Geysir and Strokkur, the Icelandic geysers in the Golden Circle

Geysir, yes, that is where the English word geyser comes from. Geysir, or the Great Geysir, as it is sometimes called, is located some seventy miles to the east of Reykjavik, and is part of the famous touristic Golden Circle, of which Thingvellir National Park and Gullfoss are part.

Geysir has been active, on and off, for many hundreds of years in the recorded history of Iceland. It is known to hurl water to some 70 meters up into air. Lately, Geysir erupts less often, perhaps just a few times a day, if at all.

As you approach Geysir, you can not be but amazed at the steaming landscape. There is hot water and steam coming out from almost everywhere, and it makes for a mesmerizing landscape. There are about thirty pools of boiling water and little geysers in the area.

While the Great Geysir is mostly silent, there is another geyser, Strokkur, that is right next to Geysir, and it erupts to some 40 meters every few minutes. While we were there, we saw it erupting quite a few times. The most amazing part of the eruption is when the entire water surface starts to rise in a convex form, as a very large bubble, and then suddenly bursts. 

One could watch the geysers forever, but our first  day in Iceland was actually coming to a close. It was perhaps 10 at night, but there was a faint light all around. We decided to find our hotel, which was somewhere nearby, to retire for the night.