Here comes another sightseeing entry from our roadtrip in Iceland last April, and this is Day 3. We visited the refreshing Seljalandsfoss (waterfall), and the spooky Rútshellir Cave with its tiny dwarf statues first. Then, we took a long walk to one of the most accessible glaciers in Iceland, Sólheimajökull. Amazing views from the top of the Dyrhólaey Peninsula followed. At noon, we enjoyed lunch and took a stroll along the breezy and black sand beaches of Vík í Mýrdal. The Yoda Cave was also very hype and interesting, despite the bumpy drive on gravel beach. Then, we passed through lava ridges, and bright green mossy fields (where Justin Bieber apparently rolled over in one of his music videos).
Here’s our entire route for the roadtrip, c/o Google Maps:
We spent a peaceful night in Hotel Kanslarinn Hella, enjoyed the breakfast, and left this review: “Nice location (by the road), good breakfast, pleasant staff. We also tried the restaurant and had satisfying dinner. Free and spacious parking lot. The bathroom floor can be very slippery, otherwise, it was nice stay.” Although the room was directly facing the main road, it was very quiet at night.
It was drizzling when we left, the road was wet, but the sunrise was glorious! It was peeping through the clouds; very uplifting.
- Seljalandsfoss
As usual, no plans, just driving and spontaneously stopping at interesting sights on the way. Our first stop was.. tadaa! A waterfall! Or, a series of waterfalls (the rest were smaller, so we just stayed at the first one). Usually, one can walk behind the Seljalandsfoss and look at it from every angle. Unfortunately, during our visit, the path was closed for inspection.
The falls drops at 65 meters, over an old sea cliff. It passes through the Troll Woman’s gorge (Tröllkonugil), which, according to legend, an old troll woman tried to cross. She had to back out when she heard the bells from a nearby church though.
Tip: empty your bladder before visiting waterfalls in Iceland. Most of them are so strong, they gravitate your bladder. Lol XD
When we left Seljalandsfoss, the weather became better.
Here’s a scenic view of the Eyjafjallajökull subglacial volcano, which last erupted in 2010. It’s also the 6th largest glacier in Iceland, and the volcano is 4kms in length. We just went for a little stretch on the roadside; did not really go off the road to check out the glacier.
- Rútshellir Cave
Our next stopover was a spooky cave. Sorry, I found it really spooky! The Rútshellir cave, or the Cave of Rútur, is one of the biggest man-made caves in southern Iceland. It sits on private grounds, so one should practice extra care. You climb over a beautifully decorated ladder, and follow a stoned path to the cave. Inside, it can be dark and slippery. I don’t know, but the little elves placed in the cave creeped me out. Voluntary donations to maintain the cave was encouraged.
- Sólheimajökull glacier
At around 10am, we found ourselves in the parking lot by the Sólheimajökull glacier. Sólheimajökull (”home of the sun”) glacier is located between the volcanoes Katla and Eyjafjallajökull. Hint: there’s a mystery series on Netflix called Katla, which is about the volcano. 🙂 It took ca 1.5 km from the parking lot to the glacier. We enjoyed the walk on gravel and sand, admiring the whole place, the rolling stones, the small streams, and of course, the beautifully dangerous glacier.
This was the first glacier that we actually came to look a bit closer at, and it was a memorable activity of the day. But capturing breathtaking sceneries in Iceland was far from over.
- Dyrhólaey Peninsula
Driving up the Dyrhólaey peninsula was exhilirating that day because of the fog! It was like: are we still on the road? Or are we flying off the cliff soon? But my husband had driven far way terrifying roads than that, well, here in Norway. He was quite confident in taking me up the cliff, despite the fog. So, we trusted the process.
As I wrote on Insta, we braved the foggy road for this:
Dyrhólaey, which means “door hill island”, is mainland Iceland’s southernmost point.
Going down, and driving towards our next stop:
- Vík í Mýrdal
We were starving by the time we reached the village of Vik, which has a population of only about 300. We had some (burnt) pizza, and then, checked out its popular black sand beach, with a view of the Reynisdrangar basalt sea stacks. Just behind the portruding part of the Reynisfjall (mountain) is the Reynisfjara Beach, but we’re visiting that on another day. This beach was a filming location for Katla tv series, while the Reynisfjara was used in tv series like Vikings and Game of Thrones.
The beach was roaring and the mist gave it a haunting vibe:
- Yoda Cave
We filled up the gas before leaving Vik, and then continued our journey. Now, this cave has pretty good reviews and has a funny name. Well, the real name is Hjörleifshöfði cave, but due to the formation’s resemblance to Yoda when seen from the inside, it became more known as the Yoda Cave. It was a bit of a drive from the main road, with gravel and sand on the path, but we pulled it through. And pure luck, we were the only ones there. We were done taking photos before the next visitor came.
- Laufskálavarða lava ridge
A quick stopover in Laufskálavarða lava ridge, which is surrounded by stone cairns. Travelers are said to placed a lucky pebble on the stacks as they passed through, and locals used them for navigation purposes as well. Over time, the area looked like as it is today. Visitors are not encouraged to place more cairns though, as means of preserving the area. As such, there’s a rope barrier to keep visitors from the cairns.
- Mossy lava fields
What followed was miles and miles of green lava fields.. Iceland’s landscapes were really dramatic, in a positive way. I call it, Iceland’s textures. Anyway, the mossy fields was featured in Justin Bieber’s I’ll show you music video, along with other spots in Iceland. There was actually a backlash for his gesture, with people calling his actions “dumb”, feks., rolling around the mossy lava fields and standing on rock edges: https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/5-reasons-why-you-should-not-travel-like-justin-bieber-in-iceland. Hehe 🙂
About Iceland’s textures, after passing through cairns and green mossy lava fields, we went through alternating yellow and black sand, and then both yellow and black:
On the way, we shared some nice Icelandic chocolate.
We reached our accommodation for the next couple of nights, Hotel Skaftafell, with views of Iceland’s highest mountain, Hvannadalshnjukur, and within walking distance to Europe’s biggest glacier, Vatnajökull. Across the road is a gas station and a kiosk/mini-grocery store/restaurant, where we had some quick dinner.
I got very excited to explore the area, and more. 🙂 This is Day 3 in Iceland.
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ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG ENTRY ARE MINE. 🙂 Cheers!
And here’s Justin Bieber in Iceland in 2015, c/o Youtube.
PinayOdyssey 
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