impenetrable ash, resulting in the closure of airspace over most of Europe and affecting about 10 million travellers. More recently, strong tremors felt in September 2016 at Katla, a volcano named after a troll, generated widespread concern that its eruption would cripple the nation yet again. Mercifully, Katla held her peace and all is well. For now. It’s self-evident that the most predictable (and welcome) eruptions in Iceland take place at Geysir.

Glacier Hiking

As the fearsome Katla keeps her cool, it is a good time to hotfoot it up the Solheimajokull glacier, which juts out of the Myrdalsjokull glacier that caps Katla. Coming to appreciate the monumental scale of a glacier is quite an experience, and exploring the glacier itself is an adventure that shouldn’t be missed.

Companies like Adventure.is offer glacier hiking and climbing tour packages that equip hikers with proper crampon-ed boots, ice axes and helmets before taking them on what feels like a most enjoyable geography lesson while also giving them a first-hand look at the damage climate change has wrought.

For the last two decades, Solheimajokull has been retreating by an average of one Olympic pool-length every year. And seeing, firsthand, an empty glacier bed extending the length of several mountains drives home the reality that one day, Iceland may well turn into just, well, land. All this makes the opportunity to drink straight from a stream of pure glacier water, tread gingerly over a glacier’s crevasse, and scale a wall of ice using ice axes, all the more meaningful.

 

Drive around the Ring Road

Outside of Reykjavik and the Golden Circle, it’s easy to feel like Iceland is yours alone. Even at the peak of the tourist season, between mid-June and August, drivers on Iceland’s popular Ring Road — a 1,330-km strip of tarmac that loops around the island — can count the number of cars they pass in a day on a single hand. This isolation is spectacular, until your car gets stuck in the snow or flipped over by the winds.

Indeed, the wild side of Iceland’s beauty is her unpredictably harsh weather, particularly in the winter. One minute the sun is shining brightly on a troop of blond-maned horses, and the next, a thick fog rolls into view, leaving you with near-zero visibility. And when a snowstorm hits, even a four-wheel drive equipped with giant tyres is powerless against the kind of snowfall that can quickly bury a car under an impenetrable heap of snow.

Iceland’s conditions can test even the most accomplished of all-weather drivers, so when renting a car — a self-drive tour is still the best way to see the country — be sure to fork out the money for insurance (both motor and travel) as well as the best car you can afford (a four-wheel drive will take you across the loose gravel and muddy paths ore easily). Remember to stay on the marked roads (off-road driving is illegal in Iceland) and to drive within the speed limit.

For more information, visit www.iceland.is