- Grjótagjá
- Hverfjall crater
- Myvatn Nature Baths
- Godafoss
- Húsavík
- Dettifoss
- Rjúkandafoss
1. Grjótagjá
There were a few more sights to see around Lake Myvatn before heading northward. The first was Grjótagjá, a small lava cave with a steamy hot spring inside. Known as a hiding place of trolls, it was generally avoided in earlier times. It was used as a hot spring by locals until the 1970s, when geothermal activity from nearby eruptions raised the temperature too high for use. The TV series Game of Thrones filmed a scene between Jon and Ygritte here.
It was warm and humid inside
Above the hot springs was evidence of a deep split in the earth
2. Hverfjall
We took side road over to Hverfjall instead of the main road. Fortunately we made it around the sheep
It took only a few minutes to drive from Grjótagjá to Hverfall. The trail up to the crater is 500 m (200 ft) long and 90 m (300 ft) in elevation. The circular trail around the crater was 3.2 km (2 mi) around and took a bit of time to complete. This crater had a gentler slope up but was much larger than previous ones. By this point we had noticed that the variety of craters in Iceland was really impressive.
Going up
Looking back at the way up
The crater
3. Myvatn Nature Baths
It was still busy in the early evening but there was space in the water
Since the days were long with exploring, we chose 6 p.m. for our trip to the Myvatn Baths. The place was still busy when we arrived but the crowded soon thinned out and there were lots of spots in the pool to enjoy.
Kim took the shot while I enjoyed the water
We spent a few hours there, where the water was heated by the nearby geothermal activity. The heat comes from a bore hole in Bjarnarflag and the water has a temperature of about 130°C when it arrives into a large basin next to the lagoon. The lagoon and the basin contain around 3.5 million litres of water with a temperature of 36 – 40°C. Although smaller than the famous Blue Lagoon, it was still quite large and not as expensive. Certain areas were warmer than others so we moved around the lagoon during our time there.
4. Godafoss
Godafoss
We made a brief stop at Godafoss (Waterfall of the Gods), named from a story of a local chieftain who adopted Christianity and threw his pagan idols into the waterfall. At 12 m (39 ft) high, it is located on Iceland's fourth longest river. It was very close to the main highway.
5. Húsavík
Húsavík
We made our way around the northern part of the diamond circle, passing through Husavik and continuing along the road. It was very quiet along this part of the diamond circle.
Stop-off by the side of the road under misty mountains
6. Dettifoss
Approaching the falls
The two waterfalls Dettifoss and Selfoss are two of the most dramatic sights in Iceland, and we had the bad luck of visiting them during a particularly foggy period. After a tricky drive in the fog to get there, we took anther foggy walking path to the waterfalls and ended up seeing just a bit of them.
Somewhere in there is Dettifoss
Then, suddenly the fog lifted just as we were getting close to the parking lot, so we raced back to the waterfalls. But when we arrived...
View of Selfoss
...the fog returned, and so we decided to give up. We saw some of the waterfalls, but another trip in the future is necessary.
7. Rjúkandafoss
Close to the ring road and close to our next destination, we stopped off at Rjúkandafoss, a 139 m (456 ft) waterfall flowing from the Rjúkandi River.
We arrived at an cabin located near the town of Egilsstaðir located on the eastern side of Iceland. From here we would make out way south to experience the beauty of the south coast.
Random notes:
-near the Akureyri photo spot was the longest tunnel in Iceland (Vaðlaheiðargöng tunnel). It's the only toll tunnel in Iceland and there is no toll gate for payment. A photo is taken of the license plate so the easiest way to pay is online. There is an added charge if you don't pay within 24 hours before or after going through it
-we found the Blue Lagoon to be very pricey during high season, so we waited to do the Myvatn Nature Baths instead. You have to book a specific time and we did so online, though it appears you could just walk in and pay. The artificial lagoon water there was clean, but the change-room floors were not. We recommend bringing your own plastic slippers. Towels are also an extra charge so we brought our own. Fresh water is free
-we were noticing more sheep around, and had to be aware when there were around the roads as they sometimes decided to cross at the wrong moment! But generally they stayed off the roads unless they were crossing
-this part of the journey is where we had the coldest temperatures and the heaviest fog, which lasted an hour or so each time. Other cars appearing out of the fog were one issue, but a greater danger was cyclists suddenly appearing
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