We are leaving the tourist resort area of Myvatn to the more remote and much less visited Northwest region today. We will be staying in the town of Hofsstadir tonight a the Hofsstadir Guesthouse. The drive today will cover about 120 miles and we'll be making a few stops along the way.
We started our day as usual in the cafe. As we enjoyed our breakfast, the cows were grazing nearby. We actually got to tour the stalls where the cows sleep that morning.
Our first stop is Godafoss or "The Waterfall of the Gods" where Icelandic settler Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði threw the statues of the pagan gods into this fall and proclaimed Iceland to be a Christian land in the year 1000 A.D according to the Icelandic Saga.
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| Watching the cows grazing by |
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| Icelandic cowgirl in action |
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| Dates and crackers |
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| GG trying coffee |
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| salami and toast with aj |
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| breakfast time for cows |
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| After about a 40 minute drive, we arrived at our first stop - Godafoss |
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| Overcast but nice |
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| I like my purple jacket |
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| Selfie time |
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| The horse-shoed shaped Godafoss viewed from the north bank on the side of the parking lot |
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| We followed the walking path to the bottom of the fall |
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| How did I get down? |
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sisterly hug
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At the south bank overlook, a great view
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| Gotta love the selfie stick |
After rubbing shoulders and making our way around tourists from all over the world (there were two bus loads of tourists from Taiwan), we continued our self drive to to the town of Akureyri. Our drive took us through the mountain range and finally descended into the inner most part of the Eyjafjörður fjord where Akureyri is located. Akureyri is the second largest city in Iceland after Reykjavik. The population of Akureyri in 2017 was about 18,500 according to Wikipedia.
The drive led us over a long over the water bridge into town. Our first stop in town was the a piece of art work called "The Flight" by the water front. We were able to locate the statue and pulled up at a parking area right by it.
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| No problem finding parking in Akureyri |
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| "The Flight", a statue by the water front |
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| "The Flight" viewed from the water side |
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| The town of Akureyri by the water front |
The town felt really quiet. We took a few photos by statue and were already hunting for lunch spot. We decided to take up our usual lunch routine of super market cold cuts. We located a local super market - "Netto" in a shopping plaza in town. We headed there to buy our lunch and use the restroom. This was a very local supermarket and the locals there seemed to be surprised to see dark-haired tourists. We got a few stares from the locals especially young children.
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| Shopping at "Netto", a supermarket located at a local strip mall |
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| Checking out at Netto, the only black hair in town |
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| Tapplesin, cold cuts, and Skyr |
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| and pylsur of course |
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| Browsing through our guide book for our next stop |
After taking a quick lunch break, we'll next be embarking on a highlight excursion of this trip - horseback riding at a horse farm named Helluland not too far from Akureyri.
North Iceland is known for its unique breed of Icelandic horses. Joanne called around and located this horse farm. We made an afternoon reservation for a short ride (~ 1 hour). The farm is located slightly more west of our hotel in Hofsstadir so it was convenient for us to check in after this excursion.
We had to make our way around the finger of the Eyjafjörður fjord to get to Helluland and Hofsstadir. On the way there, we passed through the herring village of Siglufjordur located at the tip of the fjord finger. We only hopped off to take a quick photo of the colorful houses at Siglufjordur. The most notable area was a single lane tunnel that we had to park to the side from time to time to let incoming traffic pass. You have to time the side parking well otherwise you will get into a jam in a single lane tunnel in the middle of nowhere.
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| Parked to the side in the single lane tunnel before Siglufjordur |
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| Passing by the colorful houses at Siglufjordur |
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Small boats can be seen around the village
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Helluland is a horse farm operated by two enthusiastic horse trainers - Andrés Magnússon & Luka Dreiner. We arrived at our riding appointment slight bit early. The staff greeted us warmly. We freshen up a bit and were led to the stable to meet our rides for the next hour.
The farm staff had previously taken our bios and paired us up with the horses that best suited our styles. The horses used for beginner rides are generally more "experienced" horses. They moved slower and were not bothered by our lack of ability. We saddled up in the stable and were taught the basics of controlling horses. The ride would take us through the nature of North Iceland. We would reach a vantage point overlooking the mouth of the fjord below Helluland. The ride lasted an hour but felt much longer. The cold wind buffeted our face but we were thrilled to ride the Icelandic horses in this surreal landscape.
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| Entering Helluland |
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