Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Hunting whales is something deeply rooted in the traditions of Nordic islands like Iceland or the Faroes, but it is something that should be overcome as fast as possible. At Húsavík they’ve created a museum explaining everything about whales, how they’re born and raised, how far they’re travelling and how they’ve evolved in evolution. But the museum also covers the sensitive topic of hunting whales.
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A canyon with high rocks surrounding it, with an endless amount of birch trees, a beautiful green lake, a dry-fallen waterfall and a lot of hiking paths. That is Ásbyrgi. Geologists name glaciers and over time moving waterfalls as the creators of this special landscape. The legend says it is the hoofprint of Odins horse Sleipnir that created the valley. Believe what you want to believe, but having a short hike through the valley is something you shouldn’t reject.
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If you forget that you’re on Iceland you might think that there is water on the moon: on the way from Egilsstaðir to the Mývatn lake you need to have a detour along the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river. It is the second-largest river of the island and runs in this area through volcanic remains only allowing a tiny little piece of life. And in between all these stones a gorge opens up creating three impressive waterfalls: the Selfoss, the Dettifoss and the Hafragilsfoss.
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The Hótel 1001 Nótt feels like the best hotel you can find on the island. It is located outside of Egilsstaðir and every room has giant glass windows to the outside world. On one side of the building there are the mountains and a large forest in front, on the other side it is the wonderful lake – both ones are amazing. Next to the hotel there is a waterfall and you can also use two hot tubs.
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One of the highlights on Iceland is what they make out of geothermic energy. In different places you’ll find amazing spas that are operated in summer as well as in winter times – because the necessary energy is taken from the earth. At Fellabær very close to Egilsstaðir they’ve created a very relaxing place, the Vök baths. In addition to the pools on land with good views on the Urriðavatn lake they’ve built two floating infinity pools with water up to 41 degrees Celsius hot.
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An island with massive volcanic activity also produces are lot of basalt structures: lots of columns and fields of octagons. A perfect place to discover them is the Stuðlagil canyon east of Egilsstaðir. It is a small detour from the ring road but one absolutely worth to do. The canyon was hidden under water until the Kárahnjúkavirkjun barrier lake was created in 2006. When the water was gone the beauty of the canyon was discovered and found its way into an aircraft magazine – and thereby started to attract many tourists.
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Puffins are cute birds and easy to recognize with their colorful beaks. They bread on cliffs in the far north and in fact 60 % of them bread on Iceland. Their population is continuously shrinking and therefore they are officially classified as a vulnerable species. Puffins are hunting fishes and crabs and fly over winter into the south: to the Mediterranean Sea and the north of Africa. If you’re visiting Iceland you’ve got different options to see them and you’ll be astonished how close you can get to them.
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When you’re exploring Iceland counter-clockwise as most tourists do, you need to take a decision once you reach Djúpivogur. From there you can follow Hringvegur / Þjóðvegur 1 along the coast (to see some more fiords and a gem collection) or take a shortcut to Egilsstaðir: the Öxi valley. I wouldn’t see it as a shortcut, because it is a fantastic experience to drive up this valley on road 939; you just need to be willing to take an untarred road and often to be ready to drive through the fog on top.
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In the East of Iceland you can find Djúpivogur, a small harbor city with a long trading history; merchants from Hamburg where the first doing business here. Today the village has 400 400 inhabitants working on fishing and tourism, sometimes smaller cruise ships anchor here underneath the 1,000 meters high and triangle-shaped mountain Búlandstindur. Most often tourists do have an overnight stop here because of the position on the ring road.
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The best place to see glaciers and icebergs is the Jökulsárlón glacier lake. It can be found directly at the ring road and the water is clear blue, a magic sight. It is at the southern end of the Vatnajökull glacier and the deepest lake of Iceland. Its water is running nearly directly via a very short river to the sea at a region known as the Diamond Beach. Standing at this river you can observe sea lions playing as well es icebergs drifting towards the ocean.
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