Magic Iceland: The tour of northern lights and hot pools
Was it worth it? Absolutely!!! Was the weather crazy? A bit... Did we see the norther lights? Yes, 4 times!!! Was driving hard? Yes. Will we go back? Yes, absolutely! The weather has been a bit crazy this winter in Iceland, lots of very strong storms, lots of road closures, so when we landed in the middle of a snow storm, the prospects did not look very bright... a late flight, very late luggage delivery and totally crazy road with 0 visibility from Keflavik to Reykjavik... What a relief it was to arrive safe and sound at the hotel! Ouffff.... if you don't have good nerves, don't drive in Iceland in winter - as simple as that.
The centre of Reykjavik was not so empty even with the snow, locals as well as tourists were enjoying the evening stroll with an icy wind. Grillhusid is a simple grill bar where locals go to get a decent bite. With a very warm welcome by bralukas from Lithuania we kicked off our trip to the icy wonderland. I already mentioned in the previous post that most of people who work in the services are from Poland, Lithuania or Latvia. The waiters assured us that the weather and driving to the north would be fine. Our cheap Ducia Duster 4x4 would function just fine. The advice was - be aware of crazy locals and just adjust your speed. A very good advice. Indeed, in Reykjavik people were driving like crazy and the huge 4x4s did not have any worries about the road conditions nor the speed.
In the morning the snow had stopped, we stocked up the amazing cinnamon rolls from Braud & Co, had a quick walk in the streets and off we went to the north. In winter time most of the the tourists go to the south but my observation is that it's crowded and the weather is less stable than in the north.
Our first stop was the Glanni waterfall. After the waterfalls we had seen in the south it looked like a joke but the environment around was so peaceful and so beautiful that it felt very special, the snow was fresh and the views around were amazing.
Just next there is the Grabrok volcano. It's quite a slippery walk up but the views up are wooooow. We were the only people up there and had all the views for ourselves. The feeling was totally magic. After the walk up and the slide down (yes, on your bum) we made our own ice cafe with hot tea and cinnamon rolls and a view of a million dollars....
As we still had some time before calling it a night, we decided to try the road 711 to see Hvitsekur, it was a totally bad idea as with the wind the road after Hvammstqngi was impassible according to our standards... (although safetravel.is said it was just slippery). We turned around and instead visited the Kidka wool factory. Well, we just visited the shop. A very friendly lady and a cute dog welcomed us and gave some nice tips what to visit in the area around.
We stayed at the Hotel Laugarbakki and friends stayed at homestay at a petrol station with a very interesting shop. And here we saw our first northern lights! It's the whole art to learn how to spot them. see at the end of this post for tips. It's such an amazing feeling to discover the aurora. After a freezing walk of an hour or so, we also discovered that we could see them from the balcony of our room. Whoohooooo!
The next day's first stop - famous Hvitsekur. But on the way a quick hi to the beautiful Icelandic horses. They were disappointed that we did not give them anything but that's the rule - don't feed them on your own. And if you really want to approach them, ask for a permission to the owners.
The road to Hvitsekur's parking was closed due to ice, so we had to have a little walk. We were the first tourists and it felt amazing, clear sky, the sea and a surprise - where exactly is Hvitsekur??? Is it big? Is it small? Is it impressive? Well, judge for yourself... the environment around was just wow... a place to spend half a day at least.
On our way we visited the Kolugljufur canyon, it was not on our to do list but was suggest by the nice lady at the wool shop, so we decided to give it a go. And what a nice surprise. We ended up in the fairy tale of fresh cream and meringue.
That day we had a very long drive over montails. A bit crazy as road were not that clean and the challenge was - look out for the yellow sticks... Finally we arrived in Akureyri and made a quick stop.
But the final destination of the day was Husavik. You can use a toll tunnel to get to it faster but don't forget to pay or you will get a fine. Husavik is a small charming town in the very north.
After a long drive we just wanted to chill in the Geo Sea pool. What a lovely pool! The view! The waters! Amazing. And to top it up - the northern light above your head. No, it's not a joke :)
In the pool we met some local workers from the silicon factory just next, the pool is their sports membership partly paid by the company. Not bad. It felt like ex-Soviet reunion meeting, there were people from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria and everybody spoke Russian... hm... from the locals we found out that it was very easy to find a job there and life was good in general.
In the evening we also got a warning for aurora - chance 32%, so we got out quickly to find an amazing green line just above our heads outside of the Cape hotel at 9 pm... We spent quite some time hunting the lights in freezing wind but it was so worth it!
Staying at the Cqpe hotel was also an interesting experience, they have been welcoming people who trained in Iceland to go to the moon! Pictures of Neil Armstrong and the crew are in the reception, even a space suit!
March 1 is usually the first day of whale watching, with the alert of wind, it was clear that no whale watching would take place, so we decided to check out the whale museum, well, no luck. In winter it's open only on working days, so we just hang around the port and hoped that the road would not be closed to get to Myvatn.
The drive was actually Ok, not as windy as we were expecting and as we arrived on time we decide to explore Hverir. The road sign said that the road was closed but we had a hope that maybe Hverir would be open as it's just behind the mountain. And it was! However, the road further was closed, it was even barred off... few cars had stopped there trying to figure out what to do... we were so lucky not to get stuck anywhere! Some people spent 3 days in the east because of the bad storm there.
The whole area of Hverir was very surrealistic, there were a few people but it was very calm, only hot pools and heaps of smoke...
On the way back we saw the blue lake.
And the cave where John Snow's scene with Ygrid was filmed.
The cave itself was not that impressive but the views around were amazing. In winter it's really tricky to get into the cave, but if you really want, you can. After a short chat with other tourists we found out that the road which we were supposed to take was very tricky and they got stuck. So do be careful when choosing which roads to take (even if not officially closed).
In Myvatn we had decided to stay at the Dimmuborgir Guesthouse because of its location - in the middle of nowhere. The place is Ok, friendly service but so small rooms... in summer the prices are at least double.
In the late afternoon we decided to check out Dimmuborgir rock formations. From the pictures I had seen before it did not seem that amazing but in reality it was woooow! At 4 pm we were the only people. We decided to take the "Church" walk. While in the beginning there were notices everywhere once we had reached the "church", we could not see any signs for the passage. The snow was so thick that the tops of the red sticks showing the way were not visible. It was getting already dark and we did not want to spend the night with the Jule lads who live there... after some searching and observing all the signs we finally found the passage... ouffff... big oufff...
In the evening we were trying to see the aurora. It was veeeeeeery cold and windy, a real challenge and not that much of the success... So we called it a night.
The next morning we had a mission - to go up the Hverfjall - one of the biggest craters of the kind in the world. The wind had calmed a bit and we had a beautiful walk in front of us. Again we were all alone. Of course we had no clue if we would be actually able to go up the rim or not but the snow was not that deep and we could walk up easily enough without any special equipment. The views around were of out of this world. Just wow, wow, wow... The wind had picked up and we understood that it would be too crazy to walk around the whole rim, so we just decided to check a bit... With every minute the wind become stronger and stronger and we understood that we needed to get down as quickly as possible if we didn't want to be blown off.
The same day we also decided to check Skutustadagigar - craters made from vapor. There are amazing walks there but we were exhausted from the morning walk and just had a quick look around.
The afternoon we spent in the Myvatn natural baths - the blue lagoon of the North. A perfect place to relax with the most amazing sunset and yes, a very faint aurora too! The place was not too busy, a few people but less selfie addicts than in the blue lagoon.
That night we had decided to drive out to look for the northern lights in total darkness. The Dimmuborgir parking is just 5 min drive from the hotel and we were not the only ones who had the idea to go there - at least 4 cars or so. And then we waited. And waited and waited. And there was nothing. And nothing. And then we heard the screams from the fellow aurora hunters - it's there!!! It's there, it's green, it's dancing and you see it with a naked eye!!!! Happiness all around! For around 40 minutes we had a true show. She was dancing over the crater!
And then a snow cloud came in and all was gone... pouffff... gone! So we were heading back to the hotel and there was another wonderful aurora show, no sign of the snow cloud. A bright green line was above our heads just while driving. The next 1,5 h we spent looking at this wonder of the nature. She was dancing and swirling and doing it again and again. A perfect night! A dream had come true for all of us.
It was time to head back, we had around 3 h drive in front of us if the weather cooperated. Well, not in the morning... we reached Godafoss and it was snowing like crazy... It was almost impossible to keep the eyes open with the wind. So finally a real Icelandic weather.
It was a bit worrying for the driving but according to different apps no roads were closed. The passage after Akureyri was totally crazy. At a certain time visibility was max 5 m. Some "smart" tourists had even stopped in the middle of the road, it's even more dangerous than slow driving. Well, the Icelanders all drove past us with huge jeeps and we reckoned that it should not be that bad then. If the road was impassible, then it would have been closed.
After an hour or so of stress we left the mountain passage behind and the road became totally normal again.
We had decided to spend the night in Hofsstadir Guesthouse in the middle of nowhere. It's a wonderful place with amazing food and hosts.
In the late afternoon we managed to get to the Hofsos pool. Wooooooow, the best pool ever. Only a few locals and the most amazing views. The temperature was perfect both in the pool and the hot tub.
We really hoped for the aurora again but the clouds came in. But it was good to have a good nights sleep as the aurora hunting can be very tiring if you stay up late every day.
The next day we had a late start despite lots of driving ahead. We decided to check out Hraunfossar waterfall. We were very happy that we decided to drive the extra 1.5 h as the waterfall was so beautiful! The colour! The setting! Really nice.
On the way we also checked out Deildartunguhver - one of the biggest hot springs in Iceland which provides water and heating to all the region. It's just next to Krauma spa (which did not look thaaaat nice).
We decided to spend the night outside of Borgarnes, just in case lady aurora decided to visit us again.
We stayed at the Iceland Air hotel. It was supposed to be amazing... but well, it was not... the room was very nice but it smelled noodles everywhere... some Asian tourists were actually cooking their noodles in their rooms with a gas camping cooker!!!! The hotel has hot tubs and a sauna but none of the Asian tourists took a shower before. With coronavirus alert in the air, we did not take our chances to share the hut tubs... Instead we spent the night guessing the nationalities of the hotel's staff and hunting aurora again. It was our 4th night with the aurora show! Just that this time we had to share it with hundreds of people (the hotel offers an aurora call) and the call had clearly been made. Hundreds of people were outside fighting for the best aurora view and shot. It was nice but we had seen better in Myvatn :)
The next day was our buffer day - just in case we got stuck somewhere (but we did not), so we decided to explore Akranes, a place that tourists usually don't go. Nothing much to see, just real local life.
The ship wreck was nice and the lighthouse was a real treat with wonderful views. Definitely worth to go up.
On our way to Reykjavik we checked out the Alafoss wool factory shop. You can be sure that the items are made there (and not in China). I got a lovely woolen pled for 90 euros or so.
The weather in Reykjavik was very good. The driving into the city was a bit of a challenge, people suddenly had become crazy drivers, much more dangerous than on the icy roads in the north.
Our last night we spent in Keflavik. Finally saw the Gardur lighthouse and we were treated with a wonderful sunset, no northern lights though...
On the day of our departure Iceland had declared the state of emergency because of the coronavirus. The departure hall was far less hectic than in October and everything was very well organised.
Oh, Iceland, we will be back when we can!
Observations:
- For breakfast - a shot of cod oil.... why not :)
- Again did not use any cash, could use the card everywhere
- Myvatn info centre is closed in weekends in February
- If in the petrol station you put in the wrong amount of kronas and get less petrol, you will not be charged, don't worry :)
- We booked the car with Blue Car again, everything was Ok. Just be aware that at 5 am it was already super busy, so plan enough time to get to the airport. In Oli petrol stations you can get a free coffee for all the passengers and even discount for some food in the grill bar if you book car with Blue Cars.
How to spot the northern lights
1. If your main objective is to see the lights, don't go to Iceland, you can never know what kind of weather you will have. Go to Tromso in Norway, the weather is more stable there.
2. Get different apps to receive notifications about the northern lights - probability to see them and the cloud coverage.
3. Be patient. If the KP is more than 3, check every 30 min or so for 2 hours or so. While we were in Iceland, the lights were active from 9 pm to 2 am, each day starting at different times.
4. It's tricky to spot them for the first time. Look out for "white lines of clouds" in the north as if a plane had passed or as if you had The Milky Way above your head. Take a picture with your phone of the white lines and see if there is any green. If the lights are not strong, you can capture them better with a phone. If the phone captures them, then keep watching until they become stronger.
5. For the best experience choose a really dark place, preferably with no houses next. You will be able to see them even with lights around but the feeling is not the same. So plan carefully for the best aurora hunting spots. If you want to have the wow pictures, then also choose wow locations where you have mountains, lakes and waterfalls.
6. Have a steady tripod and study the camera settings before, so you know what to do before. If you travel in winter, get gloves that work on the touch screen - you will be grateful for that later.
6. Take with you a warm tea, all the good things come with waiting. Enjoy the wow moment! :) It's incredible!
