8. Skaftafell
Ok, let’s be honest, it was raining without any hope of improving the weather. We used the morning to dry the tent under the roof and cook dinner for the afternoon. Even such a banal activity in these circumstances of nature took on a new quality 😊.
We left Pakgil around 10; we got to the vicinity of the Fjadragljufur canyon – perfectly hitting the weather window. During the hour walk, not even a drop fell on us. Beautiful canyon, photos are not able to reflect and express colours and details. I think this is a place worth seeing, especially since there is a prepared path accessible to everyone. Busy time, many tourists and it wasn’t easy to get a good picture. We definitely recommend going there early in the morning.
The next stop was the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur, where we went to a small tourist center and sent postcards to the family. We watched a movie about the eruption of the Laki volcano in 1783. Local legends say that the lava stopped just outside the church door, saving the town from disaster. Just behind the exit on Road No.203, you can find the Kirkjugólf basalt floor (the Church floor). A completely natural rock formation that resembles the floor of a church.
If you have time, you can play and search for a unique decagon on the floor😉. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it 😉.
After reaching Skaftafell, we reviewed the maps and looked around the area. After the recommendations of another traveller from Krakow, who we met at the campsite (she was traveling by bike – a fantastic girl! If you read this, speak to us – we are waiting for your report 😊), we’ve decided to go for a walk towards the Skaftafellsjökull glacier.
A beautiful route and much less frequented. It was here that we’ve had our first encounter with a small snipe (a bird😉) which, when diving in the air, making a very peculiar sound with wings. Unfortunately, you won’t hear it in our video – it’s just of poor quality. But I strongly encourage you to search on YT. It was also here where the idea that I want more was ignited in my head.
Yes! Birds! We sat for a while over the glacier, and rain caught us, and all the way back, we slid down the mud. But it was great anyway!
The next day was one of the most important. We really wanted to climb the glacier. We knew that there was no chance to climb Hvannadalshnukur – the highest peak in Iceland because of the weather. So we went on a guided tour of the Oraefajokull glacier for several hours. Paweł had the opportunity to do ice climbing for the first time in his life. I think he liked it 🙂
And this time, on the way back, we didn’t protect ourselves from the rain, but luckily the plan was successfully implemented. On the way back, we encountered local animals affectionately called mice, which are actually balls of earth rolling off the glacier, covered with moss 😊. Only a few lives have a chance to survive the winter in Iceland.
In the afternoon, we mainly spent time drying clothes :D. This is how our private dryer looked. I sat in this car for over an hour – it was so warm and pleasant, haha
In the evening, we went for a short walk towards the Skftafellsjokull glacier – towards the glacial lake. Another approach towards the glacier – and more rain. This time the weather did not spare us and hectolitres of water poured on us. The only consolation was that the glacier attracts clouds and rain – not us 😀
With this hope, we went to sleep before another long and busy day.
9. To Lake Myvatn
We got up before 7 am, fast, quick breakfast (oops?), packing and on the road, because there were over 500km to go!
A route along the east bank was waiting for us, along with several interesting places along the way.
And so early in the morning, just after 8 am we reached the beautiful beach called Diamond Beach. Drifting ice blocks of the melting Vatnajokull glacier, enveloped in the rays of the sun, shimmered with a thousand colors and, at the same time, contrast with the black beach.
You can be sitting there for hours, listening to the sound of the waves, and admiring the place where ice is measured with water forces.
Right next to the Jokursarlon glacial lake, we could observe even more a lump of ice heading towards the ocean. Against the backdrop of a large and powerful glacier, you can observe a fragile and delicate life, equally adapted to harsh conditions.
And again my weakness for birds came to light, which ended shortly: Paweł, record! 😀
We set off further … the next stop is only in 3 hours. Meanwhile, the whole route pleases us with views of the ocean, glacier, lava fields, hills, waterfalls. The landscape is changing like a kaleidoscope.
The weather in the south pampered us. You wouldn’t believe it can be so sunny in the south and gloomy in the north. Weary of traveling, we were looking for good places to eat dinner we’d cooked the day before. But the clouds hanging above us have led us away from this idea.
Oh, I should add here that this was the day we overslept. We haven’t eaten breakfast and haven’t brewed tea! So… I’ve got cold, it was raining, we were hungry, tired and I was angry – what else?! I didn’t take a bath in the bathtub with an ocean view because someone overtook us literally by a minute! And all my plan has been ruined.😉
Already on the last breath, we arrived at the parking from the east sides (so important!) of the Dettifoss Waterfall. It’s 5 pm, all visitor trips already departed, and only we’ve stayed on-site. We put on waterproof clothes. We watched the late tourists heading towards the waterfall in shorts, sweatshirts, and sneakers with great surprise!
I felt like a red alien, but I didn’t regret the decision! As we suspected, a warning board appeared that the wind was directing all the water vapor above the waterfall to the east bank! We were wet in less than 10 seconds! The water streamed from our clothes 😀 Dettifoss waterfall is the most powerful waterfall in Europe. 193m3 of water per second pours through it! What power!
We were already on the last strait of our site – on the way, we stopped at the Hverir sulfur fields. Within 40 minutes, the landscape has changed once again, revealing the volcanic face of Iceland. Well, if the picture could describe the smell… 😀
And finally, there is Vogar camping! It felt as though we’d been on hunger strike all day so we rewarded ourselves with a great pizza at the best Daddi’s Pizza place and 0.3l beer for two! It cost us a fortune!
Tomorrow is another day ahead!
The dream one since I first opened the guidebook page…
10. Askja and north of Iceland
On this beautiful day, in addition to the rising (or not actually setting) sun, we’ve awakened by the flutter of the wings of a snipe😊. Yes, I felt that he came after us 😊. We set off on the road at 7:30 – this time with a trip and guide to get to the huge volcanic caldera.
The trip to Askja took about 3 hours. The road meandered like a streamer, up and down, we crossed the river several times, and we passed thousands of years of volcanic history. The oldest lava fields were about 40,000 thousand years old. The youngest just a few after the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in 2014.
Along the way, we have a beautiful volcano Herðubreið- the top Queen of Iceland, and King – Kringilsarrani, constantly hidden behind the cloud. This is a unique place on a global scale. This place’s harsh climate perfectly reflects the moon’s conditions – that’s why NASA tested the Lunar Roving Vehicle here in 1967.
The closer the crater got, the colder it got, and the large lava fields became covered with snow. Our path towards Askja also ran through these snowfields. A huge caldera with an area was created due to the collapse of the volcano chamber, producing a second, smaller crater called Viti (means: Inferno) – in whose milky-blue waters we took a warm, sulfur bath. As it turned out, the smell of sulfur accompanied us until the end of the trip… It was literally everywhere: on towels, clothes, and skin. The water also smelled of sulfur, and traditional Icelandic bread is baked underground in sulfur steam.
It was another long day. After 12 hours we returned to the camp. Only thanks to the fact that the sun doesn’t set in summer, we still had the energy to go for a walk to Lake Myvatn. This is a paradise for 240 species of birds, and to look into the most famous Icelandic cave Grjótagjá (mainly from Game of Thrones). Movie and TV series trivia can be found everywhere in Iceland😊. This evening allowed us to calm down and relax. We knew that our next week would be a bit calmer.
The next day the weather again became typical Icelandic. We headed north to Husavik in the hope that we would set out to look for whales. Unfortunately, rain and strong wind caused the cancellation of the cruise.
While waiting for the captain’s decision, we visited the Husavik Whale Museum. It was a very informative and interesting exhibition about the history of fishing. There is also an exhibition of skeletons with the largest 20m skeleton of a blue whale! One of the most interesting museums I’ve been to!
We headed back towards Ring Road, encountering another beautiful Goðafoss waterfall. We had no major plans for the day except for rest, so we also spontaneously went to Akureyri’s Aviation Museum. A small museum presenting the history of aviation in Iceland. Definitely for fans and connoisseurs (like Paweł). I devoted the most attention to the exhibition showing the costumes of flight stewardess over the years. I also read a story of a certain captain and his wife’s love and career, a flight stewardess.😉
Afterward, we went straight to Blönduós, which was about 1.5 hours away. Coincidentally, we stayed in a guesthouse run by a Polish woman who has lived on the island for 25 years. She told her moving story and how Iceland has changed over the years. She also showed us on the map for my amusement, where we could look for seals!
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