Day 8 – North Iceland

We started driving up north and noticed how quickly the temperature dropped. The drive was covered in snow! It was beautiful but freezing (-15 with crazy windchill). No one was around here and I thought I ended up at the north pole…

We drove to Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall. It was a crazy drive to get there as the roads were empty but covered in ice and snow! Luckily we had snow tires with studs. We had about a 10 min hike to the top of the falls. When we got there, it was a beautiful snowy view. This is also where they film Prometheus!

Our next stop was Hafragilsfoss, a smaller falls further down the canyon. Even though, we couldn’t get close to the falls, it was amazing to see how grand the area was. The road to get to this falls was even crazy… Steep incline and extremely covered in snow! Slowly we made it up and over.

As we continued this road, we saw the snow melt away. We got to Ásbyrgis canyon and did a quick hike of the area. The falls had dried up and the pond was frozen. I’m sure this place would have been nicer in the summer.

For lunch, we stopped at Húsavík, a popular whale watching town. With limited inexpensive options, we had lunch at the local bakery.

Around 3pm, we got to Lake Myvatn and was ready to check into our hotel. However with sunlight to spare, we decide to explore Viti, a massive volcanic crater. On the way, we were driving through Krafla Geothermal Power Station. It was pretty neat to see the stacks smoke  —aka “cloud machines” at work.

Once we got to the crater, it was covered in snow but what we all enjoyed the most was the hike and the sunset. The hike up the crater was steep and rocky… A little dangerous too because one wrong step could lead you into the crater.

We made it up and the view was worth it. The sunset made the snowy mountains  sparkle. The “cloud machine” was shooting out smoke in the background. It was a view I’ve never seen before.

Suddenly, Andrew disappears and freaks us out! We all called for him but heard no reply. The sun was setting and it was getting darker. He also had the car keys! We looked for him and finally after at least 10 mins of panic, we found him. He went down into the crater… God damn it! I yelled at him for freaking us out since we thought something terrible happened.

On the way back, we took some small road to get to our guesthouse. This road had roaming sheep right by the road. Sheep were everywhere in Iceland but mostly fenced or far from us. So this was the perfect photo opportunity… But it was too dark… We’ll come back during the day!

We checked into Vogafjos Guesthouse which was part of a cow farmhouse. Oh my god, these cows were so goofy and adorable! They were just eating their grass and one named Erica, kept flinging it up in the air. These cows fascinated me more than horses and sheep.

We had dinner at the adjacent restaurant, Cowshed Cafe and it was one of the best meals in Iceland. I had the local fish, Arctic Char while the others enjoyed lamb shank. The ingredients were very fresh and the flavours worked very well together. We all tried their homemade ice cream after… Very nice and creamy but Rye Bread Ice Cream beats this.

After dinner, we went to Myvatn Nature Baths, a hot spring area. It was only about $20 to get in. We ran and screamed from the change rooms to the baths since it was piercing cold outside. Once in the hot waters, we just melted away in “ahhhh!” The darkness and steam added mystery to the baths. It was quiet which allowed us to relax and be with our thoughts. We all loved it and wish we could have stayed there longer.

After we left, the clouds came out so that meant no Northern lights. We all went to bed and slept like pampered babies.

Day 9 – Lake Mývatn

Another long day ahead of us, we started the morning with the free breakfast from our guesthouse. Lots of options and it hit the spot. The best thing was the fresh milk. I don’t know how much fat was in it but it was so creamy, light and smooth. Even Michelle, who is normally lactose intolerant could enjoy it without any issues.

We started our day with Grjotagja, a hidden cave with a hot spring that used to be a popular bathing area. It was really cool! Too bad we didn’t have time to dunk our feet.

We drove pass the sheep infested area and it was a like we were in the jungle looking for wildlife. We slowly rolled up quietly and shot them like crazy.

We looked at Dimmuborgir which was a large area of unusually shaped lava fields. We hiked for a bit searching for the large arch shown in our tourist booklets. We found it and naturally took some jumping pics.

We moved onwards to Höfði Peninsula check out the lake and the surrounding rock formations. It was very peaceful and reminded me of Northern Ontario.

We went to Skutustadir to see some pseudocraters but this was the most disappointing… It sounded cool but it wasn’t as impressive compared to the other craters we’ve seen. Maybe we were sensitized to craters now.

Moving on, we went to Godafoss. I expected it to be epic since it was named “waterfall of the gods”. But Icelanders named it that because they threw in all their pagan god statues when they adopted Christianity. It reminded me of Niagara’s horseshoe falls but with vivid blue colors.

We drove another 2 hours to Akureyri, the capital city of the North. We got lunch at Bette Bittin, a fast food fried chicken and fish and chips place. We explored the colourful shops after for more souvenirs.

Moving on, we drove 2.5 hours to Saeberg Hostel in the middle of nowhere. Decent hostel but had a disappointing lukewarm hot tub.