To catch up on this Iceland adventure, check out part i and part ii.
One of my favorite details of traveling through Iceland was the hidden folk. For many in Iceland, the Huldufólk are not merely fictional characters in the country’s colorful mythology. There seems to be a profound belief in the existence of these supernatural beings. There are those who claim that they have the ability to see and communicate with the Huldufólk. The ‘hidden people’ or huldufólk are like elves. They look like humans and are believed to live in the lava rocks. According to legend, Eve hadn’t finished washing her children when God came to visit, so she had to hide the unwashed children away, and they were destined to remain forever ‘hidden.’
The elves of Iceland are considered benevolent beings but are fiercely protective of their homes. Traditionally, great harm has come to those who disturb an elf’s dwelling. Respectful of their elfin neighbors, Icelanders go to great lengths to avoid disturbing rocks where elves are said to live. There are several cases where the highway department has consulted local ‘elf experts’ who recommend alternative routes for new roads so they will do the least harm to the Huldufólk. Elves are invisible to nearly all humans, but are most likely to be spotted on certain days of the year: New Year’s Eve, Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night and Christmas.
Trolls are equally elusive members of the Icelandic folklore. They only come out after dark because if they are caught in sunlight they turn into stone. The Icelandic countryside is scattered with oddly shaped lava formations that are said to be the bodies of petrified trolls, trapped in stone for all time. One out of many Icelandic folklore stories involving trolls is the one of Dimmuborgir, the lava field in north Iceland. The story goes that one night, the trolls residing in the area decided to have a big party and invited all their troll friends to join. The party ended up being so much fun, that they forgot the sun was coming up. So, once the sun came up they turned into stone forever – which we know see as the lava pillars that make up Dimmuborgir.
So, to continue with our journey, on to the last third of our trip. Our morning in Reyðarfjörður, I made some brunch for everyone, thinking that we were going to have a slow morning after the late night prior, and everyone might enjoy some grub before hitting the road again. We went a little off the path, from the Ring Road that we were following all the way around the island, to Seyðisfjörður because we were on the hunt for Tvísöngur, a sound sculpture. We parked at a very unassuming parking lot and took a hike up a rather steep path to find it. The work is an art installation, built of concrete, and consists of five interconnected domes of different sizes. Each dome has its own resonance that corresponds to a tone in the Icelandic musical tradition of five-tone harmony, and works as a natural amplifier to that tone. We were lucky enough to be the only ones there, and took full advantage of it—singing, speaking, humming, and listening from every little part of this sculpture.
Then, we had a late lunch in the town, which by the way, was a beautiful, colorful, little town. We stumbled upon Kaffi Lara – El Grillo Bar where lamb, fish, veggie burger, beef, and pork neck were to be had. And beer, of course. It. Was. Delicious. Possibly my favorite meal out in Iceland… And we all agreed that we were so glad to see this place that was 45 minutes, one direction, out of our way.
That night was the second night we had planned to camp. The campground on the lake that we had planned to stay at in Reykjahlíð wasn’t accepting credit/debit cards when we arrived (and didn’t seem to care), so we went to one down the street that was, Hlíð. You may or may not remember that in the last Iceland post, we learned that hlíð means mountainside, and that’s where it was! As a side note, the campgrounds in Iceland are pretty stellar. For example, Hlíð was about $30 per person for the night and the amenities included bathrooms with flushing water in a warm building, showers, a fit pit/barrel, and a communal kitchen space. We set up camp and went to the kitchen to have our dehydrated dinners.
It was cold out. I’m not gonna lie. I was a little tired of being cold and really just wanted to lay in my insulated sleeping bag after dinner. We stood around the fire for a little while, waiting for optimal northern lights viewing time. It was cloudier than we had hoped, but the solar flare forecast was supposed to be pretty extreme. Luck was on our side as we were able to watch the aurora borealis that night—some of us wrapped in their sleeping bag and others running around, jumping up and down. **Note: I wanted to enjoy the moment, so I didn’t even attempt to take a photo. The one above is a stock photo, similar to what we got to see**
The next morning, we backtracked a little to explored the Krafla Power Plant/Kröflustöð. It is the first major power plant for geothermal power production in Iceland. They had a little visitor’s center with informational signs as well as a short video. We also drove up to the lookout spot up the road where we could look into the volcano crater lake.
After that, we happily went to the Mývatn Nature Baths. It was kind of like the Blue Lagoon of the north—about half the price (but still a pay to enter kind of place), but just as warm and just as beautiful. The heat was rejuvenating after a chilly night camping, and the water had an infinity pool quality to it as it’s views looked out over and above the land.
Back in the smashin’ vagon we went! On our way to the next Airbnb spot, we stopped by the town of Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest urban area. We decided to get lunch there, at a place called Akureyri Backpackers, which seemed to be a pub and hostel combined with great food. Win! Then, we hopped over to a Café Laut for dessert and coffees before splitting up, spending a little while shopping the area, and continuing on our route to Skagaströnd.
We stayed at a cute little house in the small town on the water that even provided us with a bicycle to travel on! So, after settling in, we walked and biked over to Borgin Restaurant where a rather lively owner was working. His bartender had called in sick for the night, so at one point when I asked him what kind of cocktail I could order, he told me anything I wanted, as long as I knew how to make it. We enjoyed pizza, beer, and shots of black death—a popular Icelandic drink called Brennivín.
The following day, we were off to Reykjavík. We stopped on the way in a town called Bogarnes where Kristake and myself checked out the exhibits at The Settlement Center while Matt and Padmay went to Blómasetrið – Kaffi Kyrrð for beer, coffee, and delicious veggie soup! We had been reading so much information during this trip, that I really enjoyed just putting on some headphones and listening to someone tell me stories at the Settlement Center. There were two exhibits there—one all about the settlement of Iceland, and the other about vikings in Iceland. Each took about a half hour and both were great! It was also super interesting as to how they utilized their space to tell the stories!
Back in Reykjavík, we stayed at the same Airbnb that we did our first night in Iceland. It was the largest of all the places we stayed, and it was nice to be in a familiar setting again. Padmay made a delicious pasta dinner and we all surprised Mr. Kristake for a little birthday celebration, complete with vegan cheesecake, finishing the drinks we couldn’t fly with, and games.
On our last day, we saw out The Sun Voyager, a sculpture where the artist intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom. For lunch, the meat eaters ate at Hornið, a mediocre Italian joint, and the vegans ate at Kaffi Vinyl, a super rad vegan restaurant, before heading to the airport. Flights back to the United States from Iceland left around 6 p.m., and ours was scheduled to land at 8 p.m. after flying for 8 hours. So, in order to get on the new schedule, I took full advantage of all the wonderful movies that IcelandAir had playing so as to stay up until I could sleep well at home!
Iceland was an absolutely awesome trip. I didn’t have many expectations before going, but part of that was because I knew everything we got to see and do would be great. And it was! Iceland is a beautiful place! And seeing it with friends was a really special adventure. I definitely went through a social withdrawal after departing from being surrounded by them day in and day out. I’m also extremely proud that the group stayed together for 10 days and never got visibly frustrated with anyone else. I think that’s a huge accomplishment! What we got to see in Iceland wasn’t the whole story—there’s so much there and I look forward to getting to go back someday. Love, Shauna
All photos were taken by Kristake, Padmay, Matt, or myself. All rights reserved.
Love your story! I have learned a lot, too.