This is a super jeep and massive, there were a number of them waiting to take a tour group on a trip. AEndr is 5 feet tall for comparison.		Driving east out of Reykjavík, an example of the road and the mountains in the distance.		Mountains and a lake.
	Part of the Hellisheiði plateau, a bleak lava field.		They'd had snow quite recently.		A plume of steam from a hot spring in the distance.
	thermal plume zoomed in out of side window		Another plume of steam. There are a lot of photos taken from the car on the move, due to a lack of anywhere to stop safely and if we stopped for all the interesting scenery we wouldn't have travelled very far at all.		similar with backdrop of hill + wing mirror
	similar but better framing		more mountains		and again
			This is a waterfall called Seljalandsfoss. "Foss" in an Icelandic word means waterfall. The water falls over a former sea cliff, though we are quite a way inland. Iceland's a growing country...
	I liked the way the sun shone over the falls.		The falling water has eroded away part of the cliff leaving a walkway behind the falls, apparently. I say apparently because Ganesh has just discovered how icy the steps are and we decided it was not safe to try. Even the handles of these steps are covered in ice.		side view of falls at Sel...foss
	side view of other falls at Sel...foss		The ground in front of the falls would be wet with the spray, except that it is cold enough to freeze and the ground is instead covered with crunchy ice - upside down icicles.		bottom view of falls at Sel...foss
			The spray goes a long way.		More icy ground.
	There's actually a second bit of fall over to the left near the main fall.		landscape on way from Sel...foss to Skogar		ditto, lots of road
	More mountains.		There's a cave in this cliff face. There are a lot of caves in Iceland.		I just liked the shape of this bit of rock.
			good picture of boat from downstairs		Traditional dress worn by Icelandic women in Skógar folk museum.
	This is an Icelandic musical instrument.		This tapestry shows the clothing worn during the Saga times. I can't remember which Saga it depicts.		Fishing is an incredibly important part of Icelandic life and culture. This is a traditional fishing boat (Ganesh's picture is better).
	arctic fox		smaller creature - foxcub?		two seals
	inside of reconstructed cattle shed		C19th houses with red roofs		Still at the museum, a farmhouse, with an old turfed building at one end and newer parts at the other.
	A typical church (still at Skógar).				Skógarfoss waterfall. This is 200 ft (60 m) high. It is said that Thrasi, the first settler in the area, hid a chest of gold somewhere in a cave behind these falls.
	falls at Skogarfoss with a rainbow		The fallsbow
	Ganesh part way through climbing up to the top of the falls.				same from up the hill (no rainbow)
	Ganesh is up there somewhere.		Aha, through the monocular Ganesh is spotted.		Skogar river system from top of hill
	Another view from the top of hill		Mýrdalsjökull, a glacier. "Jökull" means glacier.
	On a gravel road driving towards Sólheimajökull, a glacier tongue extending from Mýrdalsjökull		The glacier tongue from much closer to.		AE standing behind a rock at glacier tongue
	Another picture of glacier tongue				The land near the glacier is dry, dusty and stoney and pretty bleak.
	Icy scenery		Gowolla, Mickey (Monsoon Guides Moose) and an island.		This dog begged for food while we had some rolls, ham and cheese, and then wouldn't go away.
	Two columns out to sea at Reynir		A lovely volcanic beach at Reynir. Instead of sand, the beach is made of small black pebbles.		From Reynir beach, mountains + ice
	Basalt columns, each with the typical hexagonal cross section as seen at the Giants Causeway, but big enough to sit on comfortably.		Island + beach from Reynir
	Views from the beach				Rocks inside basalt column cave at Reynir
	Rock fissure				Ganesh in the cave where the ceiling shows the basalt columns.
	Lovely picture of AE sitting on basalt columns				Eldhraun is a very famous lava field and one of the eeriest ones in Iceland. The moss is up to a foot deep, grey when it hasn't rained, going green after rain. The blur is due to the speed we are travelling at. We were going to Kirkjubæjarklaustur (which we never managed to pronounce successfully). Kirkjubæjarklaustur is famous because, when there was a massive volcanic eruption from the volcano Laki, which created the Eldhraun lava field, wiping out farms and communities, the congregation at Kirkjubæjarklaustur church prayed and held a mass. The lava stopped just 2 km from their village. Though the village was spared, the toxic ash which covered Iceland after that poisoned the grass and much of the livestock died. There was a terrible famine and a fifth of the population of Iceland died. The eruption affected most of the Northern Hemisphere and it is speculated that it caused the crop failure which preceded the French Revolution.
	Driving eastwards from Kirkjubæjarklaustur.
	Vatnajökull is the largest glacier in Europe.		view of glacier + clouds from moving car		view of glacier + clouds from moving car
	noticeboard
	view of glacier + clouds		(for Art) the car
			Seamus enjoys the scenery
	Seamus, Gowolla and Mickey		Cloud covered glacier and Einbreið Brú (single width bridge)
	Glacial river, the water is clear and more greeny blue than normal				You can see the glacial tongue coming down from the glacier
	noticeboards		noticeboards		Seamus considers the glacier
	AE + Seamus				Ganesh and the mountains
	bits of bridge after a flood (?)		View of glacier tongue		Ganesh and the glacier
	Layers of rock				The Skfatafellsjökull glacier tongue of Vatnajökull glacier (the largest glacier in Europe) in Skaftafell National Park.
	Can you see Elves in the rocks?
	Noticeboard at Jokulsarlon		AE in front of lagoon at Jokulsarlon		Iceberg
	The Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, created by run off from the glaciar - some of it solid.
	Lagoon and glacier		Same from different perspective
	Suspension bridge				View down road with glacier in distance
			Apartment blocks for Elves.		There are a lot of farms and settlements.
					Panorama from Eskey
			view from Eskey towards Hofn		The harbour at Hofn with mountain in background
	The harbour at Hofn		In Höfn (the furthest East we get) we spot a street called Svalbarð (ref Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Books).		It's possible that this dish in Höfn is pointing to the geostationary satellites over the equator.
	Leaving Höfn and driving Westwards.
			A village		view across long metal surfaced bridge across glacial river Skeidarasandur
	view across long metal surfaced bridge across glacial river Skeidarasandur				Recrossing the lava field back from Kirkjubæjarklaustur and it's got snow on. We just missed the snow ourselves the previous evening.
					Notice board
	We're at Laufskálavarða where a farm was destroyed by lava. It is traditonal that on your first visit here you bring a rock and put it on a pile for good luck.		Some lava rocks up close		Small chunky bits of lava
			Nice view		A different hill of the same kind
	The farmers use convenient caves to build their sheds against, saving them materials.
	Glass and turn dome in Hvolsvöllur		An Icelandic pony		An Icelandic horse
					A random waterfall
	The River Hvítá				Outside the shop at Geysir. A little elf and a great Icelandic viking.
	A small troll poses with a cheesy Icelandic figure		Arctic foxes		A steaming pool
	The ground is coloured from the deposits from the hot water		A pool with steam rising from it		Someone's built a little house over a thermal pool
	Litli-Geysir or Little Geysir. It bubbles and boils.		Strokkur.		Stokkur
	Stokkur		Strokkur goes off every few minutes, sometimes two or three times in quick succession		It forms a mound just before going off.
	The hole which can be seen after it goes off has 2 rings, the inner ring or hole appears to be pretty deep - it takes quite a while to refill				Stokkur
	Stokkur
	Stokkur				I quite liked taking photos of this, as it was a challenge of timing.
	This time it went off 3 times in quick succession. Also, take a look at Ganesh's movies.		This is Blasi, it's a still pool with hot steam and incredibly clear water so that you can see the mineral deposits.
			An obligatory shot of Geysir itself, which is currently dormant but can be triggered by the addition of soap.
	Gulfoss waterfall - Gulfoss means "golden falls". It's cloudy so no rainbow. The falls are on 2 levels, then the river runs down a gorge.				Note the icicles.
					The lower falls
	The upper falls
	Away along the road, we spotted some more horses. Actually, there were horses frequently along the route, but with few places to stop and photograph them.
					Archeological dig of Bishop's manor at Skalholt
	The Kerið volcano crater. Yes, the peculiar colours are real.
	Lava field south of Thingvellir		A lava field after the rain
	Lake Thingvallatn		Waterfall		? Rift
	Þingvellir. The Mid Atlantic Ridge comes to the surface at Iceland and this valley is the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The ridge of rock in this picture is the edge of the Eurasian plate.
					Snow!
	AE in front of the rift valley		The Logberg		Looking across the valley towards the North American plate.
	The Lögberg, or Law Rock, where the Laws would be recited. We are in the location of the Alþing where the affairs of the country would be decided, from AD 930.		Ganesh before the valley
	From the visitors centre at Þingvellir, the pale thing in the distance is a shield volcano.
	View along the ridge edge. This is the Eurasian side of the rift and it's in two bits as you can see, the other side of the rift valley is kilometres away to the right, and moving away at 2 cm per year.				Noticeboard
					Hraunfossar - waterfalls from under the lava field.
			Looking across the lava field		AE + lava field
	Here we can go up onto the lava field and we can see the twisting and turning of the lava.		The river and valley
					Hraunfossar
			Eldborg crater, to which you can hike across its lava field. It's pretty steep and it was very very windy (gale force winds forecast).		The crater
	Looking across from the side of the crater		The rocks on the side of the crater		The path up the side of the crater
	The crater again		Snælfellsjökull volcano with glacier, as in Jules Verne's journey to the centre of the earth, with a nice cloud circling the top.		Snaefellsjokull
	Ganesh crouching inside the stone folly at Arnastapi.		A colony of Arctic terns at Aarnstapi		Snaefellsjokull
	A radio mast.		A random volcano		By the lighthouse on the top of the hill at Stykkishólmur, nearly the furthest north we got. Ganesh is standing in the least windy spot, and it is VERY windy.
	Looking down over Stykkishólmur.		Ganesh and aendr at the top of the island North of Stykkisholmur (it's a bit windy)		Same again with flash
	This is the furthest north we got, a few metres further than by the lighthouse. 65°N.		Seamus
	This is the view from a hill just by our hotel in Reykjavík. The church on the skyline is the Hallgrimskirkja.		The Perlan is on top of this hill. It's a rotating restaurant with a Saga museum and a viewing platform and articificial glacier.		We're just by Rekjavík airport (I think this just does smaller internal flights.)
	A mountain in the general direction of the glacier we were about to visit, taken from Gullfoss		The glacier		The dogs, on the Landjökull glaciar.
	The sleds and dogs		AE		The dog handlers are harnessing up the team. We are hiding behind the jeep so they don't get too excited.
	Ganesh in his thermal suit		We're off. Naomi, the English handler, is running ahead with the dogs to help them learn the new trail as the old one is no longer useable since the rain. Sledding is surprisingly slow.
	We're half way along. When needed they are sent to lie down with the command "deck" - when standing they run. Kirsten, who is new and learning the job, is giving Gandhi a lot of attention.
			The dogs
					Some snowmobiles
	Gullfoss with a rainbow		Reykjavik from a viewpoint		A blurred photo of a church
	Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavík		A church		A sunset
	Dead week is the week when High School students dress up in costumes. They're preparing for their graduation exams or finals and teachers aren't supposed to give them any homework. They seem to be treating it as a party (dancing and playing) and groups of students are wearing matching attire.				A relief model of Iceland
	A train, because there aren't any in Iceland