The Golden Circle is a route covering the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland, including the must-see Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. As it was just the two of us, we opted for a day tour by GeoIceland, a tour company which specialises in small group tours.
As usual, we waited at the entrance of our hostel for the tour bus to pick us up. As we had no idea how our transportation for the day would look like, we stood and gazed out intently at every vehicle that turned into the carpark serving the block where our hostel was located, trying to decide if that was the right vehicle.
Finally, a large van pulled up in front of us and the driver got out and asked for our names. We told him and my friend handed over the confirmation slip as well. However, he simply shrugged and informed us that it wasn’t needed. “Correct place, correct name, that’s all I need,” he said.
With that, we climbed into the van, only to discover that it was almost full and the last two seats were the single seats at the side of the van. It was a fully-booked tour, which I guess was unsurprising given the popularity of the route.
During the journey, the tour guide introduced himself to us as Javier. Spanish by origin, he studied at the University of Iceland for his masters degree in glaciology (the study of glaciers) and stayed on after graduation to work in Iceland. He was inspired to further his studies in Iceland after participating in a student exchange programme during his undergraduate years in Spain. Due to his background in geography, he was naturally very knowledgeable about plate tectonics and during the hour-long trip to our first attraction, he lectured us on the origins of Iceland and the various lava flows that are commonly seen in Iceland.
Raufarholshellir lava tube cave
Our first stop was to visit a lava tube cave in Leitahraun lava field.
Leitahraun lava field
It was approximately an hour’s drive from Reykjavik and the entrance of the cave was highly accessible as it was just a few steps away from the highway. The cave itself is rather huge (I read online that it would take 4 hours to explore the cave fully) and not safe for caving during winter, but the entrance of the cave, which was what we would be seeing, is accessible all year round. There are caving tours for adventurous people but the Raufarholshellir lava tube cave is extra perilous, especially during winter, and definitely not for the average tourist.
As we carefully navigated the icy steps down the lava tube cave, it grew darker, but not as dark as I thought it would be.Javier warned us that the pathway leading to and in the cave could be icy and therefore we had to be extra careful. He stood at the entrance and helped us down the steps to the cave.
As we carefully navigated the icy steps down the lava tube cave, it grew darker, but not as dark as I thought it would be. I soon realised why.
Raufarholshellir lava tube cave
Right in the middle of the cave was a gaping hole revealing the sky. Beneath the collapsed section was a pile of rocks. It was easier to navigate the steps deeper in the cave, but as we were not going on a caving tour, the guide made us turn back and climb out the way we came in.
My Travelation 