#gljúfrabúi

Day 2

March 28, 2018

After an incredibly restful night sleeping, I woke up for some breakfast with the Magnusson family. We had pepperoni, ham, different slices of bread and carbs, Swedish cheese, boiled egg, orange juice, coffee, and  cucumber and tomatoes. I’m really digging how healthy breakfast is in Iceland. I don’t know if this is what a typical breakfast is like, but it’s really wonderful and filling! 

I left Reykjavik heading southeastward towards Iceland’s southern coast and Route 1. This direction is incredibly popular among foreign tourists because you have a large concentration of attractions, most of which are a few hundred meters from the road. The first big attraction is Seljalandsfoss, a gorgeous 60 meter (200 foot) waterfall, that’s fed by the glacial meltwater of  Eyjafjallajökull Iceland’s famed glacial volcano. This waterfall is truly unique in that you can walk behind it and get a 360-degree view of it. If you want to avoid the crowds, going before 9:00 AM and after 7:00 PM will certainly help with that. I stopped by at 11:00 AM, and there were tour buses and several hundred people there. 

A few hundred meters to the left of Seljalandsfoss sits Gljúfrabúi, another gorgeous waterfall that cascades from a 40 meter (~130 foot) cliff. There’s a paved walking path from Seljalandsfoss, and following that, you’ll reach this gorgeous waterfall. This one is a little less popular, and you’ll need to get a little wet to get right up to it. It’s partially shielded by large rock cliffs, so you’ll have to crawl in between the rocks through a small crevice that only fits one person at a time. Once you get through the rocks, you’re rewarded with this amazing and powerful waterfall. If you didn’t get wet from hopping across rocks in the stream, you’ll definitely be blasted by the fall’s mist. 

There actually another vantage point from which to view Gljúfrabúi. To see the waterfall from high up, you’ll need to complete a short but strenuous climb that was actually pretty dangerous. Once you get to the end of this hike/climb, you’ll encounter a large rock, where you have to really pull yourself up so that you can see Gljúfrabúi. Make sure you put your feet in the right places! I was struggling a little bit with that, especially on the way down. But I made it!  

After enjoying these two waterfalls, I continued on Route 1 heading eastward. The wind started to really pick up at this point, gusting to 40-50 mph. About 30 minutes later, I arrived at my next destination: Seljavallalaug, which is where there’s a warm thermal pool that sits in a beautiful valley with a spectacular view of lush mountains all around. You have to park your car in this gravel area and hike in for about 15-20 minutes, and the views are spectacular. Except for the fact that when I tried getting out of the car, the wind made opening the door really difficult. I should have known right then and there that this was probably not a good idea to hike into a valley to swim in a pool… but whatever. After about 20 minutes, I came across the pool and a large concrete building that’s the changing room for visitors. Honestly though, it was a giant concrete building with three rooms that were pretty nasty and disgusting, with mud, old clothes, and underwear sitting around. And as I stood in that room with a couple from Chicago, I really debated if stripping and wearing a bathing suit in 30-degree weather with 50 mph winds and sleet was something I really wanted to do. But I mean, when in Iceland… 

So of course, I did. I put on my boardshorts, took off my many layers, and walked out there shirtless like a total boss. There were maybe 5 other people in the pool. I turned on my GoPro, and quickly descended the steps into the pool. I was told before I got in that there’s only one single pipe that feeds hot water to the pool. Apparently, other pipes over the years have been redirected to other locations, so the pool is lukewarm at best but comfortably warm by where the pipe discharges geothermal hot water. I sat in the water, and tried swimming around a little bit. I managed to swim a few meters before my muscles started to cramp up from being so cold. After maybe 10 minutes, I decided I probably had enough. I admit though that after getting out, I felt really refreshed and recharged. Was it the minerals in the water? Was it my body being shocked by the cold? No idea… 

After hiking back to my car, I drove on for another 15 minutes and arrived at my AirBnB, which is actually a hostel (Hostel Skogar). It sits right next to the Skógafoss waterfall, which is also about 60 meters high (200 feet tall). The cliff from which the water cascades used to be the sea cliffs for this part of Iceland. The coastline has since grown and moved about 5 kilometers, but the seacliffs remained at this height, which is crazy when you think about it. I decided to rest in the hostel for a bit and then head out to the waterfall after dinner. It was really fun to sit by the waterfall, with only a handful of people (unlike Seljalandsfoss earlier in the day). After taking some more photos, I went back to the hostel, and talked with some new friends I met. One girl was from Germany, two cousins were from Canada and England, and a few more people were from California. Finally, after a long day, I fell asleep.