23-June 2007 to 26-June 2007: The receptionist was named Claus and he was an interesting guy in that he was German and it seemed that he was in the middle of learning Icelandic. Claus sensed that I was also learning the language and we immediately hit it off struggling to communicate in Icelandic. As he said, it was funny that two foreigners were talking in Icelandic to each other in the loneliest Hotel in Europe of all places!

It was 6:30am when we finally left town for the waterfalls Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. We were greeted with nearly cloudless skies and an empty car park when we got there at 8am. The bright sun made the glacial Hvítá River a milky turquoise color. We first went to the children's waterfall Barnafoss. This was the falls that once had a natural bridge over its rushing rapids, but a pair of kids apparently fell into the river at the bridge while the parents were at mass in town. We tried to use the morning shadows to get decent views of the falls since the sun was shining directly into our view.

Then, we spent a good deal of time trying to photograph Hraunfossar in a variety of ways. This waterfall was really a long line of smaller waterfalls coming right out of the vegetated lava walls and grooving their way between uneven gaps in the texture of the walls. The falls translated as the "lava falls" probably because of the geology responsible for the falls.

Anyhow at 9am, we continued onwards and arrived at the car park for the Glanni waterfall just beyond a striking lava flow in an hour. At first, we weren't sure if we were in the right spot because it looked like a place for golfers rather than waterfallers, but we eventually walked down a short trail and got to a decent view of the segmented waterfall.

At 10:30am, we then continued onwards to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula towards Bjarnafoss. Along the way, we saw a handful of impressive waterfalls while driving the southern end of the peninsula. Among the falls was a place near the Veiðistaðir Pools, which was on private property, not too far west of Borganes.

Further west, we would drive and try to assess whether the falls we saw here and there cascading down the sun-bathed cliffs and mountains within view were worth stopping for. We ended up stopping for a particular impressive falls behind some farm that didn't seem to have a name nor infrastructure for tourism.

Eventually at 12:30pm, we saw the beautiful Bjarnafoss sitting right behind the small farming hamlet of Buðir. With the deep blue skies behind the volcanic mountains and cliffs pierced by the waterfall, we spent about a half hour at the bottom of the falls near a private-looking home with a large car park.

Next, we drove up through a pass before descending down into the northern side of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. By 1:15pm, we arrived at Ólafsvík, which was several hours before when I thought we'd be here. In any case, we were able to check into the Hotel Ólafsvík with their basic but adequate rooms with shared bathrooms. With the cost being well under 50% of a night in Reykjavík, we were a little relieved in the wallet.

For lunch, we decided to have some hot dogs from a place across the street before deciding to drive around the western tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. By about 2:15pm, we were back on the road.

Before we were able to make some serious progress going around the peninsula, we were already distracted by a pair of waterfalls that appeared to go further inland but were somewhat visible from the road 574.

We weren't sure at first whether we were going the right way or not to get closer to these falls. The road was awfully bumpy and there were several spurs that dead-ended at private farms. We did, however, get somewhat better views of what turned out to be Kerlingarfoss and Svöðufoss.

Kerlingarfoss looked to be not all that impressive especially since it was kind of in shadow. It didn't appear that there was any legal access from the front side.

Svöðufoss, like Kerlingarfoss, was also in shadow and didn't seem to have legal access from the front. However, the impressive glacier Snæfellsjókull made a very nice scenic backdrop to the big waterfall.

When we left this diversion, we continued heading west on road 574 towards the town of Hellissandur. That was when we saw a signpost for Svöðufoss, which ended up taking us back to the exact same spot we took our initial photos from.

We didn't spend much time in Hellissandur and next drove towards the western slopes of the peninsula. It was almost like a miniature version of New Zealand's Mt Taranaki and its so-called Surf Coast (at least in a geographical sense).

Eventually after we drove the rough unsealed road climbing the western slopes of the volcano capped by Snæfellsjókull, we arrived at the short pullouts for the signposted Klukkufoss. After a brief walk in the cloudless skies, I was able to photograph the falls but it really didn't look all that impressive compared to the ones we've seen earlier on the trip so far.

By 4:30pm, we continued south along the peninsula as it started to wind its way to the east. By now, the road started to turn a bit bumpy and unsealed though perfectly doable by 2wd vehicles. It almost appeared like this area would be completely sealed in time, but we happened to catch it while road construction was still going on.

At around 4:45pm, we made it to a seemingly popular place called Djúpalónssandur. It was basically a kind of beach or coastal area with both scenic and historical qualities. The historical aspect came from a shipwreck that took place here. Some of the rusted remains are lying on the sandy part of the coast.

I had a pretty good time photographing Snæfellsjókull through a natural arch as well as getting a kick out of the four lifting stones of varying progressively bigger sizes and heavier mass.

Personally, I lifted a couple of these, but I passed on the last one due to the potential for back problems.

Another interesting thing here was that apparently someone was showing off his photography or art gallery as he posted them on the formations around here. I don't think I've ever seen anyone turn a natural attraction into an art gallery, but hey, why not if no one made it illegal and it shows off your work, right?

By 6pm, Julie and I finally checked out the hamlet of Arnarstapi, which was home to a collection of impressive sea arches. Although the waters remained calm this time of year, you had to look down precariously at all of these arches. Better to leave the birds to nest and fly around the area rather than humans attempting to get closer to the cliffs' edges.

We had pretty much a field day photographing these arches as they were all very tall. We didn't bother trying to climb on top of these arches and I'm sure they're not very stable.

When we finally got to the last arch sighting, we laid our eyes on the the familiar-looking one (actually a multitude of them) seen in brochures as they pertained to Arnarstapi. Although getting to the bottom of the facing cliff to get a better look seemed doable, Julie and I figured it wasn't the risk.

Another surprise in the Arnarstapi area revealed that there were waterfalls plunging over some cliffs and directly into the ocean. Too bad we wanted to get back to our hotel in time to shower and then look for dinner or else we could've tried to explore a little more to find a way closer to those cool cliff-to-sea waterfalls.

At a little over 7:30pm, we'd eventually get to a nice waterfall just east of Ólafsvík. It was nice to photograph as the shadows helped to lessen the overall brightness of the scene.

We'd eventually get back to town another 15 minutes later and decided to have some pizza across the street after the dinner menus looked awfully expensive (for a buffet no less). Although it was still quite bright outside and the sun was clearly way above the horizon, the town was quite dead.

We tried to walk off the food we ate by walking to the falls in the back of town called Bæjarfoss. The charming falls was a great way to end off a day of tour beneath the still cloudless skies. It was still bright enough for us to think it was 4pm, but it was 10:15pm by now and time to sleep with our eye patches on to keep the light out.

I entertained the notion of doing the guided midnight walk on the Snæfellsjókull Glacier or at least witnessing the midnight sun from town. But we knew that tomorrow we had to drive at least an hour to get to our morning ferry which would leave for the Westfjords and that didn't leave us much time to sleep in or risk oversleeping.

We intended to make a beeline for the ferry to get there in plenty of time, but there were simply too many waterfalls to ignore along the way. In fact, barely 15 minutes had passed before we were distracted by a tall waterfall near the Mávahlið farm.

The hits didn't stop there however. Another 15 minutes later, we were treated to gorgeous views of a smaller but picturesque waterfall called Kirkjufellsfoss as it sat behind a calm reflective pool.

As we looked towards the ocean, we could see the namesake Kirkjufell mountain. In fact, we got to pause a little bit here as we filled up on petrol at the economical Orkan Bensin self-help gas station. Here, my Icelandic lessons came in handy as the machines were pretty much in Icelandic but I was able to navigate my way through to successful payment and fill-up.

Another 15 minutes after this, we stopped along the road to photograph the impressive Grundarfoss. I think we could've gone closer to the falls, but we were worried about running late for the all-important ferry at this time so we decided to keep going.

By 8:30am, we arrived at the registration center for the ferry at the northern end of Stykkishólmur. Plenty of time to get all the processes cleared and we got on the ferry as it left at 9am sharp.

The next 3 hours were spent in the lounge area of the ferry. We did take a few photos here and there from the top, but it was cold and we figured we mind as well get some rest. And so we slept our way through to the Westfjords even though the ferry made a stop at Flatey Island.

At 11:30am, the ferry landed at the Westfjords as advertised. The sleep did us well as we drive off into the heart of the Westfjords wide awake and refreshed. We opted to take the more inland route instead of following the birders around the coast out west. Apparently there were serious birders on the ferry as I had overheard and I was sure they were in search of the toucan-like puffins out there.

Anyways, we'd get to a junction at a pass on the unsealed road and decided to make a quick detour to a place called Fossdalur that I had read about. The sun was still up in between clouds moving about here and there. It certainly wasn't the cloudless blue sky day like yesterday but perhaps this weather would allow us to take some long exposure photographs.

At noon, we got to see a short but powerful waterfall that was just labeled Foss on the map. We actually couldn't tell if we were at Fossdalur or not, but our map indicated such. Oh well, we reckoned we wouldn't have a whole lot of time to do any walks and then get to Ísafjörður later on today so by 12:30pm, we headed back to our intended route.

At 1:45pm, we arrived at a pretty bustling car park (for a place so remote) at Dynjandi. This waterfall was quite huge but I had a feeling that photos wouldn't really do it justice. The falls fell in several tiers with the uppermost tier being the widest and most impressive with its trapezoidal shape.

There was also a nice waterfall along the way to the car park which could've easily gotten attention if it didn't require you to look over your shoulder to view as we descended the mountain pass towards Dynjandi.

By this time, it was pretty clear that clouds had now dominated and there probably wouldn't be much more sun for a while. It was even drizzling in some stretches at Dynjandi.

Nonetheless, we proceeded to do the walk to get up to the base of the uppermost tier of the falls. Each lower tier also had names and signposts as well. We would spend quite a bit of time at each of the falls before spending even more time at the uppermost tier.

On the way back down, we got pretty sweeping views of Arnarfjörður. It took a while for us to pry ourselves from the Dynjandi waterfall, but all good things must come to an end and we continued heading towards Ísafjörður, where we were to stay this night. Initially the road remained unpaved, but once we got to Þingeyri, the roads were sealed all the way to Ísafjörður capped off with a long tunnel. We also made several stops on the way here including a pair of waterfalls (apparently tapped for hydroelectricity but still flowing) at some place signposted as Mjólkávirkjun.

Ísafjörður was a surprisingly big town (almost city-like) which was really strange to see considering all the remoteness we had passed through to get here. It was this place that really reminded Julie and I of Norway where development meets steep-walled fjord scenery. The difference between the two is that Norway is mostly granite fjords while here in Iceland, we saw mostly softer volcanic-cliffed fjords so the walls sloped more than they did in Norway.

We'd eventually get to our hotel a little before 5pm. The Hotel Edda in town was converted from a middle school during summer, which seems to be a creative way to make use of the facilities when school is out. We were surprised at how big and clean the rooms were and you wouldn't know you were in a school if no one told you.

After checking in, we decided to do one last brief excursion out to the waterfall in Tungudalur, which we noticed on the way into town shortly after leaving the long tunnel. By 5:30pm, we were at the falls and its field of purple wildflowers. We spent a brief time photographing the falls here while smelling the fragrant wildflowers blooming here.

It wasn't much longer before we returned to town looking for a place to eat. We ultimately settled on this place called Fernando's, but they served a dinner buffet (amounted to about $30/person). It was too bad we couldn't try out their normal dishes, but at least we got to try fiskibollur finally. It was actually quite tasty and even presented as if it were a pastry. Quite interesting.

With this eventful day over with, we had no problems getting cleaned up and into bed. Even the drapes were much darker than before so it really did feel like night. Of course if we had looked out the window, we would still think it was late afternoon even with the overcast skies.

In one instance, I stood atop a brick railing to get a shot of the calm fjord. However, when I got off, something didn't feel quite right on my knee. Oh well, I figured I could walk it off and it would eventually go away.

The next three hours or so was spent weaving in and out of several fjords and mountain passes with scenic moors very reminiscent of what we had seen in Norway. Many of the fjords had big cascades with seemingly no name and we had stopped for many of these. Even then, it was difficult to tell which ones were legitimate waterfalls and which ones were merely thinner seasonal ones. Some of the major ones seemed to require trespassing on private property to get decent views.

It was during the drive that my right knee started hurting again. I guess the strain of stick-shift driving on mountain roads for several hours while hiking in between put a toll on my knee or something. I had a similar condition in Norway, and at least Julie surmised it was the stick shift.

Anytime I had to initially get out of the car to walk or straighten out my leg, it hurt and I had a feeling my right knee was swollen. When we arrived in Hólmavík, we filled up on petrol and had more reasonably-priced Icelandic pylsur (hot dogs). Still, walking at the time was very painful and I really got worried about how my knees would be for the rest of this trip. After the short brunch, we went across the road to the visitor center where they had a free internet terminal. There, we checked email and paid some bills.

We left Hólmavík at around 11:30am and headed north to Djúpavík. The road became unpaved again once we got near Drangsnes. The arctic winds were blowing hard and there was a serious wind-chill factor even though the sun was shining. However, there were dark clouds moving fast out at sea and bumping against the ocean-facing mountains on which the road hugged to avoid the white-capped seas. It was also at this time that I realized that I couldn't find my light jacket as I stopped to take a photo. That was when I replayed when I last had the jacket in my mind and deduced that had left it at Fernando's in Ísafjörður. Well, it's a bit too far to go back so we considered it lost.

Clearly it was too cold to go out in my short-sleeved hiking shirt with this Arctic Wind blowing so I had to get out the thicker jacket. Better not get this one lost, I reckoned.

And so we made several more stops to try to seize the moment and capture the beauty of the wild Strandir Coast. There were a couple of attractive waterfalls we stopped for as well as some scattered isolated summer houses and heaps of dry, dessicated driftwood strewn about the coastline.

When the road started to turn a little more inland, the fast moving clouds seemed to have dominated the scene and we ended up checking out a few more falls in cloudy weather.

At around 1pm, we finally arrived in Djúpavík and checked in to the hotel. Greeting us as soon as we got out of the car was this friendly dog. It seemed genuinely excited to see us and we obliged by petting it. As we were shown our room upstairs, it suddenly hit us that this place has got to be one of the most charming hotels we'd ever stayed in. It's really more of a bed and breakfast, but they maintained the old architecture inside and it felt real warm and cosy in the upstairs guest area. The stairs were a bit steep and narrow though so we only brought up what we needed from our luggage instead of bringing the whole thing.

The receptionist was named Claus and he was an interesting guy in that he was German and it seemed that he was in the middle of learning Icelandic. Claus sensed that I was also learning the language and we immediately hit it off struggling to communicate in Icelandic. As he said, it was funny that two foreigners were talking in Icelandic to each other in the loneliest Hotel in Europe of all places!

After getting settled, Julie and I decided to stroll around the abandoned herring-factory town of Djúpavík (well, if you can call it a town). There were only a handful of buildings and everything was for the most part abandoned except for the hotel and a handful of houses out back. Behind the town was an impressive waterfall (Djúpavíkurfoss)making its presence known with its loud noise as it plunged from a cliff and then cascaded down a rocky slope as it ran right before one of the old factories and eventually emptying into the fjord.

The winds were still strong and it was really chilly as a result despite the sun. Claus said we were lucky with the weather because the skies were foggy and misty for the past several days. As we strolled around, we were accompanied by the hotel owner's dog, who managed to find time chasing sheep while keeping us company. It turned out that her name was Tína.

While walking around, we noticed there was also another big waterfall further up the Reykjarfjörður though it wasn't nearly as photogenic as Djúpavíkurfoss. Even further up the fjord, there was yet a third big waterfall, but this was even less photogenic than the first two as we had to look directly into the sun for it.

Julie and I opted not to drive the additional 40km to a geo-thermally heated pool right next to the ocean at Krossnes. I'm sure this would've been a big draw for people who choose to stay in this lonely spot. Instead, we've just decided to chill out at the Hotel Djúpavík.

Dinner was a very at-home affair with both of us having the local fish for dinner. We were joined by a Dutch couple who had sailed towards this fjord. Along with Claus, we would eventually talk about various things such as travel, politics, art, and Iceland. Before we knew it, it was already 10:30pm and it was time to go to bed and pass on the Dutch couple's offer to see their sailing boat over a few drinks. It was fun learning some pearls of wisdom from a former politician and an artist who's exhibiting in New York. Their stories along with Claus' reason for coming to Djúpavík were really inspirational and further strengthened our conviction that traveling with an open mind really is the way to enrich one's life...

We opted to skip the breakfast this time around but we did talk to Claus the German Hotel helper. We continued our attempt at talking to each other in Icelandic while also signing the guest book, paying the bill, and taking some photos in front of the hotel. I'd have to say that this was truly one of the more unforgettable places we've ever been at and we thoroughly enjoyed the company from Claus and the Dutch couple who joined us over dinner. We will also not forget Tína the local dog accompanying us on our walks around the area yesterday.

By 9am, we bid a fond farewell and headed south towards the Ring Road. However, we did stop to take some more photographs of the Strandir Coast under the cloudless skies.

Some time after 1pm, we took a fairly lengthy detour over unsealed road towards Hvítserkur, which was a small double arch sitting on a black sand beach. It seemed to be a favorite spot for the birds in the area. We walked to the overlook which provided a rather unsatisfactory view of the arch, but there was a steep path that led to the black sand beach where we could at least shoot the sky through the arches for more meaningful photos.

The steep descent wasn't good for my already ailing right knee, but I managed. I was actually more concerned about the stiffness I felt after driving for such a long time.

After our excursion to Hvítserkur, it was about 1:30pm when we headed back to the Ring Road then took another lengthy unsealed road towards our guesthouse - Hof í Vatnsdalur. At first, it looked like we were about to live in a farm, but then we saw the guest house which looked amazingly modern and right on par with some of the hotel accommodations we had been staying at so far (it was way better than our hotel in Reykjavík like many of the other places we stayed at).

I tried to talk to Jon (one of the owners) in Icelandic inquiring about the Skinandi Waterfall. He drew me some directions on how to get there on a piece of paper and that was what we had to go on for tomorrow morning's hike.

It was too bad the owners were busy sending their sheep to the highlands for the summer so that meant there would be no home-cooked dinner. No worries though. We drove the half-hour towards Blönduós to fill up on petrol and have dinner at Pots and Pans (or Potturinn og Pannan). Julie loved her trout, which was the fish of the day. I tried to manage the cost a bit by having a burger, which was pretty ordinary.

After the dinner, we decided to drive to Forsæludalur to scout out the trail to at least the first waterfall - Dalsfoss. As we drive towards the trailhead following Jon's directions, it immediately seemed sketchy that we had to drive on a grassy 4wd road to get to an unsigned brown patch of grass. From there, we followed the rest of the 4wd trail past a gate and towards a waterfall with a fish ladder. It had a signpost which gave us hope that perhaps we were on the right track (at least to Dalfoss). Moreover, on the way, we saw a glimpse of a big waterfall within the canyon which heightened our hopes even further.

Unfortunately, after nearly half an hour of rough hiking along the river, we finally hit an obstacle of deep water inundating what would've been the continuation of the path to at least the base of Dalsfoss. We couldn't find the path up to the top of the canyon, which was what Jon told us was the way to Kerafoss and Skinandi. Having already had a bad feeling about the vagueness of the trail and the fact that it seemed like we were trespassing on someone's farm, we ended the day deciding we weren't going to do the 6-8 hours of hiking to Skinandi and back tomorrow.

I guess sometimes, you have to know when to saw when, and this was certainly "when."

Given this sudden free-up of time, we now looked forward to having a lot more time at Akureyri tomorrow and ultimately more time in Mývatn a few days later...