We began Day 8 with a plan to find some of Iceland’s natural hot pots. Not the ones that are tubs or pools filled with the hot water from the hot springs, but the natural ones that are formed with rocks and dirt. I had found a page online that showed a map of all the hot springs, hot pots, pools etc and was determined to see at least one of the natural springs with the hopes of jumping in and testing it out.
Please check out the previous posts if you have not yet read about our adventures up to this day. Golden Circle, South Coast, East Coast, North Coast and Westfjords.
The first location was just around the corner from where we spent the night, and checking google maps and satellite views I knew exactly where we had to go. We found the parking area behind a local church and saw the statue of Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic poet who actually used this hot pot for himself. As we rounded the corner of another building, the hot pot was in clear site! No one was around and I thought at the time we were in luck. It wasn’t until we got closer that there were signs posted that this was a non-bathing hot pot 🙁 NOOOOO…. Oh well, at least we did something that was considered a cultural/historical tourist location.
After my little defeat, we headed west to the Westlands. There are more hot pots along the road we took and I was even more determined to find one. I really just wanted to sit in one to check it off my list. With some GPS coordinates plugged into my phone, we found the next hot pot on the map. NOPE, this was NOT for swimming either. Actually, this hot pot was a little nasty looking. It was natural, which meant lots of gooey slime floating around in it. Guess I would have to settle for the other tub style hot pots we had visited so far.
Our next stop was one of these random “Hey, look, there are people stopped in a parking area next to something that looks cool” location. This happened a number of times during our trip and we have never been disappointed. We were greeted by the sounds of water and a cliff that looked as though there were faces carved into it. On the signage which described the attraction, we learned that this is where Bárðar, a half-man half-troll used to live with his voluptuous daughters. The story continues that his brother also lived there with his two sons. One of the sons played a trick on one of the daughters sending her to Greenland on an iceberg. This lead to Bárðar killing the two boys and he retreated into the canyon and glacier never to be seen again.
Inside the canyon it is said that Bárðar may still be watching and if you look up to the sky you just might get lucky and see him.
As we got on our way again, we didn’t have to drive very far to reach our next destination in Hellinar. Here there were many trails that brought you to the coast and cliffs overlooking sea stacks and arches. The arches were really neat because as you walked by the view changed and it looked like there were faces forming and staring at you. Can you see anything in the photo below?
We pulled over at another impromptu stop and discovered this was Saxhóll Crater, which was formed about 3000 to 4000 years ago. There were stairs that ascended the side of the crater to the top and gave us a view of the mountains in one direction and the ocean in the other.
We decide to take a short cut and head back on the same road we took in the morning as much of the northern road on the map was showing as a gravel road. We would be passing by all our stops we had made during the day and would not be doing any more stops, so we just listened to our music, played Rock or Sheep a couple times and headed towards our destination for the evening.
There were a couple of spots we had scouted for camping that night, both being more secluded and on side roads. This would give us a quiet evening before heading into Reykjavik the next day. Well….our plan didn’t go quite like we had thought. The first campsite was the front lawn of the war museum. Since there was a lot of rain that had fallen the previous evening and into the day the front lawn looked a little soggy. After two attempts to drive the camper van up the lawn to the “level” area, almost getting stuck and spinning the tires into the mud forming under the grass, we gave up.
Down the road a little ways was the second campground. This campground was a field in front of a farmers house. There was a motor home and a tent already set up, so we gave it a go. Upon entering the field (which was muddy and should have been a sign) we stopped the van and sat for a minute. This was when Dan said “I wonder if I’m going to be able to get out of here… feels like it’s soft and we might get stuck”. Well…… he tried to back up…. we were stuck!!! Insert many explicit words from both of us.
I do not know how to drive a standard and that meant I would have to get out and push the camper van out of the mud. Ya….I was successful in my job, but got covered in mud all up my rain jacket in the process. Dan pulled over to a new spot thinking we would have better luck. Well guess again. We were STUCK AGAIN!!!! We had it. We were both tired and just needed a spot to stay that wouldn’t be an issue the next morning. So out I went again to push the camper. It finally gave way and Dan was able to drive the camper back onto the gravel driveway and out of the field. Checking the map, I located another campsite that was about a half hour drive away from where we were currently located. DONE. Let’s get out of here!
We drive to Akranes, quickly found the campground, parked the camper van and cooked our supper. We were both happy to have our spot for the night. Much to our surprise, our neighbors were a couple we had seen at the campground the night before. It was nice to chat with some other travelers about their journeys as well, even though we sometimes had a hard time understanding each other. They were from France and had taken the ferry to Iceland, driving and camping in their own van. It looked like a tiny space for the two of them, but they said it was quite comfortable.
This campground also had access to free showers. After almost getting stuck at the other two campgrounds, this seemed like a little bit of good luck for us that night. After showering and walking around the campground we were greeted by a local campground cat. I had to give him a little scratch making me think of Nermal and how long it would be since we would see him again.
Outside our camper windows we had the view of a lovely beach and ocean, and we both sat and watched the sun go down. We needed a good night sleep as we would be hitting up the streets of Reykjavik in the morning.
