#GoldenCircle tour from #Reykjavic #Iceland and the #BlueLagoon

As part of the holiday, we had a tour to the Golden Circle included and we also booked a visit to the Blue Lagoon.
After a late night viewing the Northern Lights, it was an early start to the tour. After picking up from other hotels, it was a two hour drive to our first stop at Haukadalur to see the Geysir. At the moment the large one is dormant but the small one was erupting quite spectacularly about every five minutes.

After a short stop there, we were on our way to our next viewpoint at The Gullfoss waterfall (Golden Waterfall). After a nice lunch of Icelandic lamb stew, followed by chocolate cake, we made our way down to  view the waterfall. Again, this was an impressive sight and well worth the trip. The force of the water was slowly enlarging the valley into which it flowed. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't in the right place on this occasion and so the reflections from the waterfall were a little subdued. 

 Our final destination was at the Þingvellir National Park rift valley. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates.  We admired the view and setting sun before walking down the rift valley between the two plates. 

A superb day out and still the Blue Lagoon to visit. 
We decided to visit the Lagoon on Saturday morning which meant an early 7am start and a cold wait for the coach, but we were soon on our way. We were full of expectation, not knowing what to expect and as  we arrived and made our way in the dark to the entrance, the first feelings of excitement filtered through our thoughts.
After a thorough shower, Sue and I met and descended into the water, which was shrouded in darkness and mist. Low lighting lit up the area and shapes slowly emerged; some with white faces looking like zombies! Fortunately for us, they were wearing silicone face masks, which were full of minerals and designed to cleanse and purify the skin. We made our way around in the hot water looking for the drink area and after a drink, we decided on a face mask ourselves and set off in the mist.
We  were a little disorientated in the dark but managed to find other people wearing masks and  so asked for general directions. After applying the masks, we set off to explore further.
Eventually we found the  therapeutic waterfall and let that massage us for a while, before exploring further. Finally, our time was up and we had to find our way to the exit, which was still shrouded in the mist and dark. After changing, we had time for a quick look round before leaving. 

In our minds, this was an experience not to be missed. Sue managed to find all the hottest areas and didn't want to move, I found these a little too hot for comfort. The darkness and mist added to the surreal experience  and because of this we would recommend going in the dark. 
On reflection, we may have preferred the 7pm slot, as when we arrived back at the hotel, we were really relaxed and could have slept straight away!
​Also, talking to people who went on the evening trip, they also had the added bonus of seeing the Northern Lights on the way back to the hotel.