Never have I seen a land more full of contradictions than Iceland. For a small island there are so many natural wonders contained within that ones mind is boggled at how they can all exist in harmony- sometimes.
In one area of Iceland there are the sulfur fields (pictured above) that contain hissing mounds that continually let off steam from underground. Think of a natural pressure cooker. In another area there is geothermally heated water bubbling from the ground that range in size from a boiling pot (pictured below) to a shooting geyser. Amazingly, all of this heat is generated from the active volcanos that make up Icelands landscape. (The Iceland volcanos produce such heat that all of the water for public use is heated geothermally.)
In another area of Iceland you encounter the total opposite- you find the cold, the glaciers. There are two massive, living, moving main glaciers that carve out the landscape of Iceland. The land of Iceland is made up of the solidified volcanic lava and to demonstrate the power of a glacier, just think, the glaciers are what have carved out the "liveable" space (which there is not much of). Looking at a mountain and seeing this large white expanse peeking over the top, or sliding down the side, just makes one wonder at this amazing creation. A photo just does not express the expanse of space that these glaciers cover.
The melting glaciers are also responsible for the many beautiful waterfalls that dot the Iceland landscape. The most amazing waterfalls, in my opinion, are the single step waterfalls- these are the ones where the water just falls off the side of the cliff and plumets to the ground with a deafening roar.
In a land that is composed of two total opposites, hot and cold, there is a harmony that exists. Time has produced a hard landscape (lava) that has been carved and shaped by the glaciers- therefore contradictions existing together, creating a beautiful landscape that must be experienced.
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