Myvatn, Iceland (Post #11)
On Saturday, June 11, we took a bus from Akureyri to Myvatn, a small village next to a lake. Unfortunately, we missed the 8:00am bus because the hostel owner told us the bus left at 8:30 when it actually left at 8:00. The next bus left at 10:00am but went through a small town more north called Husavik. This turned out to be a good thing because the drive to Husavik was breathtakingly beautiful and the town itself was lovely. We got to walk around it for 20 minutes before the bus left to our final destination of Myvatn. Here is a picture of Akureyri.
Here is a picture leaving Akureyri, on the way to Husavik.
Here is a picture of Husavik.
Once we got to Myvatn, we ate our usual meal at the grocery store – bread, meat, and cheese. Then we checked into our guesthouse – which fortunately we didn´t have to stay at the guest house but instead got to stay in a hut (much like the one we stayed in when in Reykjavik). We then headed out to find the geological sites we had traveled to see. We couldn´t find the trailhead so we walked along a busy road for a while until we found a sign for one of the sites – Grjotagja, a hot spring in a cave. So, we walked and walked and walked and about the time we were going to turn around we came upon it – and we found the trail which was blazed with white markers. We followed the trail to a massive tephra crater called Hverfell. This crater was the most awesome thing we´d ever seen. We climbed to the top and took pictures down into the crater. It is difficult to tell by the pictures but the crater is at least a half mile in diameter. Below is one of the pictures we took.
Then we walked around the rim and down some steep switchbacks to continue on the trail to Dimmubogir. (See Mike in photo below).
Dimmubogir is a 2000 year old maze of strangely shaped lava pillars and crags. One lava formation in particular made for beautiful pictures. Here is Michele in said formation.
btw, a Dimmu Borgir of another sort can be found (here).
We found a huge network of trails around Dimmubogir but didn´t have time to walk on them all because we needed to get back to the village grocery story before it closed at 8:00p. So, we hit the busy road and walked back as quickly as possible, bought our dinner at the grocery store, ate, then took a shower in an incredible sulferous shower facility. It really smelled like rotten eggs – the odor was very strong but the water is hot and there is plenty of it since it comes out of the ground naturally. You can only drink the cold water in Myvatn since the hot water is too sulfuric. We were wiped out after walking at least 10 miles during the day and went to bed without any problems. The next morning we walked 4 km to the Myvatn hot springs (baths) where we went into some very, very, hot natual pools. This was the hottest water we had ever been in. Fortunaly, there was a cooler (but still quite hot) pool that they pumped cold water into. This place was on the side of the mountain so you looked out to Myvatn lake and like so much of Iceland, it was just so beautiful. The water at the hot spings was an incredible blue color. Here is Michele in one of the hot pools.
Later in the day we got on the bus back to Akureyri and once we arrived there we walked to the award-winning hostel where we were staying. It´s award winning because the rooms are very nice, the bathrooms are incredibly clean, there´s a great living room and large dining room with a kitchen that has every appliance. We went to Domino´s pizza at night and with our 30% off coupon, we paid only $18 for a cheese and mushroom pizza. This is cheap in Iceland. Later that night we did our laundry for about $10 for one load of laundry and hung our clothes to dry on a clothesline. Fortunately, all our clothes are made out of quick dry material and they dried in about 3 hours. This morning (Monday, June 13) we walked about 5 km to the airport from our hostel in Akureyri and flew back to Reykjavik. We are spending the morning here in Reykjavik before we take a bus from the bus terminal to the town of Keyflavik. We will spend one night there in a hostel, walk to the airport tomorrow morning and fly off to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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Tags: Category #3: Iceland
Michele Harmon
Michele and Mike,
Those photos are awesome! Thanks for sharing. I hope you can keep this journal going throughout your trip. This will be a great tool for helping me plan my next vacation.
It’s hideously hot and humid here and you aren’t missing a thing. Have fun in Amsterdam! Looking forward to hearing about it….I have a feeling your report will be colorful.
Kerry
One thing I didn’t see in your gear list – toenail polish, for when all that sulfuric water turns your toenails yellow! 😉 Maybe you can buy a bottle in Iceland for $50. Or, just wait until they grow out.
Love the pictures! Those hot springs look fantastic.