Iceland’s Golden Circle: Gullfoss
I thought we had seen all most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland and nothing else could impress us more. But I was wrong. This is definitely the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland:
Gullfoss means “golden falls”. It is the most visited waterfall in Iceland. It is elegant and majestic. Thousands of tourists come here everyday in summertime.
And here is our new friend, this young girl is from Belarus, she is studying microbiology and working in Germany. She decided to travel everywhere in Iceland all by herself, with her backpack and tent. She is very nice, intelligent and …… brave. Apparently, Iceland is very safe and hitchhiking is still a very popular way to move around.
My Frommer’s EasyGuide to Iceland says:
” The ‘Golden Circle’ route as a whole isn’t notably golden or circular, but ‘Mossy Green Triangle’ is a less marketable title for the most popular day tour in Iceland. ”
And since it is very popular and thousands of tourists visit these places daily, they are well prepared and offer everything visitors need including many souvenir shops:
From the parking lot you can see Langjökull. It is the second largest ice cap in Iceland, after Vatnajökull.
An interesting fact about Iceland:
Icelandic tourist boom is a very recent phenomenon. Here is how Halldor Larusson explains it in his article – Dystopian Vision. Tourism has boosted the Icelandic economy, but the country is struggling to cope.
In 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcano exploded and left international travelers stranded. We had managed to draw attention to ourselves. But tourism in Iceland started taking off when the Arab Spring swept across North Africa in 2011, making travel to the region unsafe. Iceland is about the same distance from many European airports as is northern Africa and, like northern Africa, it is sufficiently different from much of Europe to make it feel exotic. Iceland makes you feel like you feel like you have reached the outer edges of the civilized world. You can sense danger lurking underneath the surface and that’s what makes it exciting. (…)
The number of tourists in Iceland has increased at a rapid rate over the last few years. In 2010 we had 488,000 visitors. This year we are expecting 1.73 million people. (Iceland population is 331,778) This is not a high number as such, but the increase is sudden, and it has important implications, both economic and social.
From Iceland Review magazine
Przepiekny wodospad. A sweterki jakby byly z Zakopanego.