Road Trip 'Round the Ring Road

In early June, Hubs and I rented a Chevy Spark for 8 days and drove around the Ring Road in Iceland. Along the way I kept a daily log to our family back home of our adventure. I thought you all might like to read about our experiences as well.

DAY 1

We rolled into Iceland around 9:30am as opposed to 5am due to a strike at Keflavik airport. We ended up in a row with extra leg room! But, the exit row was behind us so we couldn't recline our seats. After flying for 5 hours we got off the plane and onto a short shuttle. Then we had maneuver through the airport. We didn't have to fill out a customs form or anything. We walked down the "no items to declare" hallway and then they stamped our passports and asked us how long we'd be in Europe. Then we had to wait for the shuttle to go to pick up the rental car and that whole process took over an hour.

So by the time we actually hit the road we hit it multiple times because we got all turned around. We then stopped at a gas station for hotdogs since at this point it was already after 1pm.

trollin' around at Geysir

Once we got into Reykjavik we couldn't figure out the parking meter. We walked into a local church for a few moments and then moved our car to outside the Airbnb. We were so exhausted from not having slept we napped in the car for about two hours while we waited for our room to be ready. Which it was ready the whole time it turned out, but we had no Wi-Fi so we didn't get the message. Once we got settled in the Airbnb things started going more smoothly. The couple we are staying with tonight are a little older and have the cutest dog. It's an Icelandic Shepard. It looks like a border collie and a husky mixed.

We got some delicious coffee at a local place and met some Americans who just finished an adventure similar to what we've planned and they gave us a lot of helpful insight! Then we walked along the harbor and had dinner at a place called the Lebowski Bar. It was all Big Lebowski themed. Then we got back to Airbnb around 7:30 and fell asleep. We are trying to sleep now but it's so bright it doesn't feel like 10pm! We had some blunders, but overall I've loved out first day here!!

DAY 2

It's almost midnight and the sun is still out! We got to see the midnight sun, but I'll talk about that later. Today we left the Airbnb around 8am, had a quick, light breakfast, and hit the road. Of course with me as navigator we got turned the wrong way.

We eventually made it to Geysir. Geysir is the reason that all geysers are called geysers! Geysir itself hasn't erupted since 2000 since it only erupts after earthquakes. Strokkur Geyser is like Iceland's Old Faithful and erupts every few minutes. We saw it erupt about 5 times.

After that we left for the waterfall Gullfoss. Naturally, we headed the wrong way. Gullfoss was huge and gorgeous! It said it's about as powerful as Niagara Falls but not quite as big. The best part about Gullfoss was the gift shop where we got a map. :) Downloaded Google Maps was not working for us. It's hard to know you're going the wrong way with no Wi-Fi or data to help you! So we went old school. I can handle a printed map much better. Plus, it had all the roads marked if they were gravel or paved.

After that we tried to go to a volcano called Maelifell. We couldn't because the road leading up to a trail was blocked off. So we headed toward our next Airbnb. We did pass Hekla on the way. That's a volcano here that erupts pretty frequently in geology terms. It used to be feared and thought of as the gateway to Hell. We also stopped for hotdogs again at a gas station. Yummmmm!

The Airbnb we stayed at today is GORGEOUS. It's on a little isolated farm. It even has its own "mountain" to climb. Hubs and I climbed it twice :). The family has multiple Icelandic horses, two rabbits, two cats, sheep, and cows. The sheep they release outside of their property during the summer. In the fall they get on horseback and round them all back up. Their ears are tagged so they know who's who. We didn't see the cows either because they were out grazing. Apparently this is a tradition done all across Iceland.

We ate dinner with the family, it was lasagna with jelly as an optional topping, and then after I did go horseback riding! Hubs followed along on foot and took pictures. He didn't want to ride. The horses here have 5 gaits: the walk, trot, tölt, canter/gallop, and skaith. The tölt is like a very fluid trot. I loved it! And the skaith is faster than a gallop but smoother. They are the only horses in the world that can do all five gaits.

Around 9pm we climbed the little mountain twice (it's a hill); it’s called Dimon.  It’s not called Dimon because it’s devil-like, but the name derives from Latin and apparently there’s two. On the way down the last time it was about 11pm and we saw the sun start to "set." This time of year the sun doesn't really set it just lowers and turns this brilliant red color. It's called the midnight sun. It was worth staying up late and seeing!

It's supposed to rain for the next few days but tomorrow we will be spending about 7 hours in the car to get to our next Airbnb.

DAY 3

Today we left the farm and drove for FOREVER (about 7.5 hours) to our next place. Along the way we stopped at another waterfall called Skogafoss. We passed a lot of beautiful fjords and the largest glacier in Iceland. It's called Vatnajökull. We went up to a section of it called Svinafellsjökull and got some cool pictures. There were even little sections of it broken off into little icebergs washed up on the bay. We got to walk of them and touch them. They aren't solid blocks of ice or dense snow. They were like tiny glass pieces all fitted together. You could hear the water melting underneath them and the glacier itself. When I touched it, it fell into little pieces in my hand.

Eventually we passed glacier lagoon where a much larger section melts into to sea. It's really gorgeous because you can actually see where the glacier water meets to ocean. After what felt like a week we made it to Höfn, a coastal town, and had a really nice early dinner. I had langoustine pasta (it's like lobster) and Hubs had the langoustine and lamb. It was all very delicious.

We got back in the car and continued on our way. We drove over a mountain called Oxi. You could see the snow left on the mountain and hear the snow melting from underneath forming the rivers and waterfalls. We actually stopped for a water refill from the waterfall water. Hubs was convinced it was clean. It was crystal clear in the bottle and smelled clean. I had Hubs drink it first of course. I waited a while and he felt fine so I drank some, too. It tasted way better than the tap water here. (I looked it up before hand, the tap water is safe to drink and it's said that Iceland has some of the cleanest water in the world.) The waterfall water was honestly some of the best water I’ve ever tasted. It looked cleaner than the tap water back home.

After a mere 10947590 hours in the car we FINALLY made it to the Airbnb where we crashed. Well, Hubs crashed. I’ve been playing Sudoku.

DAY 4

Dettifoss

So today we left Egilsstard and headed about 2 hours up the road to a waterfall. There were really two, Dettifoss and Skellfoss. They were huge and beautiful! We passed Goðafoss somewhere along the way. That means “waterfall of the gods” because a lawspeaker allegedly threw the Nordic gods over the waterfall to convert Iceland to Christianity. We didn’t stop for pictures, which I regret, but the view from the highway was stunning. After Dettifoss we drove another hour to a lake called Myvatn. We stopped here and had pizza. The pizza had the regular sauce and mozzarella, but it also had smoked salmon, pine nuts, and cream cheese! It was really good.

We realized over lunch that our rental car plan doesn't include unlimited mileage but only 200 km a day so we've had go make some changes. We changed our Airbnb locations because the rental place said we couldn’t change the reservation to unlimited miles. So, very sadly, we did not make it into the Western Fjords. That would have added another 6.5 hours in the car one way but I still wish we could have made the haul. Once we got to our Airbnb, where we are now, we got an email saying we could change it! It's been a pain. But we still decided not to drive an extra 6.5 hours the next morning... it's just too long! I didn't realize how big this country is.

We did go to a place called Dimmugorgir which translates to "dark city." It also was thought to be a gateway to Hell. It is a bunch of lava rock formations and a couple of giant lava tunnels and caves. It was really neat! They even had a little cave set up like trolls lived there. Haha!

We drove through a town called Akueryi and had burgers with fries on them and ice cream cones. I had mine dipped in dark chocolate. Yummm. The burgers had a sauce on it that tastes kind of like the seasoning the softball park used to use on its fries. It was pretty good! The town is situated on the western side of a fjord. The birdlife is insane here!

DAY 5

Today we started with a whale watching tour. We saw "Puffin Island." The puffins were so little and cute! We did get to see a whale; actually, we saw many whales! We saw porpoises, hump backs, and Minke whales! It was so cool! It was some sort of feeding frenzy so many species of birds and those three species of whales were all gathered in one place.

The rest of the day we spent going through the town Akueryi and driving. We got to our Airbnb early. It's an "apartment." Really, it's an old style house that's been added on. But we are in a newly renovated original part. It's so cute! Apparently it's how most middle class Icelandic people lived 70-80 years ago. I love its layout. It has a separate mudroom, then stairs up to the main living area. The washer was under the stairs. Upstairs was a small hallway with floor to ceiling storage, a shower on one end and the WC on the other. There was a living room, which I believe used to be a bedroom, a bedroom, and a tiny little kitchen with an eat-in table. It was so quaint and the views were breathtaking. The views everywhere in this country are breathtaking. The little town where we are is small and surrounded by water. I’m falling in love with this country life.

DAY 6

Egil

So today we left Skagaströnd and went to Borgarnes. There we went to a museum called the Settlement Centre. We learned about the history of Iceland and one of the Viking sagas called Egil's Saga. I had no idea sagas were that intense! There was definitely enough action, drama, romance, and plot twists. No wonder this one saga got its own audio guided museum exhibit!

After that we headed to our Airbnb, dropped off our stuff, and headed back onto Reykjavik for dinner. I had red fish and Hubs had rainbow trout. We both had lobster soup. Yumm! Shark, puffin, and whale were also on the menu, but we supported the “Meet Us! Don’t Eat Us!” campaign.

Now we are back at the Airbnb resting. All this driving around really zaps your energy!

DAYS 7-8

Our last full day in Iceland! We walked around Reykjavik looking in shops after a delicious brunch down on the Harbor. We popped into the Saga Museum, but didn't go through because we weren't sure we'd have time since we still needed to drive out to Keflavik and had a reservation for the Blue Lagoon. Plus I think Hubs was “museumed out” after yesterday. Then we headed about 40 minutes down the road to our last Airbnb in Iceland. We lounged around a bit, picked up some snacks at a local supermarket, and then back to the Airbnb to get ready for the Blue Lagoon! At the Blue Lagoon we had to take showers before and after. I saw a lot of women who were not shy about their bodies. You could tell who the Americans were because they were the one showering in their swimsuits or walking around in a towel.

The Blue Lagoon was awesome! It sits on the North American and European tectonic plates. It's a man-made lagoon and wasn't all totally planned. It's a byproduct of a geothermal plant. There were silica mud masks and algae masks. There were also a ton of Asians with selfie sticks. We were there from about 7-10:30pm and got to see the sun "set."

This morning we had breakfast at the Airbnb and then went into the little town near the airport. Then we returned the car and now we are at the airport with two hours before our flight. We have one more night on Boston at the Airbnb from our second day there and then we fly out around 8am with a quick layover and will get in about lunch time, around 12:30. Anyway, it's been a beautiful trip. The people here are so kind and speak excellent English. They scenery is stunning. I wish we had more time to do more outdoor activities and sight-seeing. I believe Hubs and I had a thorough trip considering how much we got to see and do in such a short time. If we had to do it again, I’d want to stay for at least two weeks and make more side stops along the way. But honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything you do here.