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| 3AM - this is the land of the midnight sun - almost. |
Yesterday we spent indoors nursing ourselves a little, but by morning we were ready to be back on the road and heading for Egilsstadir in eastern Iceland. We had planned to take the scenic coastal route, to finish the Arctic Coast Way along the north east portion of the coast but decided instead on a visit to Dettifoss. This is a huge glacial waterfall originating from Vatnajokull glacier, the largest glacier in Iceland and Europe also I believe.
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| Myvatn (lake) in the distance |
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| The ancient lava flow created caves and strange rock formations |
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L: delicate Dwarf Gentians; Top R: dazzling Alpine Gentians;
Bottom R: Common Dog/Wood violet. |
En route we drove around the extensive Myvatn lake. On one of the short walks, we saw lots of birds and flowers; the millions of midges, for which this lake is named, provide nourishment for the wild life and vegetation. Not far from the lake is Hverfjal, a 1 Km volcano crater. On the way however we took a detour to walk amongst the weird rock formation of Dimmuborgir. This area was is pock marked with volcanic caves and strangely-shaped rocks formed 2300 years ago after a gigantic volcanic eruption. Seems like a blink of the eye in Earth's history but at that time lava burst out along a 12 Km fissure and flowed over the ancient lake and then down to the sea leaving behind this large depression which is today Myvatn, Midge Lake.
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| The Yule lads |
Icelandic culture and history is awash with myths and sagas, troll and spirits. These are the Yule lads, also known as Santa Clauses; they are the sons of the vicious trolls, Gryla and Leppaludi, The lads are wicked and mischievous but we were safe from their sometimes malevolent activities because they usually don't come out of their caves in summer!
This whole area is volcanically active and has taken on a rather otherworldly and slightly hostile appearance. Hverfjal not far away formed from an eruption 2800 years ago and there's a series of smaller crater still detectable not far from it.
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| A moonscape of mostly volcanic ash. |
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| Hverfjal |
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| There is only one pathway up to this large ash crater |
We drove part way around the base but some people were climbing to the rim; definitely not for us as the sides of the crater are steep slippery ash. This whole area is quite volcanically active with hot steam and water bubbling and gushing to the surface. In one place we walked down to the edge of a startlingly blue 'pond' - bubbling into it was boiling steaming water. This area is rather staggering in its strangeness.
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| The water temperature is over 100C and rather toxic. |
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| Steam bursts from mountain sides and is harnessed as power. |
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