The south coast of Iceland was quite a bit different to me than the rest of it. The number one reason was just the sheer amount of people between Reykjavik and Hofn. As I would go from place to place, I would start seeing the same people. Sometimes, I would see the same people day after day. But the south coast of Iceland had probably one of my favorite things: the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and Jökulsárlón at the base of the glacier. Both of these are in the Vatnajökull National Park. I didn't know I would have this reaction, but I was in utter awe once I saw the glacier. Imagine being used to seeing all of these mountains in Iceland and seeing this big white spot on a map of Iceland, but once you see it in person, seeing that the glacier is higher than the mountains is magnificent. I definitely took my time checking out the glacier and probably was one of those tourists driving down the road swerving. Going to the Ice Lagoon was also spectacular because of the white and blue ice chunks in the pale blue water with all of it going out into the ocean where waves are crashing onto the black sand beach. Just absolutely beautiful and the pictures do not do it any justice.
I honestly took about 100 pictures of this beach alone.
This face looks a lot sadder than goofy.
The black spec in the middle of the water is a seal. It was loose.
The big ass glacier.
Now that I was at the glacier, it was time to go explore it more. I found a trail that leads to the glacier and I wanted to see how far I could go. There was a memorial plaque at the start of the trail for 2 German guys that went hiking ON the glacier, but were never found. This gave me 2nd thoughts about actually going on it. I followed the trail and it was very easy at first, but got tougher and tougher as it went along. I probably would have gone all the way to the glacier, because there was a sort of path to get there, but I was alone and the path was not easy by any means. It was actually pretty fucking scary because the incline was at about a 40-45 degree angle and it was full of loose rocks, soil, and sediment. There was one part of the trail that was washed out with about a 5m drop off. You know how I said I had a fear of heights? The climbing over that wash out definitely was another point for me for getting of my fear of heights. After the short hike, it was the end of the day so I found a place to sleep within sight of the glacier.
The easy part of the trail.
Amazing colors.
Turn around point and the toughest part of the trail. I really wanted to get to the glacier.
I was up fairly early the next day and started off with a hike at Svartifoss. It is a pretty well known waterfall, but since I got there at about 7am, I saw no one else during the entire hike.
More conquering of acrophobia.
Svartifoss
Svartifoss from a very precarious rock in the stream.
Aquaman was here.
Pebble on Vik beach.
Peanut butter does exist in Europe.
Basalt columns at Reynisfjara.
Puffins flying overhead.
I found the one white rock on the entire beach.
You've seen pictures of these spires before.
From Avatar.
One of the few cairns that I liked.
Iceland is a great place to get away from it all and be alone with just your thoughts.
Looking at Reynisfjara from Dyrhólaey.
A puffin with fish in its mouth was just doing circles in the air. This is the best pic of them that I could get.
Skógafoss is another really popular waterfall. It is so popular that there are several hotels around the base of the falls and there is practically a small town there now. I went to the base, took a picture, climbed up the steps, took another picture, went back down. It actually was very scenic. After this, is was getting a bit late in the day and I wanted to take a dip in some of the hot springs. I ended up going to Seljavallalaug swimming pool. It used to be known as "the secret springs", but it isn't so secret anymore. There were plenty of people in the pool, but it wasn't that crowded. I just enjoyed a few beers leisurely and paddled around in the water. The scenery is wonderful because it is about a kilometer hike from the parking lot and I saw no less than 14 waterfalls from the pool. BTW, the water is pretty warm, but it isn't hot by any means. I did get a bit chilly after awhile.
Skogafoss. You can get pretty close to the falls on the right side, but you will get soaked.
Halfway up Skogafoss. The stairs were treacherous.
Crazy sheep.
Top of Skogafoss.
Scenery around Seljavallalaug.
The start of the next day was the Eyjafjallajökull Erupts Museum. It is a pretty good museum that tells the story of the far across the road and how the Eyjafjallajokull eruption affected it in 2011. It is actually affordable entry and was pretty interesting to hear about that particular farm and more about the eruption. Seljalandsfoss was next on the tour and is a pretty popular waterfall also. And you've seen this one too because there is a trail that actually goes all the way behind the falls. Many gorgeous pictures have been taken from back there. However, it was very, very crowded. About half a kilometer down the trail was Gljúfrafoss which I loved. There was a tiny trail next to a stream. You had to step on rocks for a portion of the trail and then you got into a cave with a waterfall. My pictures turned out like crap, but I like caves so I thought this was awesome. Back on the road after that excursion and I went to Fridheimar Farm which is known for awesome tomatoes. And damn, they were awesome. I didn't wait long for a table although I didn't have reservations. That is one of the perks about traveling solo is that it seems that they can almost always fit you in. The main course was fairly "basic" tomato soup and bread, but both were absolutely outstanding. At each table, they had a basil plant for your soup as well. I even had a green drink which was basically a green Bloody Mary. Also fantastic. For dessert I had tomato ice cream with a couple of different sauces on it. Yes, tomato ice cream. It definitely was different and I'm really glad that I got to experience that. After that, I did some more exploring and actually found a spring that wasn't too grounded to end the day. Met some nice people and talked with them for a bit. Got back on the road and found a place to sleep for my last night on the road.
Stream by Seljalandsfoss.
That wedding dress is ruined.
Behind Seljalandsfoss. Told you you've seen this before.
Gljúfrafoss.
Me inside of Gljúfrafoss.
The cliffs that make up Seljalandsfoss are right behind me.
Tomato plants at Friðheimar.
Tomato ice cream with sauces on top.
It still looks like ice cream.
Final dip in the springs.
Beach at sunset on my final night on the road.
The next day, I got up and headed back to Reykjavik. I went a little out of my way to make sure I officially drove the entire Ring Road. I was my car because it had about 5cm of protective mud on it, turned it in, and then found another coffee shop to chill in until my room was ready. The last day was quite chill actually. After being on the road for 14 days, I was extremely tired. I went out, had a few beers, talked to some natives, and was home fairly early. Woke up the next day and caught a direct flight back home to Denver.
A few random notes about Iceland:
* You experience fatigue after awhile. Your neck gets whiplash from turning around so quickly from all of the spectacular views. My motto for Iceland is "Fucking seriously, Iceland?" because of everything that you see that you've never seen before and this happens about every 5 minutes.
* Iceland's mentality for steep and rough trails is "Eh, be careful." When they put up guard rails or hand rails, then you know it is really dangerous.
* I still don't get one lane tunnels.
* One of the oddest to me fashion trends is girls with dyed blonde hair and then big, brown eyebrows. I've seen this a bit in Europe but in Iceland, the women have really run with it.
* Iceland thinks they have bad crime and corruption. My American view on Iceland is that it is a very safe and respectful country. It even registers extremely low on most crime indexes across the board. The one thing that is "average" for crime is corruption. This is the reason why there was a banking crisis there back in 2008. Like Americans, they feel that the people that caused this financial crisis suffered no repercussions as a result of their actions.
* Gas cards are fucking insane. You buy prepaid gas cards that work only at a single brand of gas stations. I ended up going with N1 because they were more plentiful, but they were a bit more expensive. If you have a chip+PIN card, it would be much easier to get gas.
* And if you end up driving, I recommend getting a diesel car because the diesel is cheaper and you get better gas mileage. I also found 2 gas stations that weren’t working so if you are below half a tank, you need to fill up.
* I wish I had gotten a cooler on my drive around the road. I did stock up on food in the car to avoid eating out every meal, but having a cooler would have given me many more options including eating Skyr every single day. That stuff is so good.
* Don't forget about the picnic spots. Most of them have fantastic views.
* Peak tourist season in Iceland is June, July, and August. I think that Peak Iceland has passed and it will be downhill from here. The reason I say that is that it is becoming so crowded. You saw the picture above at Vik. I do want to go back again because there is still so much more to see, but I will not be going back during peak tourist season.
Well, that concludes Iceland. Next up is 2 weeks in Ireland.
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