Iceland - a travel blog

Unforgiving highlands The breakfast in this old hotel is served in the basement. Various wooden tables and old artifacts create a perfect atmosphere for this place. The stone benches are covered with deer or sheep fur. A group of Italians arrive and fill up the room. Apparently, we're not the only tourists after all. After breakfast we start looking for a gas station to fill up the car before heading back into the highlands. According to Google Maps, there should be one not far from the hotel. However, when we arrive it's just an empty open area. Luckily, we'll pass by another one before we go inland. We're relieved that the car didn't make any more terrifying noises, but the true test will be today. We plan to drive the F35, also known as the Kjölur route. It was used in the oldest days as a critical trading route for horses. However, after some merchants died during a snowstorm the route has been abandoned until the 19th century. Nowadays, there is even a bus that...

The North Coast We wake up after a very quiet night. It's not every day that you have an entire hotel to yourselves. We figure out what the maximum number of layers of clothes is that we can comfortably wear. Temperatures are dropping as of today to a chillier 5 to 7 degrees Celsius whereas we previously had a gentler 10+ degrees. Especially on the open water it might be cold, so preparation is everything.  We leave our hotel room in search of breakfast. When we pass by the reception desk (that is still closed) we see the key for the other guest(s) is still there. In the hotel lobby there is a tea kettle and some instant coffee. The door to the breakfast area is locked with a paper that breakfast starts at 8AM. We decide to wait a couple of more minutes. In the meantime, we put all our bags already back in the car. After breakfast we won't have much time left because the whale watching tour starts at 9AM and they asked to arrive at least 15 minutes prior. Luckily, we saw the lo...

Mist, city life, fish It's Saturday again. Exactly one week ago our adventure in Iceland began. We're both a bit surprised that we're only halfway now. Judging by the number of things we've seen so far, or the pictures on our camera's, it could already have been a whole trip. At the same time, we feel a bit sad too. The fact that we're over the halfway mark means that the end will now rapidly start to come closer and closer. We have another breakfast with pancakes and waffles at the hotel. After checking out and loading the car we leave Mývatn and its annoying midgets behind us. Because today's planning is a bit more flexible, we decide to take a walk on the Vindbelgjarfjall. A mountain to the west of the Mývatn lake that gives a great panoramic view on a clear day. As of this morning, the sunny days have left us and clouds with sometimes rain are forecasted for the next couple of days. Because the weather is so dynamic here, we decided to make the walk to t...

Mývatn area Having finished an extensive breakfast with waffles and croissants, we start our last highly filled day for a while. We decide to kick start it with Dettifoss. Yet another waterfall, but one that holds high expectations as it's the most powerful in Iceland. To get there, we have to pass the Mývatn Nature Baths again. In this area there are various landmarks to see and from the car we can clearly see the white steam from Hverir. An area that we will visit later today. During the first couple of minutes into our drive, the car continued to make some weird noises, but by the time we arrive at the Dettifoss parking lot, all seems to have stopped.  The parking lot isn't yet crowded and we quickly jump out of the car to enjoy this waterfall without too many tourists. To get to the waterfall we need to take a short walk of about 500m that leads us into a grey and deserted landscape. We can hear the waterfall from far away, but it's only when we climb over the last litt...