Iceland - Day 9

Description

Kevin drove.
Gased up at Akureyri N1.
Drove to Godafoss waterfall.
Continued on to Lake Myvatn.
Easy hike on Dimmuborgir trail on lava field to the Kirkja (church).
Hiked up and around Hverfell crater - about 3miles.
Relaxed at the Myvatn Nature baths.
Dinner of hot dogs and ramen noodles.

Lodging

Öndólfsstaðir Farm B&B
Öndólfsstaðir, 650 Laugar, Iceland
Phone: +354 891 7607

Details

Our first stop after leaving Akureyri was the gorgeous Godafoss Waterfall, which means Waterfall of the Gods. They say it got its name because in the year 1000 a member of the pingvellir governing body had to decide what religion Iceland would adopt, the old Viking religion or Christianity. After 24 hours of meditation he chose Christianity and he threw his idols into the waterfall on his way home that night. In any case it is an incredibly beautiful waterfall. We walked all around and also down at the water level. Amazing! We drove on to Myvatn which is an active geothermal area. Myvatn means midge and we were concerned enough that we brought bug nets, but fortunately the midges didn’t get us. We talked to a friendly guy (actually we never met an unfriendly Icelander) in a convenience store and got recommendations for hiking. The first trail was near the lake, quiet and tranquil. After that we chose another quad burner, the Hverfell Crater. This is a tuff ring or tephra volcanic crater, believed to be the largest on the planet at 1000 meters across. We hiked up (that was the quad burning part) then all the way around the rim. It was windy up there but the views into the crater and around the surroundings were great. After that we went back to do a short walk in immuborgir, a gigantic lava field full of pillars and craggy structures. We walked to “the church.” After all that exercise we went to another great spa, the Myvatn Nature Baths. This one contained mineral water and smelled faintly sulphurous. The water felt good and made our skin soft and slightly slimy! We drove back to our farmhouse lodging in Laugar and cooked up our ramen and hot dogs.

Photos