Thursday
– The alarm woke us up at 7:00 a.m. and after succeding in woking the kids, we went to the nearest supermarket. We got ourselves some breakfast and provisions for the day. The cashier, who looked like a real Viking (at least in my eyes), got a little insulted when I asked whether I can pay by card. It was an innocent question as back at home not all shops accept cards (especially the small ones). He looked straight at me and dead serious said: “No, we just shepherd sheep.” I have to admit, he got me confused for a bit, but in the end I was able to swipe my card and be on my way.
Even after that, we spent quite a while searching for an ATM, but apparently you can pay anywhere by card in Iceland. Even in the middle of a cold desert for a freaking hotdog 😃.
After that we had another treasure hunt, this time the treasure being the route out of the city. There were tons of renovations going on and therefore the road was closed at a few important points. At last, however, as it usually goes in these stories, we found our way out and headed towards our first Iceland nature encounters.
Our first waterfall
The ride to the Glymur waterfall was about an hour. After that we spent another three and a half hours hiking through beautiful country, going up, and feeling a bit like being thrown to the world of Game of Thrones. Everything was covered with the softest moss you could imagine, huge rocks that were just calling to climb them and wild water flowing in the canyon below us. It was incredible beauty.
At the top of the hill, there was a wide stream of the clearest water flowing to the waterfall itself. For us to be able to continue, we had to cross this creek, which wasn´t really as simple as it seemed. Even though the water was clear and slow at this place, it was incredibly cold and deeper than we had expected (not that you wouldn’t reach the bottom but definitely deeper than your knees). Everybody tried to cross in his or her own way. Some took off their shoes and dipped their feet into the icy water, others hopped over the rocks sticking out of the water. Some had managed to cross with dry feet, others hadn’t 😊.
After we successfully crossed this natural obstacle, we decide we deserved some reward, so we sat down and had a small brunch, while contemplating about further wonders of Iceland nature that were ahead of us. Our reenergised bodies were then ready for the descent on the other side of the canyon, where we had the luck of meeting some of those famous Icelandic sheep.
Our first hot stream
Finally at the bottom, we had a small lunch in the car and were on our way. Next destination was our first geothermal stream called Deildartunguhver. As we approached the stream in the cold weather, the hot steam from the water took our breath away. Literally. We weren´t even able to stay in the steam for more than few seconds, that´s how hot it was. There was a fancy hotpot nearby, with luxuriously built surrounding so we got really excited. Unfortunately, the price was appropriate to the looks, so we decided to spend the €120 somewhere else. Especially when recalling that people were saying all over the internet that the nature of Iceland provided many and way cheaper hotpots all over the country.
And so we continued on our planned journey. We stopped in the town of Borgarnes, which was a cute little calm settlement where really there wasn´t anything to do 😊. And even though the nothingness was kind of weird for someone from middle Europe, the town did offer us a very spacious view of the sea and an adorable little church. And because at that point our stomachs were calling to us again, in which circumstances the mood of some team members significantly deteriorates, we headed to our next lodging.
The dream lodging in Icelandic seclusion
It was on a farm called Snorrastadir. Through the whole route, my wife and I were telling our kids not to be overly excited, that it´s just going to be a small hut in the middle of nowehere with barely any electricity in it. That part of in the middle of nowhere was true, but the hut was no so small (not big either but definitely bigger than I had imagined it). How surprised were we all, when we saw the Jacuzzi and the Wi-Fi router in that hut! Jacuzzi sourced by thermal water, provided by Iceland nature, obviously. And as we realised, exactly like the thing with the payment cards, internet is omnipresent in Iceland.
We had bread with cheese for dinner, because that was the cheapest thing we could buy there, and after that we all five got into the tiny Jacuzzi on the terrace and enjoyed some chocolates. It felt really awesome and fancy. With the outside temperature around 10 oC (50F) and the hot water in the Jacuzzi, the ambiance was lacking absolutely nothing. Perhaps except the five-metres return to the hut was kind of cold 😁. That night, I woke up around 1am and there was still tons of sunlight outside. Fortunately, most of the housing we were lodged at had very good blinds. So it was no problem to get a good night’s sleep. Anyway, we were so exhausted each evening, maybe that added to the quality of our sleep as well.
This article is part of a blog series about our visit to Iceland.
