Iceland - Adventures through the south. Part 1 (related to my trip round the south of Iceland)

Last Wednesday, making the most of the fact that my sister had come to visit me for a week, we went to the south. The idea was to go to Jökulsarlon even though we knew that we would be depending a lot on the state of the motorways and the amount of time we had. Another inconvenience was the hours of light, because at the start of December, there is hardly 5 hours of light.

We rented a car from Sadcars, like last time. We asked about the tyres and they said they were winter ones, but they didn't have grips. Although if we were going to go for Route 1 we didn't need to have any problem. In the end, we decided to take a car with a four-wheel drive, just in case.

The exit

At 9 am on a cold and rainy day, we went to get the car and start our route to Vik. These days were really weird. That weak it had rained more days than in the whole time that I had been in Iceland. To top it all off, the rubbers of the windscreen were worn out, so leaving Reykjavik was a bit chaotic. But when we got going, the weather improved. With the exit, the first rays of sun put an end to the rain.

Seljalandsfoss:

After a bit more than an hour, we made our first stop: Seljalandsfoss waterfall, which you can see from the main road.

This 60-metre high waterfall is famous for the fact that you can walk underneath it.

Saying that, you had to walk quite carefully to not fall over, as there was ice everywhere.

The landscapes in Iceland are spectacular. I don't think photos do justice to what you see in person. It is a country of contrasts; you can come across a huge waterfall in the middle of nowhere, as well as deserted landscapes, completely deserted, with nothing for miles around. Also, we went in December, which is not a touristy season, so that we barely came across any people.

Every now and then you have the excuse to stop the car, and stare amazed looking at a mountain that has appeared in the middle of nowhere, or a landscape that looks lunar.

Skogafoss

Following Route 1, 15 km from Seljalandfoss, you will come across this enormous waterfall. It is famous because with a little sun you can see a big rainbow. With time we were lucky, as the sun made its presence clear and we could see it. I was less lucky, as I ended up in the icy ground after trying to climb an enormous plaque.

I had an ibuprofen to lessen the swelling of my knee and to go up the stairs. Though looking at that infinity of stairs I had to think twice.

The views, incredible. The effort was worth it.

From the top, you can see the route that the water takes before reaching the waterfall.

Once you are up the top, you can follow and do several treks but when we went, we were tight on time so we didn't do too much.

Vík:

We continued with our route because we had to get to Vik before it got dark. When we got closer, it started to look snowier on the road, although on Route1 we didn't have any problems.

We continued our journey and ended up at Vik, a small town located in the south of Iceland, famous for its rock formations.

We got there just in time to see the incredible sunset.

We even saw a seal and everything! In the photos, you can't see barely anything, but the black bit in the middle is the seal. I promise. If you make it bigger, you can see it a bit better. Let's see if I can get up the photos from the SLR, which you can see closer up. We were there for a bit playing with the seal, that kept disappearing and reappearing.

As the sun went in, the sky was painted with more and more colours. One of the best moments of the trip, for sure.

And the last photo of Vik beach, all snowy.

Once we had gone past Vik, the motorway was quite snowy.

Whilst in the day it wasn't a problem, when it started to get dark, we decided to stop and look for a place to spend the night.

We stopped at a petrol station in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, around 60 km from Vík y asked them about accommodation. We decided to go nearer, but barely by 2 km, in Geirland.

The accommodation across the whole area is similarly priced. For 3, 500 isk (around 20-25 euros) you have a cabin with sleeping bag accommodation for you. With a toilet, shower, heating and beds. We showered, ate, went to sleep very quickly, as we were really k exhausted from the whole day.

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