Coming full circle

Our last 2 days started where our trip began, close to Reykjavik at the beginning of our Ring Road journey, so we went full circle.  The Ring Road is 828 miles, but with all our side trips and excursions including the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, we drove a total of 1800 miles by the time we returned our car, spending $500 in gas along the way.

The gorgeous sky as we headed out of the Snaefellsness Peninsula

We returned to the southwest area just in case weather had disrupted the front end of the trip because there is so much to see in this region.  The Ion Adventure Hotel was an unnecessary splurge, but its location gave us the opportunity to revisit what we might have missed in the Golden Circle or Reykjavik.  It's really an unattractive building, formerly housing for the crew building the adjacent power plant, sitting in a moss covered lava field and it is not on Thingvellir Lake.  It is strangely a cool experience; the rooms are extremely comfortable and chic, with fur throws and updated technology, with a stone floor, open bathroom/shower, wonderful products and we had a delicious night's rest.  The dinner was also delicious and the spa was relaxing.  Worth $430 a night?  No.  Are we glad we did it?  Kinda, yes.  Do it again?  No.

The following morning, we skipped breakfast at the hotel and our trip around Thingvellir Lake was beautiful and we saw trees!  First stop was to finally visit Bruarfoss which turned out to be our favorite waterfall, despite the rain, the muddy forest and having to wear our waterproof rain attire to avoid being coated in mud.  We were the only people there and it is a magnificent waterfall.  Rumor has it that access may be restricted because you do trek through private homes.  I read online that other visitors had trouble getting access in the days around our visit, so it is a "hit or miss" opportunity.  (Read my earlier post about the Golden Circle to learn more.)

The best idea is to visit this waterfall when you are visiting Gullfoss and Geysir.  We also revisited Fridheimar Farms for another bowl of delicious tomato soup.  We should have ordered the tomato ice cream for dessert or maybe the Bloody Mary.  Remember to make reservations by email (or call) because we got the last unreserved table when we arrived there at 11:55 am and it is a very special, not to be missed place.  Would we ever have been disappointed to be turned away.

We then drove south to Selfoss to pick up some food and then to Hveragerdi where we were staying at Varmi Guesthouse for the night.  It's a very charming full apartment for about $175 a night which would be a perfect place to stay with a family to explore the region for 3-4 days.  The forecast was for heavy rain at 6 pm, so at 3:00 we started our hike uphill to the Reykjadalur Hot Springs in just light wind and rain.  It is about a 4 mile round trip hike through a mountain gorge past waterfalls and steaming geysers to an outdoor river.  There are small partitions which allow you to partially hide while you change into your bathing suit along with everyone else and then you quickly run into 100 degree water and soak.  Cold outside, it was hard to get out and get dressed afterwards and hike down.  A very nice ending to our trip in a natural hot spring.  (If we had decided to dive Silfra, or had needed more time at the Ion Hotel or Thingvellir because we had done the Glymur Hike the day before, or wanted to explore Haifoss Canyon or Gjain Waterfall up Hwy 26, we would have still been able to do this 3-4 hour hot springs hike the morning we left, so our re-routing ourselves back was a smart idea).  If you have a shorter trip in mind, it would be easy to eliminate these last 2 nights and drive straight to the airport from Snaefellsness and you would feel your trip was complete.

view of the gorge hiking up

We headed down through the steamy gorge and reached our car at 6:30, just as it was starting to pour and did the wind ever pick up.  We found a little pizza restaurant and had a pleasant dinner.  We declined to eat at the big diner in town which had pony steak on the menu!!!  I really hate to add this part of the story!!!  We were wondering why everyone had so many horses and no one but tourists seemed to be riding them and hoping this was not true.   These horses are magnificent and it was so beautiful every time we saw them so I hope this is not the case.  And we hear it is fun to ride with their 2 extra gaits.

On our last day, we leisurely ate breakfast and packed and then headed to Reykjavik for some final shopping and exploring.  We should have planned  this final morning better because we didn't know where to eat and ended up eating a hot dog in the airport after some duty free shopping.  The airport is about 45 minutes from Reykjavik and we had a 6:45 pm flight out so we had plenty of time to enjoy any morning activity and have a hearty lunch.  Another option would be to explore the geothermic region near the airport or to visit the western point where there are 2 lighthouses and a bridge across the two tectonic plates.  Some choose also to visit the Blue Lagoon on the final day before heading to the airport.

Luckily the process of returning the car was easier than renting.  We had used Reykjavik Rent a Car (who I do not recommend) and the 2013 car they originally gave us had nearly 100,000 miles on it.  After a few hours at the Blue Lagoon on our first day, we had returned the car and demanded a new one.  I'm glad we did because this newer car gave us no trouble...don't know what would have happened driving an additional 1800 miles on a 100,000 mile car.  We had taken pictures of our rental bumper to bumper which turned out to be a great thing when they attempted to charge us for alleged "non-noted on the contract" bumper damage to the plastic bumper (coincidently damage that lined up with older, rusted dents on the metal bumper just above, which had been noted on the contract as pre-existing.  I am sure I would be in a credit card dispute over that absent photographs.)    We also didn't buy the sand and ash coverage.  I don't know if that is a wise choice or not.  It did make check in longer as the crew had to check the car rather then us just dropping off the car.  You do need to take a short bus ride to the airport from car return so allow enough time to go through check in, customs, security, immigration and duty free shopping.

The airport has a lot of duty free shopping, so Chad was able to buy that 66 North jacket he admired the whole trip, but food items were not discounted.  You could buy skyr, but I paid about $2 for the ris buf treats I bought at "duty free".

And then joy of joys, on the flight home, the sky cleared and we saw magnificent views of Greenland and its massive ice field and glacier tongues and coast line...

So the wonderful trip to Iceland comes to an end...and we highly recommend the adventure.

NEXT STOP...VIETNAM?  DECEMBER, 2017-JANUARY, 2018???

Snaefellsness Peninsula

We left the north and headed west on Hwy 1 in the most serious of rain storms yet experienced in Iceland, with pretty strong winds, too.  We later learned that these same winds really affected the south coast, with a lot of tour buses cancelling tours and tourists unable to visit the gorgeous waterfalls, black sand beaches and glacier lagoons along the south coast.  This happened too the week before we arrived in Iceland when a blizzard hit the entire island.

I think this is a good time to reinforce the point that travel to Iceland is very weather dependent (certainly in May).  May is a month that could bring blizzards, but for us, most of the time it was moist or rained lightly and was in the 50's.  It is entirely possible that the Ring Road could be closed in areas due to poor weather.  It's possible that fog or rain will obscure views or make travel treacherous or that rain will prevent you from taking a hike or visiting a glacier.  It's possible that strong winds can make the beaches inaccessible or dangerous or car travel difficult.  Knowing all this, make your schedule flexible and have enough optional sights to see in each region, so if you have to leave a region early or stay longer than planned, you will not be disappointed.  In hindsight, we had days of difficult weather and didn't see a few things we hoped to see, but overall we were busy all the time, never sat still and saw amazing things, so we weren't disappointed by what we missed, but were thrilled for the decent weather we got and the amazing things that we were fortunate to see.

The Ring Road here in the northwest and towards Snaefellsness was the least interesting drive with few food choices.  We were told to try Hyammstangi for lunch, but we passed the exit so fast and saw no signs of a town so we kept driving.  We also heard that there is a beach nearby to see seals in the summer season, but other travelers weren't seeing much now.  When we reached the Peninsula, we took the northern route 54 heading west, a very scenic drive, but to our surprise, an unpaved gravel road which was bumpy and slower, but certainly drivable for even a 2 x 2.  We learned that if we had driven south on the Ring Road to Borgarnes, and then driven northwest on 56 towards  Grundarfjordur, we would have paved roads; a longer, but faster trek.    The views towards Breidafjordur Bay and its archipelago were gorgeous as we headed west in a very undeveloped region of Iceland, with only an occasional farm until we reached the turnoff to Stykkisholmur, a cute coastal town where much of the movie Walter Mitty was filmed and where you can take the ferry to Flatey Island and the Westfjords.

We had a delicious lunch near the harbor at Narfaeyrarstofa, moist fresh cod in a very light batter, blue mussels and french fries and dipping sauces, plus an easy hike up a massive rock formation at the harbor which panoramic views of the town and harbor looking north towards the Westfjords, with hundreds of birds soaring.  Our lodging for the night was a small guesthouse Grundi i Grundarfirdi in Grundarfjordur, with about 6 simply decorated, comfortable rooms and shared bathrooms, living area, kitchen and laundry facilities for $250 for the 2 nights and a perfect location to explore the region.  We had stopped for groceries at Bonus along the way and on this stormy, windy evening, rather than go out and explore, we made a spaghetti dinner and had cocktails, talking to an Irish mom and daughter crazily hitchhiking around Iceland in these stormy days.  Sharing facilities was not a problem and we met nice people and the rate was reasonable, so it was nice to sit in for the evening.  We also had a magnificent view of Kirkjufell Mountain from our lodging and could have hiked around if not for the windy weather.

The next day after cooking breakfast (lots of bread and spreads, plus coffee and tea were provided), we headed out to explore Snaefellsness and this was the first day where weather did affect our travels.  It didn't stop our explorations, just limited what we could do during parts of the day, but luckily all the roads were paved.  First stop, Kirkjufell Mountain and its amazing waterfall right off the road.

Kirkjufell

Check out the beautiful black sand beach just west.  Whale tours are available in the little town Grundarfjordur and there were a few restaurants and a small grocery store. We then headed west to the end of the peninsula, passing through 2 small fishing towns Olafsvik and Rif, past black sand beaches and bird cliffs, and ending up in a lava field at the very end of the peninsula, just west of the massive Snaefellsjokull Glacier.  The lava formations and the beautiful black cliff beaches, some with gold sand beaches, were stunning and we hiked a dormant volcano crater, Saxholl.  We did not drive all the way to the end to see the lighthouse and bird cliffs due to bad weather and bumpy roads, but they say that sometimes you can see whales from this far western vantage point.

Bird cliff near Olafsvik

at the end of the peninsula looking west

view from Saxholl crater

our car looking up at Saxholl Crater

abandoned house on peninsula, south coast

Natural harbor at Hellnar

Arctic terns and seagulls nesting in the cliffs at Hellnar

Harbor at Arnastapi

We did stop at the small hamlets of Hellnar and Arnastapi to hike the unique bird cliffs, visit the churches and you can hike the coast between the two villages for a few hours; really picturesque.  Unfortunately, (I don't know how this happened!!!) we missed the arch Gatklettur which you may want to see because a lot of people take pictures standing on top of the arch and there are some cute stone structures there.  Don't ignore these 2 amazing cities.  We had a lunch of home made fish stew and fresh hot bread in a small 6 table restaurant built into the cliff at Arnastapi.  Fjoruhusid didn't have the best fish stew we ate in Iceland  (a lot of people were eating waffles and skyr cheesecake), but certainly this teeny restaurant seemingly run by women who made everything was the most charismatic place we ate.  This little cafe is hidden from view from above.

Fjoruhusid Cafe

Church in Arnastapi (corrugated steel)

 We continued east to Budir to see the black church and the massive lava field hike towards the beach, stopped at a popular seal beach Ytri-Tunga hoping to see seals but it was too early in the season and they were too far away, and stopped at the basalt columns at Gerduberg, plus a waterfall and a hidden gorge.  It's possible to horseback ride on the golden beach here.  The trip back to Grundarfjordur through the interior on 54 was gorgeous and we took two different interior routes during our stay, 54 and 56, both of which offered amazing views of lava fields and glacial runoff.  Unfortunately, the weather (a thick blanket of rain and fog) prevented us from visiting the glacier and the activities on the glacier such as a glacier walk, a snowmobile ride or visiting any lava caves.

Budir Black Church

Views from first rest stop on right north end of 56...get out of your car and look!

Church near Gerdiberg Columns 

Gerdiberg columns

The next morning we headed back towards Reykjavik, bypassing the inland town of Reykholt and it's waterfall Hraunfossar which is supposed to be gorgeous and decided to take the longer route towards Thingvellir along the fjord, rather than taking the tunnel.  We had hoped to hike Glymur, but the hike required a double water crossing up to the knees while holding a cable and we were not up to that given the cold weather and rain (plus age and vacation exhaustion).  During the summer with less glacial run off, there is a log and the cable for the river crossing. We sat amidst fields of purple lupine and ate salami and butter sandwiches and just enjoyed where we were.

We decided that at $400+ a night, we would get to Ion Adventure Hotel early and just enjoy the amenities there.  We arrived around 2:00, checked into our chic room, enjoyed the geothermal heated pool and talked to other travelers for hours before enjoying a really delicious dinner of lamb shanks for Chad and cod for me.  More about the Ion on the next post...

Husavik and whale watching in the north

Before we left the northern region, we went to the charming coastal town of Husavik.  The views of the fjord along the way are beautiful and we were lucky to take a few pictures of horses posed in front of snow covered mountains.  How in the world do they get them to do that?  They just stand in the wind, facing one direction...

Husavik is a cute fishing village with a booming whale watching business because of its protective cove with a lot of nutrients that attracts the whales in the summer months...we took a 3 hour tour with North Sailing.  This time of year we were able to just walk up and get tickets on the boat, but reserve in season and there's a discount if you book on line, but note, sailing is always subject to weather 

conditions and whale sightings aren't guaranteed.   We were also lucky to see some Arctic dolphins and a humpback whale which we watched for an hour and generously showed its fluke 4 times.  Bah, we were also happy to see puffins floating on the sea and flying, but not the perfect close up view we were hoping for.   North Sailing has refurbished wooden boats, and we were all wrapped up as if we would be out to sea for days in an horrific storm, and even though it was early in the season and we didn't see other types of whales, it was a fun experience and it never rained.  We walked around the harbor which includes a whale museum and some cute boats and houses.  We had lunch in a restored house, turned popular restaurant, Naustid and had a yummy fish stew (and more bread and icelandic butter...do you think I may need an intervention?)

Along our northern travels we enjoyed Godafoss, waterfall of the Gods.  At some point, you do begin not to notice these amazing waterfalls because you've seen so many, I am sorry to say because they are all magnificent and the thunderous roar you hear and all the mist makes it so much more than a visual experience.

Good weather for whale watching, bad weather for our journey west and then south to Snaefellsness Peninsula.  First we passed through the coastal town of Akureyri which is situated at the end of a beautiful fjord and we had our first long-awaited Icelandic hot dog.  It was Sunday and many of the stores were closed, but we had a chance to wander through the town and pick up some Icelandic wool hats.  Its actually a big city for Iceland with an airport and we hear they have some good restaurants, more whale watching tours, museums and cruise boat dockage.

with the works, fried and raw onion, mustard, remoulade and Chad added red cabbage...they are  primarily lamb and for a hot dog, taste pretty good, about $6, and served at every gas station in Iceland like a national treasure.

If the weather had been better, we would have considered a coastal detour to the fishing village of Sigiujordur and the Hofsos basalt columns which we heard was gorgeous, and we heard about the Fosshaug natural springs in the region and horseback riding is also an option here, but the weather doesn't always cooperate and we had a fairly long ride ahead of us, so we continued on to our next stop, Snaefellsness Peninsula (and we pretended it wasn't raining and windy and were glad it was only a travel day...did I mention the wind started to pick up too?)