Iceland - Day 5 - Seals, Horses and Secret Wishes

We started Day 5 slowly, slightly miserable after a sad hotel stay in Hotel Blonduos. Compared to what we'd been experiencing in the last 5 days, we were a little taken aback by the bad, bad state of the room. Here's a tip: In Iceland, always ask if the rooms with the shared showers are in the same building as the main hotel with the pretty pictures and all. We were put in a different, more run-down building, and the shared showers were in bad shape and a little creepy. In general, not impressed.

Moving on...  we started the day heading out to Hvitsekur, a bird cliff with dramatic arches - albeit a little smaller than I had expected from the guidebook pictures. Still, a pretty photo opportunity, and a great chance to breathe in the fresh ocean breeze. Local folk legend has it that this was actually a troll turned into stone by the sun.

Hvitsekur

We passed a cute little church on the way in Blonduos. Iceland really has the prettiest little churches, each one more iconic than the last. This one was opened in 1993.

Church in Blonduos

The organ inside the church
Photo Credit: CT Goh

Loved the clean, Scandinavian look inside the church.
Photo Credit: CT Goh

We drove along the coast towards the wind-swept, seal-hangout cliffs of Illugstadir, where we spotted - you guessed it - seals!

We loved the helpful signage

Everything was windswept. 

This was what we saw at first... lots of birds.
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

But with better zooming -- do you see the seals? Cute, aren't they? 

In driving this route, we actually had to bypass the Western Fjords, renowed for rugged wilderness. It was not an easily accessible area of Iceland, but is supposed to be a place of wild, untamed beauty. Another hike, for another day.

We decided that we would indulge today in understanding another of Iceland's great sources of pride: The Icelandic Horse. These horses are pure breeds, having been brought in by settlers from Norway in the 9th century. They appear at first glance almost like pygmy horses - smaller and more squat in structure, but this is an adaptation which has allowed the horse to survive the harsh weather conditions in Iceland. Icelandic horses are prized for their strength and stamina. Iceland has banned the import of horses into the country, allowing this horse to remain pure, and generally free of diseases that other horses suffer.

We made it to a horse riding farm at Gauksmyri, where the owners and staff were kind and friendly, despite our last minute walk-in request for rides.

I was just impressed by the gentleness of these horses and never felt more secure on a horse! (and I have ridden a number in my lifetime). Saying goodbye to these gentle creatures, we turned towards the usual spectacular driving scenery. After the horse-ride, I was also feeling particularly partial to pastoral scenery.

Our destination was the town of Stykkiholmur, on the Snaefellsnes peninsula. On the way, we made a "spiritual" stop at Helgafell or "holy mountain". This is a 73-m hill where, according to local folklore, first-time visitors will have three wishes granted as long as the following conditions were met: (1) don't speak on the way up, (2) make your wishes facing east, (3) dont tell any one what the wishes are, and (4) only benevolent wishes allowed.

It wasn't a particularly big hill. On the whole, an easy (and quiet) climb up.
Photo Credit: CT Goh

The view facing East (after I had deposited my wishes to the wind) into the Breidafjordur Bay

There was a little fort of rocks and a sundial at the crest which was... curious. There was something about this place that made my hair stand a little. I didn't stay very long.

Rock fort and sundial
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

A quick descent

We checked into Hotel Framnes at Grandafjordur - easily the best hotel we had on our trip. It was charming and lovely, and I Super-Endorse it!

The Event of Day 5 for me was dinner. Because all the days before were crazy driving days, we rarely got a chance for a good sit-down meal. And today was the day we got to visit a nice restaurant to sample the famous Icelandic fish. It was sweet, flakey and perfectly cooked. These Icelanders certainly know how to handle fish.

We were very excited at the prospect of having a real meal!
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

Yum

Sharon's meal
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

That was Day 5. Notice something? No waterfalls today! What an atypical Icelandic vacation day. But we would make up for it on Day 6...

Iceland - Day 4 - Puffins, Whale and Pseudo-Craters

Before I begin the narration Day 4, can I first begin to rave about our accommodations the night before? We stayed at a university dorm that had been converted into a summer hotel - something which the company Edda does all over Iceland. It was cheap, clean and very comfortable! We didn't half mind the showers that were down the corridor. Very acceptable.

Hotel Edda, Akureyri

This was my daily breakfast -- cereal with icelandic skyr (a VERY thick yogurt), yum!

OK, so now on Day 4. We did relatively little distance today - mainly because we spent 4 hours out at sea on a ship, in search of puffins and whales to show our cameras to. Our starting point was the fishing town of Husavik. 

Dramatic scenery in Husavik

The church at Husavik - built in 1907, and according to my guidebook, one of Iceland's most attractive.  

We got onto the boat at the back, on the left. 

It was all aboard, and we were glad to get off our land legs for a while! 

All suited up, and ready to go!
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

Our first destination was Puffin Island. Disclaimer: I don't remember if that was it's real name, but that's what stuck. 

Puffin Island

What's that you say? Where are the puffins? Well, look closely. 90% of the flying things around the island are puffins. They're shy apparently and, unlike gulls, stay away from humans. Good thing, since the Icelanders do serve puffin in restaurants. 

According to our boat guides, there are 10 million puffins in the world, and an estimated 6 million of them are at this island. 

Thanks to Sharon's super zoom lens!
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

 Aren't they cute?
Photo Credit: Sharon Chan 

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

The whales were more elusive. With whale-watching, it's really a matter of luck. And this time, we only saw one whale, a smallish-Minke Whale. No major tail flips or anything, but still cool.

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

The rest of the boat trip, we just spent taking pretty pictures enjoying hot chocolate.

A curious gull

Returning to the picturesque Husavik
Photo Credit: Goh Chour Thong

After a quick lunch, we were back on the road, and off to explore the attractions around Lake Myvatn. First stop was the Hverfell crater, a 1000 meter-wide (3280 ft) crater formed in an eruption 2,500 years ago. The sides are entirely loose gravel, which made for a more-tiring-than-expected-15-mins-straight-upwards climb.

Hverfell
Photo Credit: Goh Chour Thong

Loose gravel sides of the crater

That's the path up

The inside of the crater

The view from the top. See the little cars below? That's how far we climbed. 

Hikers on the edge of the crater gives a good sense of the scale 

Next stop was Dimmuborgir or "black castles", a 2,000-year-old field of cooled lava pillars, contorted into different shapes. I didn't think these were as impressive as the ones we saw the day before, but still interesting.

Dimmuborgir

This hole was about 3 m (16 feet) across!

This one kinda looked like a camel, or a tortoise. 

Kirkjan, or "church". One of the most famous formations in Dimmuborgir. 

Another attraction in the Lake Myvatn area were the pseudo-craters. According to my guidebook, these were formed when "water was trapped beneath flowing lava, boiled and burst up through the surface, creating what looks like volcanic cones".

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

These were considerably easier to climb than Hverfell, but the whole area was infested with little black midges which flew in bunches and were way more annoying than gnats! We spent a lot of time swatting in between photo-taking.

Wildflowers on the slopes of the pseudo-craters

We couldn't go a day without a waterfall, though, so we stopped at the powerful Godafoss on the way. Godafoss, or "fall of the gods" was apparently so named because of Thorgeir Thorkelsson, Law-Speaker in 1000AD, who decided Iceland's turn towards Christianity and threw his pagan gods into these waters.

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

The best thing about Godafoss was the wide open plains around it, which gave us some fantastic opportunities to practise martial arts (tee hee).

Photo Credit: Sharon Chan

Exercise done for the day, we headed on to our rest stop, driving through some spectacular scenery and sunset on the way.

Photo Credit: Goh Chour Thong

That's the town of Blonduos, our destination for the night

That was Day 4... just 3 more days to go!