Around Iceland in 14 days (article 6 of 10)

Day 8
30 Aug 2015
Glacier Walk, Zodiac Boat Ride in the Lake, Ice Beach

First Stop
Skaftafellsjökull glacier walk at Vatnajökull National Park
The day before, A short walk from our campsite, we booked our Glacier Walk with Icelandic Mountain Guides (link). You can choose from a few companies that have their office cabins next to each other. We booked the 10am walk. Cost (3 adult, 1 child) EUR260 for 2.5 hours. There are many other packages you can select varying in difficulty and hours.















Figure: Me showing the skaftafellsjökull glacier tongue where we are going to walk. The ice is 1,000 years old with rocks dating 5 million yers old.








Figure: Fitting the crampons. This has to fit well, if not it may come lose during the walk, which is irritating. and the Guide will need to help you.







Figure: A quick lesson on putting on the crampons and safety briefing on the Do's and Don'ts on the Glacier. You need to stamp your feet hard into the ice for better grip, and not just leisurely walk.






Figure: 
This was easily the highlight of the trip. A 2.5hr walk on the glacier tongue was just exciting and surreal. It is quiet, and you are in awe of the beauty and size of everything around you. 






We were concerned that it may get too cold here, but turned out, it was not. The temparature dropped to the single digit later today which made it bitingly cold towards night.






Figure: Glacier Walk - aaaaah that's the use of the ice axe. For a while there I thought it was just for the tourist pictures (or is it...?)


If I can turn back the clock, I would just relax at the camping site, maybe do a walk, stay another night or even longer and visit the other attractions next day or see the same places at different times of the day.

Zodiac Boat Ride at Lake JökulsárlónDrove 56km.

Rode the Zodiac boat for EUR50 per person, free for child.

Figure: you are provided with thick coveralls and a personal floatation device.

Figure: Satisfied customer.


Ice Beach
Drove 0.5km.

It was a captivatimg sight to see the stretch of beach with these big chunks of ice on the land; as the day progressed it kep getting colder and when we were at the Ice Beach, itwas in the single digit.







Figure: Ice Beach has these big chunks of ice at the seaside. These ice blocks come from the Lake and floats towards the sea. Some are like magnificent sculpture.



Figure: Tangy's miniature at work.

Overnight Hofn
Drove: 79km


We reached Hofn at 9pm after a day full of activities. We were so tired, no one took any pictures of this place! The campsite is EUR32 for 3 adults and 1 child (I think child is free). It has an interesting shop selling camping gears and equipment and trekking shoes. Tempted... Shower facilities is EUR4. Quite many people here as it is a natural stop before a long drive towards the North. Also has washing machine and drier, but we have done our laundry in Vik which was a good decision.






End of Article 6.          Next Click Here >>>

Links to:

Article 1 - Reykjavik

Article 2 - Bridge Between 2 continents, Seltun Geothermal steam, Blue Lagoon, first overnight stay in Campervan, Aurora

Article 3 - Pingvellir Parliament, Geyser Southwest

Article 4 - South Gulfoss, Gluggafoss, Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Article 5 - Black Sand Beach, View of the Glacier

Article 6 - (this article) - Glacier Walk, Zodiac Boat Ride in the Lake, Ice Beach

Article 7 - Hofn and Fjardabyggd
Article 8 - Hverir, Myvatn Nature Bath and Lake Myvatn
Article 9 - Whale watching, Exploration Museum, Godafoss Waterfall, Akureyri Sundlaug 

Article 10 - Akureyri Christmas Shop, 14th Century Port, Old Church, Dalvik, Beautiful valley Oxnadalur, Overnight Varmahlid, Glaumbaer turf house, Hill with crater, Reykjavik city, Last Sundlaug

Around Iceland in 14 days (article 7 of 10)

Day 9
30 Aug 2015
Taking a pause in Hofn

First Stop
Just relaxing around Hofn brought down the intensity of our activities a notch. We were taking a break from our vacation! Hence, our first stop, you guessed it Sundlaug!! We paid EUR17 for 4 of us; a very very relaxing, chill-out time with no timetable to adhere to which is nice. Imagine for a population of 2,167 people, they have a huge public swimming facility. That means a large suburb in Malaysia called Petaling Jaya populatioon 600,000, would have 300 pools compared to the current 3 pools!!!


Figure: Being outdoor in the cold weather with your body in the warm water is just out of this world. I prefer not to bring my GoPro whenever I go to the Sundlaug and just enjoy the moment.

(picture from Hornafjordur Municipality Facebook page)




Hofn
Drove: 0 km




Figure: Hofn, is an Icelandic fishing town, located near the Hornafjordur fjord. 

Figure: Hofn is a picturesque village.

Figure: the road hugs the cliff along the coastline with beautiful places to stop for pictures.

Overnight Fjarðabyggð

Drove 226km.

This was a long drive as we had to drive along the fjord in-and-out, in-and-out, while you don't cover really long straight distance. Some stretches are gravel road. 

This beautiful campsite (look at the backdrop!) is near the village of Fáskrúðsfjörður, by the Óseyri road. We are now ready to venture onto the Northeast of Iceland. We did laundry here where there are coin operated washing machine and drier. Fortunately, we had plenty of coins.

End of Article 7.          Next Click Here >>>

Links to:

Article 1 - Reykjavik

Article 2 - Bridge Between 2 continents, Seltun Geothermal steam, Blue Lagoon, first overnight stay in Campervan, Aurora

Article 3 - Pingvellir Parliament, Geyser Southwest

Article 4 - South Gulfoss, Gluggafoss, Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Article 5 - Black Sand Beach, View of the Glacier

Article 6 - Glacier Walk, Zodiac Boat Ride in the Lake, Ice Beach
Article 7 - (this article) - Hofn and Fjardabyggd

Article 8 - Hverir, Myvatn Nature Bath and Lake Myvatn
Article 9 - Whale watching, Exploration Museum, Godafoss Waterfall, Akureyri Sundlaug 

Article 10 - Akureyri Christmas Shop, 14th Century Port, Old Church, Dalvik, Beautiful valley Oxnadalur, Overnight Varmahlid, Glaumbaer turf house, Hill with crater, Reykjavik city, Last Sundlaug

Around Iceland in 14 days (article 8 of 10)

Day 10
31 Aug 2015
Namafjall Hverir Volcanic spring, Bridge over Jokulsa, Myvatn Bath, Geyser Bread, Trekking at Lake Myvatn

First Stop
Drove: 192 km

Namafjall Hverir. A high temparature geothermal area with furmaroles and mud pots. At a depth of 1km, the temparature is above 200 deg C. Along the steam comes fumarole gas, such as hydrogen sulfide which is repsonsible for the characteristic hot spring smell in the area (i.e rotten egg). The hot springs produce considerable sulphur depopsits which was mined for centuries to produce gun powder. (info adapted from information signboard)

The landscape is surreal as you see the steam coming from the pools, the boiling acidic liquid like the movies and the orange soil. Entrance is free.

Mývatn Nature Bath
Drove 4 km.

The Myvatn Nature Bath is located within the Lake Myvatn Geothermal area.It has a stunning view of the surrounding and is less crowded than the Blue Lagoon. The difference is the water for Myvatn is natural from the underground geothermal source while Blue Lagoon is from the effluent of a power plant. Both are rich with minerals. We celebrated Mye's birthday here. Entrance fee EUR80 for the four of us.


This was where we saw the famous Icelandic geyser bread where the bread is baked in the ground, heated by the heat of the geothermic soil. You eat it with butter and the taste is really really good. It is dense but has the texture of a wet cake. So, when you eat it the bread stays together and not crumbly. It has some sweetness and something mildly sharp in it which is difficult to describe. Don't miss the volcanic bread when you are there. The Dutch has something similar, but nothing close to the Icelandic one.

Figure: We bought our first geyser bread (called 'rugbraud') at a supermarket at EUR3 which is cheaper than here EUR6. It was recommended by a local who asked us to try it. 

Is an Icelandic Rye bread. Ttraditionally baked in a pot ('rugbraud') or steamed in special wooden casks by burying it in the ground near a hot spring ('hverabraud') (Source: adapted from Wikipedia).

Dab butter, you are in heaven!

Trekking Lake Mývatn

Drove 13 km.

Trekking is an activity I thoroughly enjoy and miss trekking back home where nothing beats the tropical jungle when it comes to jungle trekking. Trekked along the lake and up a hill slope to have a good view of the surrounding. We were awestruck and sat down for a while to enjoy the scenery. We brought towels along with us to 'swat' away the summer flies - very very small flying insect. Somehow we did not encounter that many compared to how others told about it in the net. 
It is a very very quiet place with the silence occasionally broken by the sound of birds. Let my son navigated the trek which he passed with flying colours.
Oh yes, make sure you bring binoculars with you as there are so many nice animals and nature to see in the distance. And like any trek, bring your phone, plenty of water, some energy bars and at least one torchlight...just in case you get lost.

Overnight Bjarg Camping site at Reykjahlid
Drove 10 km.

This camping site backdrop was so beautiful and amongst the cleanest camp site we have stayed in (not the others are dirty, they clean), this one is just super clean. They also provide hot water at the sink which is nice when you wash your dishes in the outside cold air. Address 660 Reykjahlid. It is not a member of the Camping Card - so we had to pay the full charges.

End of Article 8.          Next Click Here >>>

Links to:

Article 1 - Reykjavik

Article 2 - Bridge Between 2 continents, Seltun Geothermal steam, Blue Lagoon, first overnight stay in Campervan, Aurora

Article 3 - Pingvellir Parliament, Geyser Southwest

Article 4 - South Gulfoss, Gluggafoss, Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Article 5 - Black Sand Beach, View of the Glacier

Article 6 - Glacier Walk, Zodiac Boat Ride in the Lake, Ice Beach
Article 7 - Hofn and Fjardabyggd
Article 8 - (this article) - Hverir, Myvatn Nature Bath and Lake Myvatn

Article 9 - Whale watching, Exploration Museum, Godafoss Waterfall, Akureyri Sundlaug 

Article 10 - Akureyri Christmas Shop, 14th Century Port, Old Church, Dalvik, Beautiful valley Oxnadalur, Overnight Varmahlid, Glaumbaer turf house, Hill with crater, Reykjavik city, Last Sundlaug