The Ring Road - 09/06/08

After seven and a half months working for Serrano in Reykjavik we finally left on May 18th. Ahead of us we had three weeks to travel around the whole of Iceland before moving to Skogar on the south coast to start our summer jobs at the Hotel Edda. In a scene straight out of 101 Reykjavik we were given a parking ticket as a leaving present. It was not so bad however as we simply went to the nearest bank and paid it there, receiving an early payment discount for the trouble! We picked up Simona and Petra, realised that the car was dangerously overloaded and set off.

The Hellisheidi pass is the symbolic gateway between the capital area and the south coast and we stopped for lunch at the top of it on our first day. The rest of the day we spent walking behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall and admiring the scenery around the farm at Skalakot where our winter housemate Francesca is working through the summer and where we camped on the first night.

Seljalandsfoss

Skalakot is exactly in-between the two stunning waterfalls; Seljalandsfoss and Skogarfoss. Early the next day we stopped to view those at Skogar and realised it will be a very scenic place to work. Not much further along Rte 1, the ring road, we found a unmarked road to the left and, following the treacherous dirt track for about 5 miles, at the end of it an ice cave in the side of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. The milky blue light inside the cave awoke a fuzzy memory in my mind of the kryptonite cave in the original Superman movies.

Skogarfoss

All the way from Reykjavik the signs point to Vik, a small town of 290 inhabitants. It might some of you that such a small place even appears on the signs at all but this is a prime example of how things come in small packages here in Iceland. Vik is blessed with some dramatic cliffs and offshore rock formations as well as pristine black sand beaches from which to admire them. We drove back and forth between the various bays and beaches for the best views.

View of Dyrhollaey

Moving further east the only stop of note between Vik and the Skaftafell national park is the small town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur (try saying that when you are drunk.... or sober!) where a friend of ours is working for the summer. Unfortunately she was not on duty as we passed through but we stopped for the customary pylsur (Icelandic hot dog) anyway. Pylsurs are a staple of the Icelandic diet and involve a perfect combination of fresh onion, crispy onion, ketchup, mustard and remoulade. Apart from Klauster the only thing you see between Vik and Skaftafell is miles of stark sandy plains. The first sight of the Vatnajokull glacier is a sight for sore eyes and nestling at the bottom of the glacier is Skaftafell. The next day we took an 8 hour trek around the national park, stopping at the church organ-esque basalt columns of Svartifoss (Black Falls) and crossing from one glacier tongue to another. It was quite a demanding trek with a little bit of snow to cross as well although the views of the mountains and glacier made it very worthwhile.

Skaftafell NP

One image of Iceland you have probably all seen, maybe unknowingly, is that of Jokulsarlon, a lagoon filled with icebergs that have dropped off of the glacier. It has been used as a setting in many films and played a large part in the James Bond film Die Another Day. It really is an unreal sight, especially with seals swimming in-between the icebergs. You can also walk down to the beach and watch the icebergs as they bobble off into the sea.

Jokulsarlon

Hofn is the last stop in South Iceland before you pass through a tunnel and emerge in East Iceland. Whilst not exactly a pretty town, Hofn was good for a pylsur and our first swimming pool stop. Swimming pools are considered a birthright in Iceland and throughout the winter we have jumped at every opportunity to swim in an outdoor naturally heated pool and lounge in the adjacent hot pots whilst the weather rages all around us. Therefore it was only natural to continue this trend whilst on the road.

The road conditions deteriorated in the east of Iceland and the countries main road is reduced to a single lane gravel track for long stretches at a time! We consoled ourselves with just one stop at the photogenic eastfjords fishing village of Djupivogur before heading over a high pass and onto the commercial hub of Egilstadir. There are several notable features around Egilstadir. On the positive side is the beautiful Lagarfljot lake and the stories of the giant worm that resides in its murky depths. There is also the Hallormstadurskogar forest by the lake, which Icelanders are immensely proud of. It was not so impressive to us and maybe this joke will help explain why:

Q. What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?

A. Stand up!

Although I have to admit, despite its diminutive size it was a very scenic place to camp. Further along the lake is the former home of the Icelandic writer Gunnar Gunnarsson, which has been turned into a very well-kept museum. Even further is the controversial Karahnjukar dam which, despite Petra’s enthusiasm we did not visit due to uncertainties over the road conditions. I also have to add that after crossing from the biting winds coming off the glaciers in the south we were met in the east by temperatures of plus-20°C and an opportunity for a spot of sunbathing.

Over the pass to Seydisfjordur

We had another pool, pylsur and ice cream stop in Egilstadir, taking advantage of the Eurovision special offers, before we crossed another pass and down into the fjord town of Seydisfjordur. This is the port where the ferry for the Faroe islands, Norway and Denmark leaves from. The town itself is always described as ‘bohemian’ with every house sporting some form of ‘art’ or another, one of the highlights being the Hollywood impersonating Seydisfjordur sign. There is also a nice bar, which was empty due to Eurovision, in fact they had sold all of their pizzas as well! Do I need to mention how big Eurovision is here?

Krafla

Lake Myvatn is one of Icelands premier destinations and with good reason. The road from Egilstadir is another of the lunar landscapes that Iceland does best and as you approach the lake you are surrounded by volcanic areas of all kinds of colours and smells, the area around Krafla is still quite volatile, the area around Hverir less so, although no less stunning because of it. The area really is quite an incredible sight. As you reach the lake the wonders continue as you find yourself surrounded by lava fields, mountains and pseudo craters of all colours, shapes and sizes. Climbing the Vindbelgjarfjall mountain gave us a splendid view over the whole area.

Pseudo-craters on Myvatn Lake

Husavik, on the north coast, is just 50-odd kilometres from Myvatn and is a world-renowned whale watching spot. Our tour was a slight disappointment, we only spotted three Minke whales, or was it just the same one three times? Back on the land the Whale museum made up for it, although we missed Husaviks other museum, the Icelandic Phallalogical Museum (a bizarre collection of the penises of various animals). The main highlight for us in Husavik was the campsite, with friendly, informative management, kitchen, hot water, a pay-one-night-stay-up-to-ten policy and a free ticket to the swimming pools. We stayed there for a few nights, taking a day trip to the Jokulsargljufur National park whilst we were there. On the way to Jokulsargljufur are some quiet spots for puffin watching and a quaint little folk museum filled with a mishmash of Icelandic memorabilia. At the entrance to the national park is the Asbyrgi canyon, which is unusually horse-shoe shaped, leading to myths that it was the horse of one of the Viking gods. It was a nice day for walking, both inside the canyon and along the ridge. At the southern end of the national park is the Dettifoss waterfall, Europes most powerful, unfortunately melting snow had washed all the roads away so we had to make do with a stop at Godafoss, also very impressive, enroute to Akureyri, the capital of the north. Here we wandered the botanical gardens, admired some vintage architecture and again swam and ate pylsur. We also splurged at the Bautinn restaurant for dinner, all enjoying luxurious meals with unlimited soup and salad bar on the side. It was in Akureyri that we heard about the 6.2 Richter earthquake between Hveragerdi and Selfoss.

Puffins

We spent a day touring around Skagafjordur, west of Akureyri. Here we stopped at the turf farm at Glaumbaer, the important church at Holar, the little village of Hofsos and the Thorvarhofdi ‘island’ connected to the mainland by two spits. Further on we searched for Icelands largest tent, which we had been informed of, but to no avail. On the other side of the fjord we visited a natural hot pot at Reykir before camping in Saudurkrokur. The next day we continued our touring of one of Icelands less visited areas with a trip around Hunafjordur, including stops at Thingeyrar church and the unusual rock formation Hvitserkur. This area is also popular for seal spotting but they were not at home when we visited.

Hvitserkur

Petra left us the next morning as she had to get the bus back to Reykjavik and fly home, which meant we were three for the trip around the Snaefells peninsular. This was one of the places I was really looking forward to but unfortunately, after two and a bit weeks of glorious weather, it started to rain. The first day we spent in Stykkisholmur, a nice port town. We had the pool to ourselves for most of the afternoon and indulged in deluxe pylsurs from the van outside, some innovative recipes differing from the traditional Icelandic.

Heading on to Hellisandur on the north-western tip of the peninsula we passed though Grundafjordur (with its comical, conical witches-hat shaped mountain overlooking it) and Olafsvik. At Hellisandur we camped right under the Snaefells glacier, the setting for Vernes ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’, but could not see it. We spent the rest of the day touring the white sandy beaches and seagull-infested cliffs of this corner of the Snaefells national park.

Snaefells from Dritvik

In Iceland at this time of the year there is 24 hour daylight, the sun just slips away for a couple of hours but it never gets dark. At 4am the next morning I was awoken by the sensation of sunshine beating down on our tent and the views of the glacier were so incredible I got up and took a long walk to appreciate them. The weather held for most of the day and we took in the sights of the national park, the beaches at Dritvik and Djupalon and the lighthouse at Malarif, always with the glacier looming overhead. There were further stops at the fishing villages of Hellnar and Arnastapi before the rains returned.

Barnafoss

We just kept driving until we reached Borganes, already within touching distance of Reykajvik. We delayed the end of trip by one day to explore the ‘Saga’ area east of Borganes, including Europes biggest hot spring (sadly too hot to swim in however), the settlement and museum at Reykholt and the twin waterfalls Hraunfoss and Barnafoss. Barnafoss means ‘childrens falls’ and is so named because there was once a rock archway over the falls which collapsed on Christmas Day whilst two children were sat upon it. Back in Borganes we visited their impressive pool and took advantage of some very reasonable prices at a petrol station grill.

All that remained was a brief stop in the drab town of Akranes and passing by the once-more operational whaling station in Hvalfjordur before we returned to Reykjavik.

Hvalfjordur whaling station

We experienced Reykjavik as tourists for the weekend, staying at the campsite, visiting the art gallery and a museum in Kopavogur, the Viking Village in Hafnarfjordur, the presidents residence on Alftanes and Hofdi house, where Gorbachov and Reagan had their famous talks to end the Cold War. We ate and drank well, including an unforgettable meal at Af Lifi og Sal,the new restaurant opened by Birkir, the former chef at Serrano. We finished the weekend off with a trip to the world-famous Blue Lagoon.

Opening the newspapers over the weekend we were greeted by images from the first whalekill of the season and of a polar bear that had travelled to Iceland from Greenland on an iceberg and promptly been shot on arrival! This was all a far cry from the warm and friendly welcome we have received from Icelanders throughout the winter and throughout this trip around Rte.1, the ring road.