10.08.2019
Farm Guesthouse Skalafell Hornafjördur – Hotel Hallormsstaður 379 km
In our morning ritual we got up early, packed up the car and then went for breakfast in the farm house. Despite the smallness of the location the breakfast buffet was well stocked and as a special there was Home Made Smoked Lamp – it was so delicious I had to have a second helping …
By 08:21 – yes, I checked the exact time – we were in the car and leaving. We had another long stage ahead of us. From the Ring Road we had a last view towards our guesthouse in the morning light over the river.
The sun was out, but it was again very windy – a cold wind was blowing. There was almost no traffic on the road that early in the morning. Mom thought traffic was less because it was Saturday – Mom, in this region of Iceland it does not make a difference, if it is a weekday or weekend! There is no traffic … other than maybe tractors in a hurry to get the hay in … Iceland has a population of approx 360390 peope and an area of 103000 km², making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. With a population of approx 128800 of the inhabitants living in the capital city … Reykjavík and the surrounding areas in the Southwest of the country are home to over 2/3 of the population … Mom, there is no industry or such around here in the Southeast … So Saturday or not – there is most probably never more traffic than that …
Bypassing Höfn, the Ring Road followed the coast northeast now. We were leaving South Iceland and reached the Eastern Region. On our right the road followed the shore of Skarðsfjörður, a brackish coastal lagoon with intertidal mudflats.
The road skirted the cliffs on the left, followed the plain around and we found the first geocache of the day. It was located at a cool – and very windy – viewpoint. Somebody had the idea to put a huge red wooden chair on a rock in the middle of nowhere. It was fixed on top of a rock and of course I had to climb it.
The cache was quickly found as well and as quickly we were back in the car, because the wind was really strong and cold, even though it was still sunny with blue sky.
Then we had to traverse yet another stark delta of grey glacial sand – the Jökulsá í Lóni Glacial River, which comes down from the Vesturdalsjökull Glacier and flows into the Lónsvík – lagoon bay. The bay lies between the intrusive rocks – volvano necks – Vestrahorn in the South and Eystrahorn in the Sorth. Lónsvík is approx 21 km long and reaches 3 km inland. Offshore is a sand spit which opens into the Lónsfjörður.
On the narrowest part of the Jökulsá í Lóni a bridge crossed the river and near its end there was again a cache hidden. We just had to turn off the Ring Road for maybe 100 m. I parked the car by the side of the gravel road and braved the cold wind without my extra jacket – Mom waited in the car. I located the secret box in no time and fast I was back in the car and on the road again.
Leading along the opposite end of the plain the road crossed a lot of agricultural fields. Hay season was in full swing around here as well. The huge fields were dotted with white-packed bales as far as we could see.
We also passed juicy green pastures with Icelandic sheep gracing. And for the first time the theory of the Trio of Sheep manifested itself in my head. We had seen sheep along the road aplenty already and always – I mean always – they are in Trios! If there are more around, they still kind of group in trios and the number is always 3, 6, 9, 12 and so on … you get my drift. Now .. why is that? I have no idea and I could not find anything about it on the internet either. Maybe somebody should write an essay about it … not me, though …
The only thing I could think of is that multiple births are very common in Icelandic ewes. Ewes can be mated as lambs as early as 5 to 7 months, although many farmers wait until the ewe’s 2nd winter before allowing them to breed. They are seasonal breeders and come into estrus around October. The breeding season can last up to 4 months. Rams become mature early and can start breeding as early as 5 months. So, since we were travelling in August, it might just be that baby sheep are still sticking to mama sheep and since twins are common … they are always mama sheep with her babies … but always? … I have to think a bit more about it …
On our right the road followed then very close to the shore of the lagoon. It seemed to be a brackish lagoon. Thousands of white birds were dotting this lagoon as far as we could see! I thought they were swans, but Mom kept saying they were geese … We could not agree …
So I just turned the car around at the next possibility and drove back to have a closer look at them. There was a parking space at a view point, were I could get out of the car.
Doing some research I found out that those birds were indeed swans – Whooper Swans. The Whooper Swan – Cygnus Cygnus – is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. Large numbers of non-breeding Whooper Swans sometimes congregate in the lagoons of adjacent Lónsfjörður. Iceland hosts an important breeding population of these swans, who migrate to the British Isles for the winter.
The whooper swan is similar in appearance to the Bewick’s Swan or Tundra Swan, but Whooper Swans are the only swans of Iceland and breed all over the island wherever it is possible to nest near or along lakes and rivers with ample vegetation. They require large areas of water to live in, especially when they are still growing, because their body weight cannot be supported by their legs for extended periods of time. The Whooper Swan spends much of its time swimming, straining the water for food or eating plants that grow on the bottom. They have a deep honking call and, despite their size, are powerful fliers.
At the end of Lónsvík sits the Hvalnes Lighthouse on a rocky headland just off the Ring Road. There was also a geocache hidden, so after we had looked at the swans enough we drove there to take a short walk. We turned onto a small gravel road and parked the car maybe 200 m before the lighthouse.
Vestrahorn and Eystrahorn are intrusive rocks or volcano necks consisting of magma which slowly cooled below the earth crust. At the same time they formed maybe the edge of a huge caldera which nowadays fills Lónsvík. Eystrahorn is one of those locations that has gone underneath the radar of popular tourism and even landscape photography tourism. Probably due to its location so far east – most people simply do not reach that far east – and unless it is known to be there – or crazy people are looking for a geocache there – it probably will just be passed as the road is so close to the mountains, their characteristic shape is not noticed. The perspective from the lighthouse is however dramatic and presents apparently one of the most impressive photography locations in Iceland.
The Hvalnes Lighthouse – a bright orange concrete structure – stands 11.5 meter high on the ocean coast. It marks a prominent cape – the Eystrahorn . It was constructed in 1954. The light still operates to this day.
The lighthouse overlooks the Hvalnes Nature Reserve, which harbors some impressive mountain and beach scenery, offering a convenient viewpoint over the ocean and surrounding mountains, composed of dark gabbro and pale granophyre, which account for the different bands of color. Mom stayed at the lighthouse while I walked down to the rocks to look for that secret box. It turned out the Hvalnes Nature Reserve is also a breeding ground for birds – mainly the Arctic Tern.
The pretty but fierce Arctic Tern, the queen of migratory birds – no other animal has a longer migratory pattern – returns to Iceland from its heroic winter trek to and from Antarctica every year in April for the nesting season. It has been arriving earlier every year in the past few years, most likely due to changing climate conditions. This beautiful and amazing birds spend the summers in the Arctic raising their young and the winter in Antarctica, where it is summer during the Arctic winter. No other bird has a longer migratory route – each year the Tern flies a distance which equals a circumnavigation of the globe. Studies have shown that these birds, which live an average of 20 – 30 years, fly a distance equivalent to 3 round trips to the moon over the course of their lifetimes.
The Arctic Tern’s white body, black tipped wings, black cap, red bill and feet, along with its pointy look, distinctive flying style and loud calls make it immediately recognizable. The bird spends the summer at its breeding grounds around the northern polar circle. But it is not known how many breeding pairs of Arctic Tern summer in Iceland – the figure is believed to be somewhere between 250000 and 500000, which means there are 2 to 3 times as many Arctic Tern as Humans in Iceland! Obviously in breeding season they are keen defenders of their nest. I did not see any nests during my search for the secret box, but only one Arctic Tern … and this one bird was fiercely attacking me constantly.
It was so persistent! Again and again it flew head on towards me screaming. Mom laughed her head off – it looked so funny from afar. My hair – unruly as ever – was flying in the wind and a couple times that little bird skimmed right over it pulling hair.
Eventually – not only because of the bird attack, but also because my mobile phone GPS seemed off today and the hiding hint of the cache just said – under rocks – … yeah, there were many – I gave up looking. I logged anyway and blamed it on the bird attack – after all geocaches should not interfere in nature reserves or breeding grounds.
The next part of the Ring Road was another impossibly scenic stretch – the road curving along the coast backed by precipitous peaks plus black-sand beaches. It was set maybe half way up the cliff and scree of the volcanic plateau. The shoreline was only a narrow black-sand beach below. We stopped a couple times for photos at suitable parking spaces.
There were a couple geocaches located below along the shore, but we did not drive down – the side tracks were just very steep gravel tracks and I did not dare going down. Anyway, there was always some hiking involved and plenty vehicles parked on location – as far as I could make out from above – too many people for me …
Looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind. – Amit Ray
The view from the road was just magnificent – breathtaking – awesome – mind-blowing …
Coming around the next corner leaving the steep cliffs, the road skirted the Álftafjörður – translating to Swan Fjord. And indeed also here there were many of those Whooper Swans. Some say Álftafjörður is actually a lagoon, because offshore there is a narrow sand pit called Starmýrartangi and in rough weather big waves crush over it overflowing Álftafjörður. In fact, it is the caldera of a dormant volcano which has been flooded by seawater. The fjord is a natural wonder in itself, quite shallow with its sand bottom and sand reef and small islands closing it from the forces of the Atlantic Ocean, making it a perfect calm resting and living place for large birds like the Icelandic Whooper Swan.
The road curved around a handful of farms backed by beautiful mountains and pastures dotted with bales of hay waiting to be collected. Of course we encountered more sheep along the way … in Trios … and walking along the road … We are talking the main national highway here … but no problem … sheep have apparently the right of way. Good thing I was not speeding anymore … too much. The views along the way were just to mind-blowing.
There are a lot of fun facts about Icelandic sheep – like … Sheep have a lot of very important business in the middle of roads. You will often see them having meetings! … or … Icelandic sheep have radars in their horns so they know exactly when to run in front of your car …
At the end of this fjord there was another head land with a geocache. The cache was called Stretch your legs – and so I did. It was so windy there, though, that Mom stayed in the car while I walked across unchartered land to some rocks and found the cache quickly. The view from there was stunning.
Around the next headland the next spectacular fjord came in view – Hamarsfjörður. 4 km wide and reaching 6 km inland the Ring Road circles the fjord and offers beautiful views again.
We bypassed the small settlement of Djúpivogur located on Búlandsnes Peninsula and continued on the road along the picturesque Berufjörður – a long, fairly wide fjord with many islets, reefs and high, beautiful mountains on both sides. Berufjörður is approx 20 km long and 2 to 5 km wide.
Close to the head of the fjord was an Earth Cache located and we stopped at a viewpoint to collect the necessary data to log it. The weather started to change and it was so cold and windy that I changed into my warm soft shell pants right at the parking lot by the side of the road.
I did take a quick walk to take some photos of the beautiful scenery and the black wooden houses on the shore. There were plenty wild flowers as well. But … damn … that wind! And the clouds kept rolling in …
A little further ahead along the fjord we spotted a few fish farms. We had seen many of them on our road trip last year North of the Arctic Circle in Norway. I got out of the car to take a couple photos but I almost could not get the door open so strong was the wind. But I managed eventually …
In the middle of the 1980s there was a marked increase in the number of fish farms in Iceland. Since 1992, the production has been slowly increasing. Salmon is the most important species, accounting for about 70% of the production, but that of Arctic Char and Trout has increased too. Experiments with Halibut and Cod are as well promising. Farming fish in cages floating along the shore is becoming more common and has proved to be more economical than shore-based plants that produce Salmon. There has been a significant growth in aquaculture in Iceland and fish farming activities have quadrupled in the last decade. In 2018, the production was 19000 t.
“20 years ago, fishing the world’s oceans reached its peak of 90 mio t of fish per year. Fisheries will continue to play an important role in the future, but fish farming, on the other hand, has to justify the use of these additional resources. The rearing of fish has to leave the smallest possible ecological footprint, which is a daunting task. – Will we have enough fish to feed the growing global population in 20 years? Not if that fish comes from wild fisheries – The hundreds of millions of tonnes of extra fish we will need will have to come from fish farms! And fish production via aquaculture is increasing worldwide. Half of all fish we consume on an annual basis comes already from aquaculture.”
The Ring Road meandered around the long, steep-sided Berufjörður and then skirted around Óstfjall mountain running along more impressive black-sand beaches and reached the spectacular valley of Breiðdalur – the longest and widest of the valleys in Eastern Iceland.
Surrounded by majestic, alpine mountains rising on both sides to over 1100 m, the valley is dominated by the magnificent peak of Tóartindur with the impressive Breiðdalsá River, famous for salmon-fishing, winding its way across the valley basin to the sea.
We encountered more Sheep Trios and my theory of those manifested itself – they always run around in trios! The number of sheep in Iceland has decreased in recent year – in 2018 there were just 432740 in the country, the lowest number recorded since 1948 and this decrease can be largely attributed to the low price of sheep products. Sheep numbers peaked in 1978 at over 890000.
Taking a little detour through the charming village of Breiðdalsvík which is situated in the secluded beauty of Iceland’s East Fjords and surrounded by majestic mountains and black sand seascapes, we stopped for another geocache. Breiðdalsvík, where the destination is worth the journey, has a population of a 139. The first house here was built in 1883 and soon after a shop attracting more people.
It was sunny, but still very very windy and when we stopped near the little harbour, I put on my jackets and bobble hat and went in search of the secret box. It was hidden in this small fishing boat sitting on dry land. It is an old boat which seems to get painted regularly from the outside and makes a great photo opportunity.
The view over the valley and the small settlement was beautiful from there. I did not get distracted from quickly finding the box, however, and soon we were on the road again. It was a long way to the North with so many distractions …
The next small fjord was Stöðvarfjörður, where the road again followed the shoreline with more stunning views of magnificent cliffs and wildflower-dotted pastures.
The Eastfjords are a truly unique area. During the last ice age, the fjords were carved into the lava that was pre-existing which was then again altered by new eruptions that happened underneath the ice caps covering the area. The Eastfjords are a home to great waterfalls, lava caves, great history, museums, charming villages, amazing wildlife and hiking trails. Most tourists – like us – only visit this area when steaming along the Ring Road 1, though.
At the mouth of the next fjord – the Fáskrúðsfjörður in between the peninsulas Vattarnes and Hafnarnes – we stopped for a short hike to another bright orange lighthouse. Parking the car next to a couple of abandoned houses, we bundled up and followed a narrow walking path to the tip of the head land. The vistas were breathtaking, but more clouds rolled in. One moment the little orange lighthouse shone in the sun, the next moment a dark cloud moved in front of the sun and dipped it in shadow.
It was a nice walk, not too long or complicated and Mom managed with her walking sticks without problems. Of course, we not just hiked there for the views, but also to find yet another geocache.
Not sooner we got in the car when it started to rain. Ahead were big rain clouds hanging over the mountains.
At the bottom of the fjord, there was a grassy valley with lovely arctic woodlands. We did not stop in the small settlement of Fáskrúðsfjörður, though. The town became a trading post in 1880. From the latter part of the 19th century until 1935, the town was the main hub for French fishermen off East Iceland. The town is famous for its French heritage, even the village road signs are in French. But as we came around the fjord it was raining quite hard and we decided to push on northwards.
The Ring Road led inland now and we passed the first tunnel on our trip – the Fáskrúðsfjarðargöng – that is quite a mouthful even for locals! The tunnel has a length of 5900 m and crosses under the Kollufell. When we came out the other end, the rain had nearly stopped – or at least it had taken a break – but it was still very cloudy and cold.
Here the highland was jucy green and the road followed the small river valley Fagridalur. There were many small waterfalls coming down the up to 1100 m high cliffs by the sight of the road that was also crossing a 350m high pass. It was an approx 30 km stretch of road to Egilsstaðir, which is with 2500 inhabitants the largest town in East Iceland.
Along the road we spotted signs warning of Reindeer crossing the road. Mom was convinced that there were no Reindeer in Iceland, but obviously she was wrong. Unfortunately, we never saw a Reindeer here, only the signs.
It turned out, Reindeer are not native to Iceland. Like all other land mammals Reindeer were brought to Iceland by humans – the only native land mammal in Iceland is the Arctic Fox. The Reindeer were brought in the 18th century. 4 different herds of Reindeer were brought to Iceland – One herd was released in Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the south coast of Iceland, another in Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest, a 3rd in Eyjafjörður fjord in North Iceland and a 4th herd in Vopnafjörður fjord the Eastfjords. While some of the Reindeer managed to survive the transplantation from Norway to Iceland, attempts to introduce reindeer farming were a complete failure. All the animals died either within a few years or only survived until the early 20th century. The only Reindeer which managed to prosper were those which were released in the Eastfjords. Today the population in the mountains around here and the eastern part of the Central Highlands counts some 6000 -7000 animals. Shame, we did not encounter any …
In Egilsstaðir we did not linger, but took immediately the turn-off to Seyðisfjörður. It is said, in good weather the 26 km drive there is an absolute stunner – unfortunately it was pouring down with rain now, the sky was grey. Nevertheless, we did it. The narrow road climbed a high pass before descending along the waterfall-filled River Fjarðará and is apparently one of the most spectacular roads of Iceland.
We could not see much of the beautiful scenery, unfortunately. There was some traffic, though, otherwise we would not have been sure where the road let us. Reaching the settlement we were however greeted by a beautiful rainbow.
Super-picturesque Seyðisfjörður – pronounced say-this-fjurther – is the most historically and architecturally interesting town in East Iceland and has approx 668 inhabitants. The town is sitting at the inner corner of a fjord of the same name. Surrounded by snowcapped mountains and waterfalls, the most prominent natural landmarks are 1085 m high Mt. Bjólfur to the West and Strandartindur with 1010m to the East – I am not sure we could see them today with the low hanging rain clouds …in fact … we did not …
The main economy of Seyðisfjörður has primarily been the fishing industry throughout its history, but it has seen increased tourism in recent years. The town has a sizeable harbour – today a small cruise ship was docked there – and a ferry sails weekly from here over to Denmark.
We parked the car in the town’s center – it is not a very big town anyway. It was still grey and rainy and cold, but we went for a walk. First in search of a toilet … public toilets are not so common in Iceland … therefore we ended up at the first – and seemingly only Café that was open in the afternoon – Nordic Restaurant. The weather had not been right for a picnic today, so it turned out to be a good idea to get out of the cold and rain. We got a seat at the window bar with a nice view and ordered a large beer first. In the afternoon they had only burgers on the menu … that made us decide on dessert instead – Rhubarb Crème Brûlée. It was very yummy! Over dessert and beer we planned our next moves.
The town is well known for its old wooden buildings and has a vibrant cultural scene. The settlement of Seyðisfjörður began to develop into a trading centre in 1848 when townspeople found their wealth in “the silver of the sea” – herring. The long protective fjord gave the fishermen in Seyðisfjörður an advantage over their neighbours, leading it to grow into one of the most prosperous towns in East Iceland. The unique, multi-coloured wooden buildings that make Seyðisfjörður so recognisable were built in this period by Norwegian merchants and whalers.
The Scandinavian style in the many wood buildings is still existing and one of the landmarks of Seyðisfjörður is the Blue Church – Bláakirkja. The church was moved to a hill overlooking Vestdalseyri from its original location on a farm in 1882. In 1894 it was blown over and damaged by a huge storm, then rebuilt and stood on a peninsula until 1920 when the decision was made to move to its present location in the heart of Seyðisfjörður. This simple pale blue church sits at the end of the painted street Norðurgata, which in everyday speech is called The Rainbow Street.
This street is supremely photogenic even in grey, rainy weather – a rainbow is painted on the pavement and the Blue Church serves as a nice backdrop. As if Iceland was not picturesque enough this rainbow brick path appeared painted last year ahead of the town’s Pride Parade and has ever since received a lot of tourism attention.
The first telegraph cable connecting Iceland to Europe made landfall in Seyðisfjörður in 1906, making it a hub for international telecommunications well past the middle of last century. In 1913, a dam was built in the main river, harnessing power for the country’s first high-voltage AC power plant together with a distribution network for street lighting and home use – also the first of its kind in Iceland. With the recent demise of the local fish-processing plant, the village has shifted its economy to tourism. It still remains a significant fishing port on the east coast of Iceland, though.
Of course there were some geocaches hidden around town and at least a couple of them I wanted to find. The rain had sort of stopped, but it was still grey and cold. Nevertheless, we walked around a bit. One of the secret boxes was up on a meadowed hillside with a path leading up to a Seyðisfjörður sign à la Hollywood … or not quite …
Mom waited below near the harbour while I walked up. I did not find the cache, though, but the view over the town and the long, calm, deep fjord of Seyðisfjörður, that twists and turns for 17 km from its mouth, was – even with the cloudy weather – quite spectacular. I can only imagine what it is like in blue skies and sun shine – it must be breathtaking.
Coming back down the hill I collected Mom and we took another walk around and also a turn through the supermarket … we had enough supplies for picnics, but another Skyr is always good. For the first time we saw Hákarl in the shelf. Hákarl is fermented shark or rotten shark in English – a national dish of Iceland. I wanted to buy the package to try or take home, but Mom said – NO! – I did not even take a photo of it … Well, I guess I have to find a place to try it in the next few days …
As it goes with food while travelling – when I am travelling solo I usually take one meal a day. I skip breakfast and then sort of late afternoon find a restaurant that serves the food I crave for that moment. Travelling with Mom, we had settled in a rhythm of breakfast, picnic and dinner. Since our guesthouses were always somewhere remote, there were never any other restaurant options around. But here in Seyðisfjörður I had set my eyes on a local specialty. The Norð Austur Sushi & Bar was highly praised on the internet as a top-end sushi restaurant – apparently locals rave about this place having the best sushi in Iceland. The guide book stated that the fish comes straight off the fishermens boats and into the hands of accomplished sushi chefs with international pedigree. Since I am a sucker for sushi, this was the place we would have dinner today.
The restaurant was located in the same house as the Nordic Restaurant, only on the first floor with the entrance on the other side of the wooden building. They only opened at 17:00 and we were there mere minutes after opening. Reservations were recommended, but we did not have one … however, after a once-over we got seated on a table with a nice view over the river lagoon off the harbour.
Mom was not very keen on sushi – raw fish! Imagine that! And eating with chopstick! No way! – We compromised that in case she was still hungry after, we would have more dinner at the hotel later.
The decor of the restaurant was cool – the dining rooms were atmospheric with olive green walls, framed paper cranes, organic jellyfish-style lampshades and grey curtains framing the ocean view. Unfortunately I could not have another drink – I still had to drive some 50 km to the next hotel. But Mom took a glass of wine and I stuck to Kranavatn.
For starters I ordered a Peru style Cevice and Mom took a Miso Soup. While the Miso Soup was the regular kind, my Ceviche was just outstanding – let alone the decoration. I love Peruvian Ceviche! The times I was in Peru I could not get enough of it. It is almost as good as the Polynesian Poison Cru … Outside Peru I never had that good Ceviche, believe it.
Peruvian Ceviche is a traditional dish widely eaten in Peru and the method of preparing it is different to that of ceviche in other places – with Leche de Tigre. Tiger’s milk is the Peruvian term for the citrus-based marinade that cures the raw seafood in a ceviche. Also known as leche de pantera, this leftover fish runoff usually contains lime juice, sliced onion, chillis, salt and pepper — along with a bit of fish juice. The Ceviche was outstandingly good here and I honestly contemplated having a second portion …
I really do not know much about Japanese food other than Sushi, Sashimi and Miso Soup. Japan is still on my bucket list of countries to visit! I do love Sashimi. Mom is not at all for raw fish, so I ordered the 15 pieces Sashimi Platter and 4 pieces of Nigiri to share … it ended with me eating all the Sashimi and Mom the Nigiri … I asked if it was an affront to order a fork for Mom … The waiter brought one without acknowledgement.
Same as the starters the platters came beautifully decorated. I had ordered extra Icelandic Wasabi with it – I am all for trying local specialties! They charged an extra ISK 700 for it. But it was worth it! Fresh wasabi has little in common with the green paste that we know in Europe as wasabi, which is a combination of mustard, horseradish and food coloring, dubbed by the Japanese as seiyō or western wasabi. The fresh wasabi was light green and had a much milder taste. This Wasabi is grown in Iceland in a state-of-the-art greenhouse in the Fljótsdalur region of East Iceland.
Nigiri is a sushi rice ball topped with raw fish. The 4 pieces we ordered came with shrimp, salmon and mackerel – all known to Mom and not as adventurous as the raw slices of fish on the Sashimi platter. Fine with me – more Sashimi for me! I love Sashimi. Some soy sauce with it and the fresh Wasabi … fantastic! It was indeed some of the best Sashimi I ever had!
And in the end it was with ISK 9500 not overly expensive, just plain average Iceland … by price. But definitely worth the visit for taste!
It was not too late to go in search of another geocache after dinner. I had to find one here in Seyðisfjörður! There was one hidden a couple kilometers down the road and we drove there. It was almost a drive-in … Mom did not get out of the car. I found it quickly – it was near an old telephone booth or such. Quickly I singed the look book, took a photo and was back in the car.
The rain had stopped when we drove back over the mountain to Egilsstaðir. The views were much better now and we could actually see some of the waterfalls.
Reaching the Fjarðarheiði – the pass plateau at 620 m – the road traversed the Heiðarvatn. In Iceland many lakes are called Heiðarvatn. Here it felt the road was build right through it, because there was water on both sides.
It was cold up here! Some alarm started sounding in the car – the thermometer showed 4°C and the warning for ice on the road went off.
Reaching the pass viewpoint before decending on the other side into the valley where Egilsstaðir was lying on the banks of the Lagarfljót River, to our delight the sun came out! The clouds were still hanging dark over the mountains, but deep down in the valley the sun was out and it was a special light.
The view was spectacular! I braved the cold and wind with only one jacket – I could not be bothered putting all layers and the hat on – to take some quick photos of the valley below basked in sunlight.
Of course, it had stopped raining completely when we reached Egilsstaðir. The town is young – even by Icelandic standards, where urbanization is a fairly recent trend compared to mainland Europe. Urbanization in Egilsstaðir can be traced to Jón Bergsson (1855–1923), a farmer, who laid the groundwork for increased commerce and services at the Egilsstaðir Farm by erecting a large residential building there at the start of the 20th century. He bought the farm because of its location – he predicted “Crossroads will be here”, which proved to become true. A town was established in 1947 near the bridge over Lagarfljót River, where all the main roads of the region meet. Nowadays Egilsstaðir is the largest town of East Iceland and its main service, transportation and administration centre.
In town we stopped at the gas station to fill up the car again. Since I do not have a car – I live on a ship and have a bicycle … – I am not so firm in refueling. So when the self service machine stopped at ISK 4800 I thought the tank was full. It turned out, that was only ¾ filled up. Oh well. But it would tie us over the next couple days anyway.
We did not stop in town, but crossed the Ring Road and followed the Lake Lagarfljót – also called Lögurinn – south to our hotel for the night in Hallormsstaður. The road, lake and pastures were basked in special late afternoon sunlight, while over the mountains towards the East thick black clouds hung.
The Icelandic horses grazing in the sunny pastures made for photogenic views. I had to stop by the side of the road to take some photos – lucky there was almost no traffic …
We reached Hotel Hallormsstaður around 19:30. Check in was somewhat slow. It seemed to be large hotel – we are not used to those around here. The interior of the lobby was quite modern as well.
The small village of Hallormsstaður has formed around a former parsonage through the years in connection with the school, travel industry and the work at Hallormsstaðaskógur, the largest national forest of Iceland. We did not see a village, but the view from our window over the forest and lake was beautiful.
There was a hot tub in the garden and I contemplated taking a dip. But the hotel was full will tour groups and the pool was overflowing with party people. So we did what has become out evening ritual – have a drink, sort photos, plan the next day and sleep early. Tomorrow we wanted to go to Húsavík – apparently the best spot in Iceland to go whale watching. I checked the weather forecast on different channels and all said tomorrow afternoon it should be dry and sunny … I got online and booked a Whale Watching at 15:45 with Gentle Giants.
