WE REALLY START NOW….
Day 3:
After the chaos of the truck mishaps we are now in the “real” Thor. The Isuzu is running great as we leave Reykjavik and head out to the Golden Circle.
The Golden Circle is the number one spot people go to on their Iceland tours, and rightfully so- you can a very good sense of the beauty in Iceland in one place and its a short day trip from Reykjavik with lots of tour busses to take you around. And that’s its one drawback, it is very, very crowded.
We took Road 435 to Road 360 into the park- most people come in via Hwy 1 to Road 35, but since we had done that part of Hwy 1 already we opted for the more back road around lake Thingvallavatn. The scenery was pretty incredible on this route and it wasn’t very crowded. Our first stop was Thingvellir, the historic meeting place of the Icelandic clans and coincidently the rift between the North American and European tectonic plates. It was cool, but again very crowded.
Pro Tip: You will pay for parking pretty much everywhere and there is no cash accepted- you’ll need to download at least two apps (Parka and Checkit are the most common) and pay via your phone. So might as well either get an electronic SIM for Iceland or verify your carrier’s policies for international travel. I use Verizon, which is $10 per day of usage, but Melinda uses Spectrum which charges by data amount used. We used her plan and it cost about $9 total for our trip. Oh, and parking lot takes pictures of your license plates when you enter and leave, so not paying will result in a fine applied to your rental car, so you might as well pay. It’s around 1000kr per park, or roughly $7.50 at current prices.
We decide to stop for lunch at Fontana Bath & Spa, which has unlimited soup and bread for lunch, no spa visit required. We had the tomato soup that Iceland is famous for. While we expected traditional rye bread, it was only offered as a side item, the buffet bread was standard white bread. We ordered a side of the rye bread, but wasn’t what we expected- it is a moist, sweetish bread, not a hearty dark bread. Still delicious!
Well fed from lunch, we headed to our next destination, Strokkur Geysir. The main geysir in the park doesn’t erupt very often currently, but Strokkur erupts about every 10 minutes. It isn’t as large as Old Faithful, but it’s still pretty cool to see. We did the short hike up a viewpoint that overlooks the whole geothermal area- it’s worth doing if you have the time.
After Strokkur and lunch our last stop on the Golden Circle was Gullfoss– a huge waterfall that actually falls transversely into the next part of the river- basically it makes a 90 degree turn. Expect to get wet from the spray, or in our case, the spray and rain we had while we were there. Evidently when it is sunny out you can get some amazing rainbows forming from the waterfall. No such luck for us!
At this point we decide to jump off the Golden Circle route and take 350 over the the town of Fludir which is famous for the Secret Lagoon. But we weren’t interested in the Secret Lagoon, much like we weren’t interested in the Blue Lagoon- before we had left we decided they were too touristy and expensive and not really our style- we don’t care about swim up bars and such. But what Fludir also has is a small natural pool called Hrunalaug– three very small pools surrounded by rock and only capable of holding about 25 people. The temp ranges from 35-38C- it was quiet and not crowded, maybe a dozen people when we were there, and is less expensive (2500kr) than the big lagoons. It is more rustic, but we really preferred it to the bigger ones we saw. We spent a very rainy night in the local campground- too wet to explore the campground area but it was clean and comfortable.
Day 4:
We left fairly early in the morning on Hwy 32 and our first stop Hjálparfoss- an incredible split waterfall with a lot of basalt columns, right off Road 32. Our next stop is Stong Viking Longhouse, on road 332. Occupied from around 800-1300, it is a neat archaeological site that is covered by a modern building to protect it from weather. There were multiple sites found there but the rest were reburied for future preservation. From there we take the short hike over to Gjain gorge, which is a collection of small waterfalls, pools and caves that is reminiscent of a fairyland- truly one of my favourite spots in Iceland
After the hike we continue up the F-Road part of 332 towards Haifoss, one of the tallest waterfalls in Iceland. It wasn’t too bad, just rough and narrow. There is another connection farther up Hwy 32 if you want to skip this part. You can also hike up from Stong, but it is a 5-6 hour hike each way. We mostly heard this waterfall- it was so rainy and cloudy there we’d only catch glimpses of it and Granni falls, which is right beside Haifoss, when the clouds would break for a few minutes. Again, in sunny weather there should be rainbows here.
After leaving Haifoss we take Hwy 26 back down to Hwy 1, turn east and head past Hella to Skogafoss, where there is a campground you can park close(ish) to the waterfall. The parking lot was crazy busy but we finally figured out where to camp- there was no attendant on duty but we paid for camping online via a QR code they had posted on the door. Unfortunately there is no place to put a license plate in and no way to get a receipt printout so we were awakened at 10:30 at night by an attendant asking for us to pay. Luckily we had a screenshot of the payment and she went away. This was the ONLY campground we were supposed to pay for bathroom and showers but we never used them. Overall the campground was not very clean looking so we assumed the showers weren’t either.
At this point it has been raining non stop for 40 hours…. Melinda has developed a high fever and shook all night long. It was a rough night and we are not sure if there is a doctor/hospital visit in our future. We decide to make it to Vik the next day and see how she felt and what our options were.
PRO TIP 2: What we consider “over the counter” medications are ONLY sold at pharmacies in Iceland- and they close early on Friday and stay closed all weekend. While we always travel with a basic first aid kit we don’t carry things like NYquil or cough syrup. So if you have necessary or favorite medications, take some with you, just in case. We wish we had! Our solution ended up being for her to tough it out with Advil as a fever reducer and luckily it only lasted about 15 hours- but she was tired for the next few days.
Day 5:
Nice weather- finally some sun! Our original plan had been to take F road 249 to Thorsmork for the scenery and hiking trails, but with the truck delay and now Melinda not feeling well we decided not to risk being in serious backcountry- if she took a turn for the worse we wanted to have civilization relatively close by. Instead we backtracked a little bit on 1 to Seljalandsfoss, huge waterfall you can walk behind- really a cool place, but prepare to be soaked! A short walk away is Gljúfurárfoss, a slot canyon with another tall waterfall inside of it. Again, really neat but prepare to get even wetter here!
Heading back east on Hwy 1 we pass the bra covered fence (who knows why?) and stop in Steinahellir Cave which looks closed as you drive by, but there is a door that goes inside- it’s not real deep but there are gorgeous ferns growing down from the ceiling- don’t pick them though, they are magical and will bring bad luck. It’s also illegal! As we pass by the Eyjafjallajökull glacier we stop in Faxi Bakery for some excellent rhubarb pie and see some photos of what the area looked like during the eruption of 2010.
But our main destination for the day is Dyrhólaey, a black sand beach, a basalt formation with an arch, sea stacks, a lighthouse, soaring cliffs and puffins! It was one of our favourite stops- but watch out for “sneaker waves” which are large waves that often suprise unlucky tourist and occasionally sweep them out to see- it’s one of the ways Iceland can kill you!
We then go through Vik, get gas and learn there are no medicines sold anywhere other than pharmacies. Melinda is feeling mostly better so we keep pushing on- besides, she got excellent medical advice from the 22 year old convenience store clerk- get rest, stay hydrated, don’t eat much. Since that echoed what she wanted to hear we skipped trying to contact a doctor- the hospitals are also closed on the weekend!
What we did not do was the plane wreck on the beach- it seemed like a lot of money to park for something we weren’t interested in. We also didn’t do the Weyman Islands, which would have been neat but we were concerned about time constraints. We ended up camping in Kirkjubæjarklaustur Kirkjubaer II campsite- very clean showers that cost 300kr for 3 minutes- but they added the cost on to our credit card and gave us coins for the shower- so no money exchange needed here either.
