We woke up into a bit of rain and low cloud, and decided to head over to Landmannalaugar today. That meant we had some time for a lazy morning as the bus was not leaving until half 11. By that time the weather cleared up quite nicely, so we dried the tent and soaked up some sun. Our bus driver turned out the same chatty guy from Höfn, which was nice. The route to Landmannalaugar from the east we originally wanted to take was still closed, the summer this year is really late, so we had to go all the way to Hella (with a couple of waterfall stops on the way, who even cares by now; for the second one we didn’t even bother to get out of the bus anymore; and also a stop in rainy Vík’s black sand beach), and switch to an off-road bus to Landmannalaugar from there. Off-road bus it really was, and the road was pretty rough for the last about 60 kms, including a few river crossings. We arrived in Landmannalaugar at about half eight in a slight drizzle. After pitching the tent and making a nice couscous dinner we went to have a look at the local hot springs where a few people were bathing (we’ll do that tomorrow), and then straight to bed.
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10
Jul 15
Höfn – Skaftafell
6am alarm again – I tried to convince Iest to just stay a day in Höfn and sleep but he unmercifully ordered to get up, so it was. Fortunately it was quite warm and even sunny, so I made my peace with it and went to make us oatmeal for breakfast.
Our bus with Sterna had a wifi and a chatty driver, who was talking almost non-stop along the way, showing us all kinds of interesting stuff and explaining about Icelandic history.
We stopped over at Jökulsárlón lagoon, where we had over an hour to admire the beautiful floaty iceberg sculptures in the sun, and despite it being quite a touristy spot, it was rather an amazing experience.
We were in Skaftafell, our gateway to the Vatnajökull National Park, by midday. We decided to have a relaxing afternoon with a few short hikes/walks and some sketching. First, we went on a short stroll to the face of the Skaftafelljökull glacier tongue, together with geological info spots on the way, which explained a lot about the volcanic rocks, glacier moraines, dikes, tuffs and all that. We sat for a quick sketch on the glacier lagoon, where I got me my first fans/admirers of my art.
Afterwards, we headed to the other direction via a tourist highway frankly, to the Svartifoss waterfall, famous for its setting within a wall of black basalt columns. I did another quick sketch while Iest played around with his camera to take some nice pics.
Our last destination for the day was Sel, a traditional turf-roofed farmhouse turned to a museum, and a spot for our last sketch of the day.
Nice filling dinner of mushroom soup ramen, and a quick sit in the warm café to charge our phones and write the journal. What a beautiful setting this place is! We got an email back from the people over at Landmannalaugar trek saying that it is doable, if snowy, so we will probably give it a go once we’re down there.
09
Jul 15
Mývatn – Höfn
Our alarm went off at 7am, we’re getting up way too early on this trip. Also, Iest woke up with dried boogers all over his face, owing to some kind of explosion at night. We had a hearty breakfast and headed to ‘town’ to wait for our bus. We had plenty of time so got us a few things for the trip in the small supermarket and went to the visitor centre to find our what the bird was we saw the day before. Turns out it was a Whimbrel.
Our bus came on time, was almost empty, and we cosied up by the window for our long trip for the day. It took us through Egilsstaðir down to the Icelandic eastern coast and then through various small villages and deep fjords along the coast. The weather was nice, and so we had some amazing views on the way.
We arrived in Höfn for about half five, pitched a tent under a rainbow, and went to the local visitor centre to get some travel info – we still don’t know whether our planned hike trail in a couple days time is already open and passable. This was the nicest visitor centre we’d seen so far, made up inside like an old Icelandic cottage.
We took a short stroll along the harbour and dropped in the local greasy eatery – for me to get the local speciality (langoustine baguette), while Iest got a plain old junk burger and fries. We bought more fuel on the way back and took a very unsatisfying shower before diving into our sleeping bags. It was the warmest night in a long time, it’s clear we’re back down from the north!