Penguins and Flying Horses

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We have been taking our time leaving these towns but we hit the road quick in Egilsstadir as we had a long road trip in front of us.

The road trip was once again scenic and other worldly; at times you could have convinced us we were driving on the surface of the moon.

Our first stop was Dettifoss waterfalls. The road to Dettifoss was unpaved, barren and a little bumpy. We were wondering how they managed to locate their most powerful waterfall in a dry, barren, rock-like desert, but locate it they did! Dettifoss was spectacular. If you've ever seen the movie "Prometheus" these are the falls that were used in the opening scene and seeing them in real life was no less epic.

After Dettifoss we made our way to Asbyrgi which is a giant horse-shoe shaped canyon that is 3.5 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide. Scientists have come up with some theories as to how the canyon may have been formed but the Norse explanation is that Odin's (think Zeus) giant flying horse (think Pegasus but really big and with 8 legs) accidentally touched one hoof down into the ground leaving a giant imprint. The scientific explanation is sketchy and complicated, at best, we're leaning towards the Odin giant flying horse thing.

After leaving Asbyrgi we drove around the Tjornes peninsula which is a beautiful coastline along the North of Iceland. We'd have to check a map but we believe this drive put us roughly within 100 kilometres of the Arctic Circle.

The roadtrip itself has been a huge highlight; it often consists of many bizarre obscure stories; for example as we drove down one particular road Chris yelled for Andra to stop the car and back up as he was pretty sure he had just witnessed a penguin walking casually down the side of the road. Andra was extremely sceptical (and she made sure he knew that) but she none the less granted his pleas and reversed the car until they came alongside the bird. The bird did waddle but it also quacked, had feathers and a very familiar bill. Chris admitted his misclassification and the road trip continued.

We ended the day in the Lake Myvatn region where we made our way to the Nature Baths to sooth our well travelled bodies. The Nature Baths are an outdoor baby blue geothermal heated mineral pool, kind of like a giant hot tub pond carved out of the hillside that you could invite at least 200 friends to; you know the kind. After our dip in the water we decided to eat at the Vogafjos Cafe which had a picturesque view of both the area and the milking cows that shared the cafe with us (they were behind glass to prvent any olfactory issues). The food was delicious and it was an excellent conclusion to an adventurous day.

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Photos

Giant flying horse footprint or glacial flooding??
ASBYRGI

Comments

[Dawn]

What an interesting and spectacular place!