Today was all about water. I started out in the Hrunalaug Hotspring which feels like a place that is special to the fairies. It is located in the middle of a green valley in the middle of nowhere. The pools are lined with columnar basalt stones and the centerpiece is a little house with a turf roof that has water flowing through it into a deep, but tiny, pool. The water exits out of the pool and runs down the valley in a stream that is choked by yellow wildflowers. There are two additional pools And to top it off, the bathhouse is new and incredibly modern and I was able to get squeaky clean here.
After that, I chased waterfalls: Seljalandsfoss (can walk behind it), Gljufabul (has created an opening in the rock like a secret room that's 100 feet high - it can be glimpsed through additional cracks in the rocks. Then onto Skogafoss - a very tall and very wide waterfall. There are 500 stairs up to a viewing platform and then a trail continues upriver to see additional waterfalls like Kvernufoss. The water has done really interesting work in this river valley and it was magic to explore the channels and boulders it has carved.
On the drive, I pulled over to check out an old house that was built at the mouth of a cave. At the Skogar Museum, I was able to see a collection of turf houses native to Iceland. Being that there are hardly any trees on the island, turf houses are a logical choice. In Vik, the southernmost town in Iceland, I stopped at the famous church, Vikurkirkja, which is on a bluff overlooking the town. This was my first time seeing the ocean from this drive. I then headed to Kleifer and camped in a field next to a river and the Stjornarfoss waterfall. What an incredible day of exploring the beauties of Iceland!
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