It’s all about the journey and for the next 7 days we will be on a journey to discover Iceland. Roughly the size of Kentucky, Iceland is located in the Atlantic, just below the Arctic Circle. It is a country of 304,000 citizens of which 190,000 live in Reykjavik. The country is known for it’s spectacular waterfalls, lava fields, glaciers, geysers, Icelandic horses, lamb, and beautiful people.
Day 1 began with an incredible European breakfast buffet although in a nod to the US, greasy sausage, bacon and eggs were available. Will had picked the car up by the time we checked out but we returned to the rental agency to add John as a driver. By 10:30 AM, we were driving through Reykjavik in search of Highway 1.
Our route will be a counter clockwise around the island, mostly on Highway 1, otherwise known as the ring road. Unlike most trips, we had done too little research on sights due to too many demands on the home front. I had a short must see list and Will had his Frommer’s Iceland (I found my Lonely Plant Guide totally worthless). For the first few hours our faces were pressed against the car windows as we watched lava fields interspersed with lush green fields roll buy. At times we could see the Atlantic, often we were looking at tributary rivers and streams. Frequently we stopped to take photos.
Our first major stop was Seljalandsfoss, one of the higher waterfalls in Iceland. Even though it was not on our radar, it is quite visible from the road and we couldn’t pass up exploring the first waterfall we saw. Icelanders consider this a lower volume waterfall, though we thought it impressive.
Not far from Seljalandsfoss, we stopped explore this roadside shed. The shed is more historic than useful these days, but was built for milk can pick up and served as a shelter to protect farmers and travelers as they waited on the bus from Vik to Reykjavik. Iceland once had a network of over 200 similar sheds, only 90 remain today.
Next stop, Rutshellir, a cave built into the side of a mountain and thought to be the first man-made dwelling in Iceland. Recent research indicates that an ancient forge was located here.
The incredible sights just kept coming! By late afternoon, we arrived in the town of Skogar and sight of Skogarfoss. Skogarfoss is another one of Iceland’s highest (60 meter) waterfalls and we were totally wowed. Local legend has a treasure buried behind the falls but we chose not to look for it. The wind was blowing spray over a wide area and people returning from behind the falls were wet.
While exploring the falls, we came to the realization that Iceland does not try to separate tourists from the things they want to see. While a few signs post warnings, there are no ropes, walls or off limit zones. A person can exercise as much restraint or carelessness as they desire. We guess that in Iceland, a person is responsible for their own actions and lawyers and lawsuits do not play a large part of society.
If you look at the falls, you can see a double rainbow. At one point we saw a bit of a third rainbow. In the pic below, we are standing at the end of the rainbow thinking that exploring Iceland is the pot of gold.
To the right of the falls, a trail leads to the top. From the top, the trail continues on to a series of smaller but impressive falls and is part of a 5-6 day hut to hut hiking trail. We considered doing this hike in our early days of Iceland dreaming but based time, we had to make some choices and this fell off the list. But if we go back…
Our first night’s lodging was located near Skogar in the Vik area. Our car and lodging were booked through Icelandic Farms Holidays with a request for ensuite facilities but we were open to the type of lodging. It was with some hesitation and surprise that we found a roadside sign pointing to a small, single story building with our lodging name, Drangshlio. We drove up the gravel drive and walked in the only door we could find.
A very pleasant young guy greeted us and checked us in. He spoke flawless English with an American accent. Later discussions would indicate that Drangshlio is his family farm and he was home on a 10 day holiday helping his parents out. His day job…a real estate attorney for the government, he lives in Reykjavik. The family home is the small building behind the lodging building (photo below).
It was dinner time, we still had some local sightseeing to do and we were very hungry. Our food options were eating at the farm or driving some 40 minute to find a town with a restaurant that may or may not be open. We decided to eat at the farmhouse.
We very quickly learned that eating in Iceland was going to be our major expense. We had 3-4 options on the menu and all cost between 4800 and 5000 kronur or $38-40 US per person. Three of us ordered Arctic Char and Will, a vegetarian, did the best he could with the limited offering of vegetables. Iceland is definitely not about the vegetable. The food was incredible! We dined on locally caught fish, an arugula salad with light vinagrette, grown in nearby greenhouses and locally grown potatoes. Everything was prepared to perfection.
Next we checked out our rooms. John and I were on the sun side of the building, Will and Kim on the shade side. The rooms were small and sparse but completely adequate for our needs. The only problem for us was the sun, it didn’t really go down and the bright red curtains did an inadequate job of blocking it out.
We still had 3 hours of good sunlight after dinner so we decided to explore the Dyrholaey headland area located northeast of our B and B. After a bit of driving, we found a gravel road marked with a small sign designating road 22. Luckily the B and B host had given us the heads up on the road numbers or we would not have found it.
The gravel road took several twists and turns and finally dumped us in a parking lot with a view of the ocean and extraordinary rock cliffs. We took a short path to the beach, which is mostly smooth pebbles and fine rock. Caves and diagonal pillar rocks line the cliffs along the waterfront. Rock stacks, shaped by wind and water, are visible just out to sea.
After spending some time walking the beach, we drove to the Dyrholaey cliff, where we had spotted a lighthouse and rock arch. The Dyrholaey cliff is about 120 meters high. A lighthouse sits on top and an arch-shaped opening protruds into the sea. The arch is large enough for boats and small planes to pass through. The lighthouse was built in 1927 was the first landing lighthouse to be built in the country. The entire area is a nature sanctuary.
We returned to the B and B about 10:30 PM, tired after a long but exciting day. Unfortunately it was only 6:30 PM on our body clocks so sleep would be difficult.
