Thursday, 7 June 2012
Myvatn Lake (pronounced Mee-Vat) was about an hour’s drive east of Akureyri. A high concentration of geology of interests to treat those who managed to get away from Reykjavik and the South. Luckily for me, it was conveniently near Akureyri. At 10am, I picked my car from the hired car place, after a short delay of looking for the steering wheel on the passenger side. I set off to Myvatn.
Skutustadagigar was the first place encountered. By that time, I had already given up trying to pronounce the names. Mars like crater landscape set the scene for the day ahead. The cache of pseudo-craters were like blisters on the surface of the earth. These were formed by steam explosions as glowing red hot lava flowed over frozen ground. Now they are covered in grass with fertile soil built on the surface over time.
Stakholstjorn, a lake with interesting rock formations. These are lava pillars which are common in the Myvatn area. They were formed by steam cooling a molten lava lake. When the lava drains away, leaving the rock formation cooled by the steam vents. The convincing theory was supported by similar rock formations found in the deep sea, hard to imagine really.
Dummuborgir was a rocky maze where trolls lived. Again created by funky lava flow cooling. There was a story about the Yule Lads, Iceland’s very own Santas. The cafe here did a great smoked salmon cake, and I had a soup buffet which was really tasty. The cafe was quite pricy. I was determined to make the most of the buffet. I knuckled down and ate. Now on, so
Hverfell was a crater created from a eruption apparently about 2500 years ago. A steep hike up to the rim of the crater offered fantastic view of the surrounding landscape. One of the windiest place thus we moved on promptly.
An active field next with a view looking towards Krafla, a geothermal power plant. The area’s activity was shown by the steam escaping. Although these were water droplets, because steam as we know is not visible. I was walking on an active volcano. The volcano was called Lerihnjukur The earth’s crust was pretty thin here, hence I treaded lightly.
There were other highlights in Myvatn. Myvatn Nature Baths, a natural geothermal bath which is the local’s answer to the Blue Lagoon. It was cheaper and quieter than the Blue Lagoon. There was also an underground natural thermal bath, but apparently it is a bit toxic now but pretty. I think Myvatn would be a great 2 days stop. There was an Ice Cave but quite costly maybe next time.
Adventures of Delboy 