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life_of_glamour) wrote2012-07-16 11:13 am
life_of_glamour) wrote2012-07-16 11:13 am
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Day 8: Myvatn Area - Hverir, Krafla, Goðafoss, Auto Museum!
The day I've been waiting for: Volcanic Wonderland!
Our lodgings for the night were at a hotel for which the reception was located at the Cowshed Cafe - it was a working dairy farm for which they'd glassed off half the barn and turned it into a cafe from which you could watch the cows being milked at 7:30 am and 5:30pm (or some such, we never quite made it at the right time, usually just as the cows were heading out for the day to stand around peering ominously at tourists).
Also, the weather took a decided cold turn today so I bought a hand-knitted Icelandic wool sweater, which was itchy and silly looking but extremely warm. Our first stop was Hverir, a huge steaming field of mudpots, sulfur works and boiling earth.
I've purposely included two German Adventure Travelers in this shot to show the scale of these geologic features. There are tons of pictures on the internet if you are curious to see more. We wandered around for a long time saying, "Whoa! Look at this one! Wow, check this one out!"
Next stop: A lava field left behind from the 1974-1985 eruptions from the Krafla crater. I will try not to overuse words like otherworldly but the phrase, "One does simply walk into Mordor!" did pass between us. (Followed immediately by: "Well, or alternately, one rides the tour bus, and follows the marked path into Mordor, while wearing the uniform and speaking German!")
These may bear a passing resemblance to the Lava Beds National Monument in california, except that these lava beds are still, quite visibly, steaming.
We hiked around in Mordor for a couple of hours then had lunch back at the Cowshed where the service was typically Icelandic :-( :-(, and headed out to Dimmuborgir ("dark castles"). You can read about how it was formed on Wikipedia.
I was going to post a picture of the Church formation that I took but it looks just like the one on Wikipedia. I mean, JUST like that one, so I'll post this one instead.
Those aren't us, obviously. Just some German tourists for scale. They're handy like that.
Here's a view from the hillside over Dimmuborgir.
Next stop: The Lake Myvatn pseudocraters. They're not really craters because no lava ever flowed from them, they're the result of explosions when hot lava meets underground water. But, since it happened a long time ago, now they just look like grassy bowls. Still, a very nice hike was had here as well.
Last stop (or so we thought) was Goðafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods. Now, being neither the highest, nor the most powerful, waterfall in Iceland we weren't expecting much but I am not exaggerating when I say that Goðafoss is without a doubt the most beautiful, the most lovely waterfall in Iceland that we have seen so far.
It was mesmerizingly beautiful, I wanted to sit and watch it all day, and we did sit for a while on some rocks over the blue water of the river below and just enjoy the waterfall and the day.
So lovely.
After that we headed to our hotel, a farm in the country, however on our way there we saw something that has become a mainstay of all our travels, it seems. We saw an Auto Museum, and it was on our way to the hotel, so we made a detour to Ystafell.
In another theme that seems to be common for us, we went in thinking it would be small and underwhelming, but it was MUCH bigger than it looked on the outside, and full of cars that we've never seen before, plus crazy snow and farm equipment. I particularly liked this thing:
When we arrived at our farm hotel for the night, we were told with usual Icelandic hospitality :-( :-( :-( :-( that we had to decide right away if we wanted to eat in their dining room for dinner, because they didn't have room for everyone (I'm still kind of wondering about that - were they going to pick the people they liked the best to get the coveted dinner spots if everyone wanted to eat there and tell everyone else to go pound sand?), and also that we only got one hour of WiFi per room. If you're going, DO NOT recommend Raudaskrida Hotel. Not that I think you're likely to stay there, but...
So we decided to head to Husavik and get some food at the grocery store (honestly, I'm tired of eating in restaurants now anyway. I know that sounds weird, but I get introvert fatigue by constantly eating in restaurants, I much prefer to eat in my room some nights and have a quiet night reading and snuggling). Attached to the grocery store was the worlds tiniest Masonic lodge. It was itty bitty! Cathyn was pleased.
Our lodgings for the night were at a hotel for which the reception was located at the Cowshed Cafe - it was a working dairy farm for which they'd glassed off half the barn and turned it into a cafe from which you could watch the cows being milked at 7:30 am and 5:30pm (or some such, we never quite made it at the right time, usually just as the cows were heading out for the day to stand around peering ominously at tourists).
Also, the weather took a decided cold turn today so I bought a hand-knitted Icelandic wool sweater, which was itchy and silly looking but extremely warm. Our first stop was Hverir, a huge steaming field of mudpots, sulfur works and boiling earth.
I've purposely included two German Adventure Travelers in this shot to show the scale of these geologic features. There are tons of pictures on the internet if you are curious to see more. We wandered around for a long time saying, "Whoa! Look at this one! Wow, check this one out!"
Next stop: A lava field left behind from the 1974-1985 eruptions from the Krafla crater. I will try not to overuse words like otherworldly but the phrase, "One does simply walk into Mordor!" did pass between us. (Followed immediately by: "Well, or alternately, one rides the tour bus, and follows the marked path into Mordor, while wearing the uniform and speaking German!")
These may bear a passing resemblance to the Lava Beds National Monument in california, except that these lava beds are still, quite visibly, steaming.
We hiked around in Mordor for a couple of hours then had lunch back at the Cowshed where the service was typically Icelandic :-( :-(, and headed out to Dimmuborgir ("dark castles"). You can read about how it was formed on Wikipedia.
I was going to post a picture of the Church formation that I took but it looks just like the one on Wikipedia. I mean, JUST like that one, so I'll post this one instead.
Those aren't us, obviously. Just some German tourists for scale. They're handy like that.
Here's a view from the hillside over Dimmuborgir.
Next stop: The Lake Myvatn pseudocraters. They're not really craters because no lava ever flowed from them, they're the result of explosions when hot lava meets underground water. But, since it happened a long time ago, now they just look like grassy bowls. Still, a very nice hike was had here as well.
Last stop (or so we thought) was Goðafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods. Now, being neither the highest, nor the most powerful, waterfall in Iceland we weren't expecting much but I am not exaggerating when I say that Goðafoss is without a doubt the most beautiful, the most lovely waterfall in Iceland that we have seen so far.
It was mesmerizingly beautiful, I wanted to sit and watch it all day, and we did sit for a while on some rocks over the blue water of the river below and just enjoy the waterfall and the day.
So lovely.
After that we headed to our hotel, a farm in the country, however on our way there we saw something that has become a mainstay of all our travels, it seems. We saw an Auto Museum, and it was on our way to the hotel, so we made a detour to Ystafell.
In another theme that seems to be common for us, we went in thinking it would be small and underwhelming, but it was MUCH bigger than it looked on the outside, and full of cars that we've never seen before, plus crazy snow and farm equipment. I particularly liked this thing:
When we arrived at our farm hotel for the night, we were told with usual Icelandic hospitality :-( :-( :-( :-( that we had to decide right away if we wanted to eat in their dining room for dinner, because they didn't have room for everyone (I'm still kind of wondering about that - were they going to pick the people they liked the best to get the coveted dinner spots if everyone wanted to eat there and tell everyone else to go pound sand?), and also that we only got one hour of WiFi per room. If you're going, DO NOT recommend Raudaskrida Hotel. Not that I think you're likely to stay there, but...
So we decided to head to Husavik and get some food at the grocery store (honestly, I'm tired of eating in restaurants now anyway. I know that sounds weird, but I get introvert fatigue by constantly eating in restaurants, I much prefer to eat in my room some nights and have a quiet night reading and snuggling). Attached to the grocery store was the worlds tiniest Masonic lodge. It was itty bitty! Cathyn was pleased.
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Also, leave it to the Germans to make Mordor a tourist spot. Were they wearing sandals and socks?
Maybe their Masons are really little. Like dwarves. With tiny little stone hammers and tiny little axes. And big bushy beards. On the women.
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Their masons are the stonehenge dwarves from Spinal Tap?
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