REYKJADULUR

Rated 10/10 by all of us!! The most gorgeous place- I have no idea why it's not high on the list of tourist traps, but I'm glad it's not!! The lack of tour buses makes this place even more special. We drove about 40 minutes southeast to the cute little town of Hveragerdi. The tourist info centre has an earthquake simulator which mimics what a 6.6 earthquake feels like (they had a recent 6.3 one), and there was CCTV footage of what it looked like as all the bottles fell off the shelf at the liquor store. Interesting.

A quick trip through the town's main road and we reached the path to Reykjadalur. It's a pretty easy 3km hike up a scenic path. Signs warn you not to step off the path as the underground is pumping with geothermal activity and you never know what you may step into!

As you clear the 'summit' and wind down a bit you see a waterfall, then pockets of white steam rising all around, here and there. Blue, bubbling ponds. The giveaway smell of sulfur. And then a long stream with a wooden walkway and various entry points. It's not too deep. Depending how far along you go, it gets hotter. There's not much privacy to change into your togs, so lucky it wasn't too busy! (Good old Iceland and its nonchalant attitude to nudity- see Buz's posts).

Anyway, we spent hours soaking away in these all-natural hot pots. May have to sneak another trip in before we go!Read more