Today, we left our beautiful Airbnb and started the 6 hour drive down to Höfn.

Outside our Airbnb

It was the first day we could actually see grass! Hurray us, because looking at snow for hours can be monotonous.

Sulphur Springs

Right before the turnoff to Dettifoss are sulphur springs. When we had passed this the other day, a bus had gotten stuck and we were watching as a snowplow like vehicle came to bail it out. Today, it was relatively empty, so we headed over.

If I thought the shower water smelled like eggs, this was 100 times more potent. I don't necessarily think the egg smell is unpleasant, but it is a little disorienting. The landscape is cool otherwise!

Dettifoss

Remember how I mentioned that the Dettifoss road was full of snow the other day? It wasn't today! The road was open and clear. This was one of the places we definitely wanted to see so we drove in. The road to Dettifoss was still really icy, even though it was plowed.. So it was definitely a good thing we didn't try to go through.

It seems like a bunch of people had the same idea. We were lucky because they just plowed the road, and it was the first day it was open for the season! We walked to the front and "side" of Dettifoss. It's about a 10-15 minute walk to the different waterfall lookouts through snow. There is also literally one bathroom for the whole place.

Anyway, Dettifoss is gorgeous. I mean pictures don't do it justice. The weather was beautiful and the sun was bright... And the wind wasn't so strong that Tam was able to fly his drone. There was even a photography tour/group out to take pictures.

After this, we headed out.

Random side note: "vegur" means road/way in Iceland. Not sure what the direct translation is, I'm just basing it on inference.

Lagarfljot

Next stop was Lagarfljót... If only for a bathroom, hotdog, and gas break. Icelandic gas station hotdogs are cheap and delicious. Aside from your choice of raw onions, crispy onions, or both.. The gas station attendant was pretty friendly so he explained the different sauces.

Icelandic Mustard
Mustard
Ketchup
"Spicy" Ketchup
White Stuff

I think it was like Bearnaise sauce, but I didn't like it that much so I put it on.

SO GOOD. SO PERFECTLY SALTY. I could put crunchy onions on everything. It's such an inspired idea. I'm probably going to find those French's Onions and put them on my Costco hot dogs. Not quite the same, but close enough. :)

We drove through the lake in Lagarfljót, which is known for this weird worm sighting. We didn't stay long here, since we still had a 5-hour drive to go.

Ring Road - Driving Road 1

If you're going around Iceland, Road 1 is the main road you'll be on. This road is maintained during the winter, so you don't have to worry about driving on snowed over roads. Cell signal is pretty good throughout Iceland. It's at least 3G, which is the minimum you need for accessing Google Maps...

Google Maps vs Waze

EXCEPT GOOGLE MAPS ISN'T SUPER GREAT IN ISOLATED COUNTRIES LIKE ICELAND. So Google Maps lead us through Road 1, which is fine. Except it doesn't account for road closures. Apparently, parts of Road 1 are closed during the year... Which Google doesn't account for, but Waze does.

Waze is a driving app that can direct you to the quickest route to where you want to go. Cool thing about this is that users can report accidents, construction, and road blocks, for points. It's real time, so it's generally pretty accurate. It's also competitive. If you're the first to report something and people up-vote/verify it, you get points... For something.

Anyway, Waze was able to tell us about the IMPASSABLE road and Google Maps didn't. Which is annoying and added an extra hour to our commute. How annoying. Even more annoying that Google owns Waze.

This is also a good call out to read the brochures that your car rental company gives you. We didn't, so this was partially our fault. Anyway, there was a silver lining.

Eastern Fjords

We got to drive along the coast of the eastern fjords. Historically, the eastern fjords weren't exactly easy to sail to and from... And the lack of flatland for farming wasn't super ideal. But, that doesn't make it a terrible drive!

If you get a chance to go to Iceland, the eastern fjords are something you should drive through. When we drove through one of the towns on this side, it literally was a place that was "blink and you'll miss it." We didn't speed through since Iceland is supposedly rather strict about speed limits. Considering Iceland's low crime rate, they have to get their revenue somehow.

Another eye-opening experience here... By my count, it's three. I saw a man and his two boys walking home from school or the park. The town they lived in wasn't modern, but it wasn't run down by any means... And it was surrounded by the beautiful mountains and nestled in the back of this specific fjord. Could you imagine growing up thinking your world was only as big as the fjord? Or that people wished to visit your pocket of the planet?

Anyway, enough of me waxing poetic. Here are some pictures of parts of the drive before it got dark.

Höfn

By the time we got to Höfn, it was dark. I felt bad for our host because we were arriving 30 minutes after the suggested check-in time. The neighborhood we were in was mostly residential houses... And it was dark, so we weren't able to see much. Anyway, we dropped our stuff and tried to head over to...

Pakkhús

We wanted to go to Höfn to try this restaurant known for their langoustine... Unfortunately, it was closed until the day we left. I was sad. If I ever come back to Iceland, we're coming out here to try it.

Instead, we ate consolation hot dogs and knocked out at home.

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