Iceland - Horses and Henges
Saturday the 9th we left the southern beaches and drove up the east coast, an area of Iceland we enjoyed a lot. The east region is much less crowed and undeveloped compared to the south, and full of dramatic fjords and soaring cliffs. We took our time on the drive, stopping a few times and arrived at the small town of Egilsstaoir late afternoon in time for a soak in Vox baths. This beautiful geo thermal pool is on the side of Lake Urriðavatn and exactly what we needed to warm up after getting chilled over the last few days. To follow Icelandic bathing tradition we experienced a quick dip in the freezing lake - yep it was cold! It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed relaxing, a few local Icelandic beers and chatting to people.
The campsite we stayed at that night was one of our favorites. It had a large, warm kitchen and dining area, so we cooked a meal and used the laundry facilities. We had noticed we were by far the oldest people at the campsites and it was always fun talking to young enthusiastic people from around the world.
The next morning we were eating breakfast in the camp kitchen and noticed some advertising for horse riding. Horses are a big part of Sara's life since she had horses as a teenager and used to compete in show jumping and cross country. One of her bucket list items for this trip was to ride an Icelandic horse. Sara called the farm to see what options were available that morning. Yes, 11am is perfect, and no problem to be going out with the local children! It was an amazing, unforgettable experience, and Sara loved meeting Helga and Siggi the owners, as well as the local children who joined the hour long ride along the river. The horse she rode reminded her of her childhood horse - similar color and just as feisty.
The Icelandic horses are known for the special gait called a Tolt - a very smooth pace between a walk and a trot. It was very comfortable. After much discussion with her husband Helga gave Sara a horse who had a very good Tolt, and who also went into it very easily. He was an amazing horse, willing, and tolerant of miscues since she's not used to 5 gaits! Afterwards Helga wanted Sara to experience riding another horse, and let her ride Helga's horse on her own for a while, which was quite the gift and privilege! As John commented Sara was happy all day long!
After a late lunch we left town and drove a dirt road to Stuðlagil canyon, full of basalt columns and frozen waterfalls. We continued driving east, now fully in the north region of spectacular frozen mountains and high road passes. We took a side road to check out Dettifoss, which is Europe's most powerful waterfall. The road had some areas of snow and ice and was slow driving, so we didn't arrive until 6:30pm. Since the viewpoint was at least a 30 minute hike each way on deep snow we decided not to risk a night time hike in freezing temperatures and after checking the road conditions realized the road north was impassable. So we drove back down the icy road and spent the night at a small campground near Lake Myvatn. We enjoyed a great pizza and beer right next to the camp site and chatted to some Australian's who were physical therapists temporarily working in the UK.
Monday the 11th was John's day for a bucket list item - the Arctic Henge. We checked the Icelandic road conditions national site which is excellent, and determined there were some open roads, so off we went. We drove north all the way to the very top of Iceland to a small town called Raufarhofn. It's just below the arctic circle and John has been fascinated with visiting since we started our trip planning. It's similar to Stonehenge in terms of concept, an arctic version built in the last 30 years inspired by the Norse poem Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress). Something related to the history of Norse gods, dragons and dwarfs. The weather cleared and we enjoyed a few hours walking around the stones and imagining Norse legends! Click here for a video update from John! You will need to turn on the sound to listen as the video always started muted.
On the way to our evening campsite we stopped at Godafoss, a magnificent circular waterfall, and then drove to Akureyri the largest town in the North. It was our longest day, driving 370km and arriving into town around 8pm we realized we had time to visit Forest Lagoon. We spent a romantic few hours warming up in the hot waters, with a beer and admiring the night view of the town and the forest surroundings. We met a young couple from Vermont on a similar drive around the ring road and enjoyed chatting to them. The hot lagoons were fantastic for many reasons. We were getting pretty chilled being outside in the winter, and since we were camping showers took a lot of effort and typically required a wait. The lagoons all had excellent, clean shower facilities, so we could increase our core body temperatures with a soak, leave clean (with the required pre and post shower) and have an amazing experience. Vox Baths and Forest Lagoon were our two favorites for sure! We were exhausted by the time we stopped for the night so ate pickled herring (surprisingly good) and chocolate biscuits for dinner and crawled into our sleeping bags.
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