With a little bit of luck, I have lived my life hitherto in a relative bubble of innocence. Before today, I knew not the existence of sewer geysers. This terrifying video shot by a youtube user captures the intense eruption of a sewer geyser in Montreal, Canada. The force of the geyser blows open a manhole cover, lifts a car off the ground, and severely damages the vehicle. As the underground waste spills out into the road, the cameraman remains steady. He films as the eruption reaches disgusting new heights towards the video’s end.
Iceland Express will offer low-cost flights from Newark to Reykjavik
I’m kind of obsessed with Iceland. Ask me about the country and get ready to endure my lengthy soliloquy on why I love it so much. It’s one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and I’d feel pretty comfortable saying that even as I travel to more destinations, I’ll always consider it so.
Drive a few minutes away from Reykjavik and you’ll see mountains topped with snow, former lava fields covered in moss, volcanic ash beaches, and waterfalls in every shape and size. At Thingvellir National Park, the earth is shifting and dozens of little earthquakes happen every day. At the Blue Lagoon, people soak in steaming neon blue waters even as fat snowflakes land in their hair, and in random fields all over the country, horses will literally come running up to you to socialize. Horsies! Plus: Best. Hot dog. Ever.
Ever since I visited in March, I’ve been plotting my return. Trouble is, the tickets are just so expensive. Because Icelandair is the only carrier that goes from the US to Iceland, they can charge pretty much whatever they want. While they do have sales often, tickets from JFK to Reykjavik regularly range from $500 (in winter) to as much as $1200-$1500 during peak times.
But perhaps finding a cheaper fare may get easier. Iceland Express, a low-cost carrier that already operates flights from several European cities to Reykjavik (often for as low as $200 round trip) will begin flying from Newark to Reykjavik in June. Flights are available for purchase now and seem to be slightly cheaper than Icelandair. For dates I checked in August, flights on Iceland Express were $534 compared to $730 round trip on Icelandair.
Gadling Take FIVE: Week of July 10-July 17
We are halfway through Hotel Month at Gadling and have added blogger Katie Hammel who is afraid of flying but has not let that stopped her from becoming a world traveler.
Here are items you may have missed that might astonish, surprise you or give you pause.
- First up, Stephen’s post on Pet Airways. When I first heard about this airlines, I wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not. It’s not.
- Next, there’s Scott’s story about the family who left their son at a rest stop bench and had to drive back 200 miles to retrieve him.
- Mike discovered that not all people are thrilled with the risque Air New Zealand videos where body paint is a prominent feature.
- In the arena of natural wonder, Kraig has a post on the new geyser that erupted in Russia
- As a person who has been traveling through Montana, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico these last two weeks, Tom’s post on the fishing package deal at the Teton Mountain Lodge and Spa caught my eye. Very sweet. If you’re in the area, sort of, head to Bannack, a ghost town in Montana. You won’t be disappointed.
New geyeser erupts in Russia
Geysers are a relatively rare geological event. They are the result of some specific conditions that only occur in a few places on Earth, which results when a water source meets rocks that are heated by volcanic magma that is close to the Earth’s surface. There are roughly a thousand known geysers across the planet, and about half of those are found in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, including the most famous geyser of all, Old Faithful.
The number of known geysers has recently increased by one however, when a new one erupted for the first time on Russia’s remote Kamchatka Peninsula. According to National Geographic, the new geyser has been named “Prikolny,” which means “Peculiar” in Russian. Reportedly, a surprised observer of the geyser’s first burst shouted out the word when the hot water and steam shot from the ground, and the name has stuck.
According to the story, Peculiar is unique in more ways than one, as it appears that the geyser is also eco-friendly. The geyser shoots water five meters into the air on intervals varying between six and twenty minutes, but when that water falls back to the ground, it is collected once again and recycled to be used for the next eruption.
This new geyser is located in Kronotsky Nature Reserve, not far from the region known as the Valley of the Geysers, which was once a very active geyser field before a landslide covered most of the area back in 2007. The appearnce of Peculiar marks the first new known geyser in the area since the 1960’s.
Photo of the Day (02/12/09)
While I’m sure Ylwstonegirl98 is thrilled that we chose her picture for our photo of the day today, but I suspect she’s just a little more excited to see it in the Yellowstone Association’s 2010 Calendar. Apparently, it’s being considered for the cover.
What a great perspective of Castle Geyser. Way to go YSG98!
Think you can top that? Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!