How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Iceland Trip Report, Day 6: Seyðisfjörður, Diamond Circle (Dettifoss, Selfoss, Godafoss)

DAY 6 Wednesday Sep 4, 2019:

We had to get the car key battery changed, gas stations open only by 9 am.

Backtracked again because we so wanted to see the village of Seydisfjordur with its rainbow road. Road 93 was lovely; runs over the plateau and runs up to an altitude of more than 600 meters with beautiful views .

Gufufoss:

Very nice waterfall along the road down to Seydsifjordur. It is well worth a stop. The name means "Steam waterfall" derived from the mist that often accompanies the area. It is one of many(25) waterfalls in the river Fjarðará.

The origin of the river lies at the Fjarðarheiði plateau, between Seyðisfjörður and Egilsstaðir.

There is a trail nearby to see many more waterfalls.

We drove on and reached Seyðisfjörður.

Seyðisfjörður :

Very picturesque.

Saw the iconic rainbow road leading to the church.

There are great views ... a nice lake with the reflections of the multi-colored houses and snow capped mountains.

Retraced our way back to Egilsstadir. wasted time in 2 gas stations and had to go to a special auto parts shop for replacement. Had read a review saying road 94 going north to puffin cliffs is a beautiful drive but we had a long day ahead of us.

Started driving west toward Akureyri, hoping to cover some highlights of the DIAMOND CIRCLE.

Rjukandi Waterfall:

This huge waterfall can be viewed after walking a short trail right beside the highway 1 ring road. It is between Egilsstadir and Akureyri. It is well marked and hard to miss. on the way to Dettifoss

DIAMOND CIRCLE:

We then headed to the part of Iceland which people often refer to as the Diamond Circle. magnificent circuit of about 260 km in the Northeast of Iceland, which includes some stunning sights and scenic landscapes.

Húsavík is the main town and a convenient starting and ending point of the Diamond Circle. It is worldwide famous for its great whale-watching. Other highlights of the circuit: the horseshoe-shaped canyon of Ásbyrgi; the valley of Vesturdalur with the bizarre rock formations of Hljóðaklettar (Echo rocks); the mighty Dettifoss waterfall; the volcanic fields of Krafla, the geothermal area of Hverir; lake Mývatn and its surrounding nature bath of Jarðböðin and lava field of Dimmuborgir; the turf farm Grenjaðarstaður, the elegant Goðafoss waterfall. Some of these sites are part of the Vatnajökull National Park, which has been approved as UNESCO world heritage site in 2019.

But the Diamond Circle is even more. off the beaten track: the sparkling Skjálfandi bay to the beautiful Tjörnes peninsula, from the east side with the lush valley of Hólmatungur to the less known location around Mývatn such as the dark Hverfjall and the turquoise pool of Grjótagjá, etc.

Anyway, we had very little time at our disposal and planned to hit up only major sights.

Our target was the Dettifoss. We entered the Vatnajökull National Park.

DETTIFOSS:

The falls are in a mighty glacial river that originates from glacier Vatnajokull. They are 100 metres (330 ft) wide and have a drop of 45 metres (150 ft) down to the Jokulsargljufur canyon. It is the largest waterfall in Europe in terms of volume discharge, having an average water flow of 193 m3/s.

GPS leads us to the East side, Road 864 which is the gravel & dusty road.

The choice here is to pick which side you want to see it from. West or east. We visited on the west side. [[This was the comparison we had got from our research.:

You can see the waterfall both from the front as well as the side. The east side is more only from the side You get an elevated close up position which is good for panoramas.

The east side allows you to walk all the way to the edge but on the same level.
There are some platforms and ropes that provides some sort of good ground to walk on and some sort of security. East side had nothing like this.

It's a short walk from the parking to the fall, but east side is a bit shorter.
If you go further into the national park, west side gets faster to the sights.

If you only want to see Dettifoss, then go there on the West side as you save more time driving north on the paved road. Also, the path to Dettifoss on the south side ramps down but on the north side, you have to take a few flights of stairs if you want to get really close to the falls.]]

SELFOSS:

Moving from Dettifoss, we enjoyed Selfoss also.

Selfoss is only 600 m away. We did not see the horseshoe fall from the west side, but got a better sideways view of the fall. East side will see the horseshoe and get a frontal view of this fall. The cascading waters on this horse shoe shaped fall extends further on the west side, which can be viewed much better from the east side of the fall as you are viewing from across the river. Standing on the west side, it is right below us, so there is no way to see it.

The walk to Selfoss is a little easier on the west side though as there is a proper path, but the walk is a bit more difficult on the east side as you have to climb over boulders at some point. All are marked with yellow markers.

In the Vatnajökull National Park, We originally planned to continue on to other natural wonders like the Jökulsárgljúfur glacial canyon, Vesturdalur valley, Hljóðaklettar’s echoing cliffs and the towering, crescent-shaped Ásbyrgi canyon. [The Vikings believed the Asbyrgi Gorge was formed when the god Odinn's horse, Sleipnir had left an enormous hoof print with one of his eight legs. ] then we planned to turn back as a loop on the east side seeing Dettifoss etc from that side also, but the gravel road was not pleasant to negotiate and we decided to turn back and get out of the park the same way we had entered... by paved road 862

This area has landscapes with remarkable volcanic and geothermal features.

Hverir/Namjafjall geothermal area:

Our first Myvatan stop was at Hverir/Namjafjall geothermal area. It is a pretty large area with various mud pots, steam vents, and an area where you can hike up as well. From 1563 the Danish produced naval gunpowder from Namaskard, due to warfare with the Swedes.The name Namafjall (Mine Hills) is from sulfur production in the geothermal area at Namaskard.

At 1 km depth, the temperature is over 200°C, and magma has been found just two kilometers below the surface of Krafla. The active solfatara is a kind of mud with geothermal activity, which has the characteristic odor of rotten eggs due to sulfur compounds

After this we saw the diversion for Krafla. Decided not to take it. Skipped lake Myvatn too. Regret it now. In our defense we had a long drive and had to reach our accommodation before 9PM.

Goðafoss:

Goðafoss waterfall cascade that flows over a semicircle of jagged cliffs. This elegant waterfall with astonishing symmetrical cascade is 12-meter high and 30-meter wide.

The cascade’s name means “waterfall of the gods” and is a crucial turning point in Iceland’s history. This is the spot where in the year 1000 or so, religious leader Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði threw the pagan idols of his Norse faith over the waterfall’s edge. This served as an overt gesture and a powerful symbol of his conversion to Christianity. The country embraced the new monotheistic belief system as its official religion.