Sulphur Alley

We are back on the road having left Egg Salad Store. We head west along the Ring Road....first planned stop is Dettifoss. We cross paths with Sandy, a Kiwi who is travelling for a year. We met the previous night at our lodgings and are headed in roughly the same direction. The 3 of us make our way to Dettifoss, referred to by some as "the mother of all waterfalls." It does not disappoint nor does the nearby waterfall, Selfoss. Spectacular comes to mind. We wind our way back down to the Ring Road and stop at Hverir, truly an other-worldly spot. We see steam pouring out of the earth, in some cases HISSING. It is a geothermal spot and whatever is spewing from the earth smells like sulphur. Thankfully not too too bad. From here we cross the road and head up to Krafla, a geothermal plant coupled with more sulphuric spots and a crater whose "lake" is still frozen.

We have had enough for one day so time to find a place to lay our heads. We opt to skip the Game of Thrones cave at Grjotagja as well as the Myvatn Nature Baths. I promise Catherine we will double back next day for both venues.

Deciding it was too touristy (translation....pricey) here we keep going and reach a fork in the road.....turn to Akureyri or straight on to Husavik. We choose Door #2 and head tO Husavik. All is going well until we hit the gravel portion of the highway.....a friggin' roller coaster with wayyyyy too much gravel. We have taken the wrong road as half of the 50 km is gravel. Shit! No turning back now.

The good news ?? Husavik is another notch in the sublimely spectacular belt. We overpay for a guesthouse but score a great dinner at "Salka".

Husavik's claim is that it is Iceland's whale capital. Pretty much guaranteed to see whales IF you pay up and have 3 hours to kill on a tour boat. We don't.

Tomorrow is another day....we'll spend our whale tour money somewhere else.Read more