Today, I'm getting a head start on the blog entry so hopefully it'll be more interesting. I'm writing this as my friend drives a stretch of our trip. (Using a Bluetooth keyboard in a car is surprisingly effective!)
We spent much of the day around Lake Myvatn. As I think I mentioned, Myvatn means midges, a type of insects. Sports fans may remember that midges plagued Joba Chamberlain when he pitched for the Yankees against Cleveland. After experiencing them here, I can completely understand why he got so frazzled that he couldn't pitch. Midges don't bite but they're attracted to CO2, so they have a tendency to try to get into your mouth and nose (and ears!). It's quite annoying and there are times where there are swarms of them all around you. I'm a little glad we're on the road away from Myvatn right now because of those midges!
After eating a breakfast with eggs from the farm attached to the hotel we stayed at, we drove around the island towards the Vindbelgur Mountain. We went on a midge-plagued hike up 529m to the top. It was quite steep with scree on the slopes. At the top, though, we had a wonderful view of Lake Myvatn as well as pseudo-craters -- small round pools of water created by the geothermal activity below the ground. It was a nice panoramic view although I'm not sure it made up for the midges and the strenuous hike!
After booking through the midges back down the mountain, we stopped by a bird museum on the NW side of the lake. It was kinda pricey and only had stuffed birds within, so we skipped it. The lake has a multitude of birds and ducks on it. I'd recommend bringing a zoom lens or binoculars... the only catch is that you have to be outside and suffer the presence of the midges!
Lunch was pizza -- we wanted something relatively quick. This definitely wasn't NY pizza. It was passable. We got a Coke as well. Coke here has a strange taste (Coke in each country has a different recipe). It tasted a little sweeter, too, although I believe they use real sugar (I could be wrong given my poor comprehension of the Icelandic ingredient list).
After lunch, we hit a trio of geological sites. The first (from the south) was Dimmuborgir. (Doesn't it sound like something out of the Hobbit?) There are some impressive lava formations here. Unlike yesterday, the formations had some height to them. There were arches and holes that you could even walk through. After Dimmuborgir, we went to Hverfjall. There was another steep hike up the side of a crater (thankfully only 10--15m of hiking). The crater was much bigger than VIti yesterday but there was no lake within. Our final stop was a brief one at Grjotagja (okay, I'm stopping using the accents on vowels now). This was a fissure in the earth coupled with an underground pool. People used to swim in it but magma activity in the area made it too hot for that..
Our last stop in the Myvatn area was to the Myvatn Naturebaths. Many people may have heard of the Blue Lagoon. This place is the smaller and less touristy cousin. Hot water from the area is piped in to fill massive outdoor baths. Different sections of the pool are different temperatures -- 33-41C. There's also a sauna that goes even higher. It's a nice place to go after hiking and roughing it. It's reasonably priced too -- about $30. We didn't do it, but you can also get a beer bracelet to drink beer in the pools themselves.
We left Myvatn and backtracked to see a pair of waterfalls -- Dettifoss and Selfoss. Dettifoss (which Lilian calls "Dental Floss") is the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. It was impressive -- you could hear it a mile away.
We hurried up to Husavik to slip into a restaurant before the kitchen closed. I'm continuing to try the local beers (Egil Gull today). My meal was a Parma-wrapped cod.
I'm off to bed now. I don't have the energy to see sunset (1:00am) or sunrise (1:45am)!
We spent much of the day around Lake Myvatn. As I think I mentioned, Myvatn means midges, a type of insects. Sports fans may remember that midges plagued Joba Chamberlain when he pitched for the Yankees against Cleveland. After experiencing them here, I can completely understand why he got so frazzled that he couldn't pitch. Midges don't bite but they're attracted to CO2, so they have a tendency to try to get into your mouth and nose (and ears!). It's quite annoying and there are times where there are swarms of them all around you. I'm a little glad we're on the road away from Myvatn right now because of those midges!
After eating a breakfast with eggs from the farm attached to the hotel we stayed at, we drove around the island towards the Vindbelgur Mountain. We went on a midge-plagued hike up 529m to the top. It was quite steep with scree on the slopes. At the top, though, we had a wonderful view of Lake Myvatn as well as pseudo-craters -- small round pools of water created by the geothermal activity below the ground. It was a nice panoramic view although I'm not sure it made up for the midges and the strenuous hike!
After booking through the midges back down the mountain, we stopped by a bird museum on the NW side of the lake. It was kinda pricey and only had stuffed birds within, so we skipped it. The lake has a multitude of birds and ducks on it. I'd recommend bringing a zoom lens or binoculars... the only catch is that you have to be outside and suffer the presence of the midges!
Lunch was pizza -- we wanted something relatively quick. This definitely wasn't NY pizza. It was passable. We got a Coke as well. Coke here has a strange taste (Coke in each country has a different recipe). It tasted a little sweeter, too, although I believe they use real sugar (I could be wrong given my poor comprehension of the Icelandic ingredient list).
After lunch, we hit a trio of geological sites. The first (from the south) was Dimmuborgir. (Doesn't it sound like something out of the Hobbit?) There are some impressive lava formations here. Unlike yesterday, the formations had some height to them. There were arches and holes that you could even walk through. After Dimmuborgir, we went to Hverfjall. There was another steep hike up the side of a crater (thankfully only 10--15m of hiking). The crater was much bigger than VIti yesterday but there was no lake within. Our final stop was a brief one at Grjotagja (okay, I'm stopping using the accents on vowels now). This was a fissure in the earth coupled with an underground pool. People used to swim in it but magma activity in the area made it too hot for that..
Our last stop in the Myvatn area was to the Myvatn Naturebaths. Many people may have heard of the Blue Lagoon. This place is the smaller and less touristy cousin. Hot water from the area is piped in to fill massive outdoor baths. Different sections of the pool are different temperatures -- 33-41C. There's also a sauna that goes even higher. It's a nice place to go after hiking and roughing it. It's reasonably priced too -- about $30. We didn't do it, but you can also get a beer bracelet to drink beer in the pools themselves.
We left Myvatn and backtracked to see a pair of waterfalls -- Dettifoss and Selfoss. Dettifoss (which Lilian calls "Dental Floss") is the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. It was impressive -- you could hear it a mile away.
We hurried up to Husavik to slip into a restaurant before the kitchen closed. I'm continuing to try the local beers (Egil Gull today). My meal was a Parma-wrapped cod.
I'm off to bed now. I don't have the energy to see sunset (1:00am) or sunrise (1:45am)!
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