The Land of Fire and Ice

Iceland Roadtrip Part 1: from Reykjavik to Hofn

I met up with my good friends Kristen and Lara in Iceland where we spent two weeks circumnavigating land of fire and ice by car (this is actually one of the sets for the show Game of Thrones). After grabbing some lunch in Reykjavik and outfitting ourselves in woolen clothes, we headed inland to Laugarvatan which roughly translates to “hot springs lake”; an accurate description. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the hot pools and saunas of the Fontana Geothermal Baths on the shore on Lake Laugarvatan which set the tone for the entire trip.

The next day we went to the town of Geysir, and saw the original geysir erupt. From there it was a short drive to Gullfoss which is the site of Iceland’s “nicest” waterfall. It was the first of many beautiful waterfalls we ended up seeing, and to us they were all amazing! We also learnt first hand that the saying “If you don’t like the weather wait 15 minutes” is very applicable in on this north Atlantic island as we experienced heavy rain, snow squalls, and bright sunshine within minutes of each other.

From Gullfoss we headed back to the coast and started making our way east. We spent a night in Vik where we hung out with other travelers there, including American ultra marathon runners Hal Koerner and Rory Bosio who were there doing a North Face photo-shoot with photographer Tim Kemple (check out some of their Iceland pictures here).

We are now in Hofn and are making our way east around the ring road. Our goal is to see at least one waterfall and soak in hot pools every day. So far so good. All the amazing scenery, volcanoes, glaciers, icebergs, fresh seafood, and people we encounter along the way is icing on the cake and it seems there are just too many beautiful sights to describe here. All in all we are having a blast (no pun intended).