Around Iceland in 14 days (article 3 of 10)

Day 5 
26 aug 2015
Pingvellir (oldest Parliament in the world), Strokkur Geiser



First stop

Post office to pay the parking summons. EUR18 down the drain and Tangy bought some stamps and self delivered a postcard home. Then, off to the world's oldest Parliament called Pingvellir (the P is pronounced as 'Th').



Pingvellir
Drove 78km.

Iceland first National Park established in 1930 to protect the remains of what is believed as the world's first parliament. 1930 marked the 1,000th anniversary of the parliament. The European and North American continental rift traverses this area; hence cracks or faults can be clearly seen. It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

People used to come from far places to attend the parliament and had to go through treacherous jeourneys. It gives me an appreciation on how early on how the people of this country respected some kind of common governance and rules.

 

Figure: due to its location, Pinvellir has a unique geology.

Figure: The Law Rock is where the actual parliament activity is carried out every June. The highly prestigous role of the Law Speaker is the only paid employee and his power is limited to the parliament only with no formal power in society.  There was no written language back then in AD930+ and hence laws were passed down orally. Rules of society are decided; the sessions last for 2 weeks.


Strokkur Geyser
Drove 78km.

Visited the Strokkur Geyser. Free entrance. The water is 80-100 deg Celcius (176-212 F), barricades are placed to separate you from the steaming water. The geyser is a geological condition where as water boils, a superheated column of steam and water is pushed upwards through a conduit to the surface. Geyser is a rare phenomenon found in volcanic terrain and only about 1,000 geysers are known. The strokkur geyser was blocked once following an earthquake where the conduit is blocked. In the 60's the managed to unblock the conduit and it has been 'erupting' ever since. The geyser erupts every 8-10 minutes. If you want to know more about geyser (Wikipedia Geyser).

After that, we walked across the road to a big souvenir shop. Went back to our campervan for a nice cuppa before going to the next destination.

Figure: The eruption used to be as high as 60m. Just before the eruption, there will be a rumbling sound followed by a strong water gushing out of the pool; its a sight to behold.





Figure: Right after the eruption as the water subsides, the water in the pool took sometime to 'calm down'









Figure: My son stood in the direction of the wind and wet the camera and lens which are luckily the weather sealed type. Hehe. We still laugh about it.







That's it for Day 5. In our travels, we never cramped too many things in a day and prefer to take it slower. If we miss some attractions, so be it. It also helps us to make sure that we only go to spots that we really like and not necessarily what other people like. By pacing ourselves, we felt that we spent more quality time together; such as stopping for coffee or snacks and chit chatting versus racing to go to the next interesting site.




We stayed at a camping site nearby (skjolcamping). It accepts the camping card so our stay is free and only had to pay for shower which was EUR3 per person. It was the windiest place that we stayed, I cannot imagine those that stay in a tent.

Figure: The van was shaking the whole night, and rewarded with this view when we woke up in the morning....

Figure: Day 5 - our Journey so far according to google map approximately 299km.

End of Article 3.           Next Click Here

Links to:

Article 1 - Reykjavik

Article 2 - Bridge Between 2 continents, Seltun Geothermal steam, Blue Lagoon, first overnight stay in Campervan, Aurora

Article 3 - (this article) - Pingvellir Parliament, Geyser Southwest

Article 4 - South Gulfoss, Gluggafoss, Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Article 5 - Black Sand Beach, View of the Glacier

Article 6 - Glacier Walk, Zodiac Boat Ride in the Lake, Ice Beach
Article 7 - Hofn and Fjardabyggd
Article 8 - Hverir, Myvatn Nature Bath and Lake Myvatn
Article 9 - Whale watching, Exploration Museum, Godafoss Waterfall, Akureyri Sundlaug 

Article 10 - Akureyri Christmas Shop, 14th Century Port, Old Church, Dalvik, Beautiful valley Oxnadalur, Overnight Varmahlid, Glaumbaer turf house, Hill with crater, Reykjavik city, Last Sundlaug