Another early start today. This time, we had a large buffet breakfast spread out at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, complete with bacon. Compared to the spotty wifi, disappointing dinner, broken trash can, and steep prices for just about everything - getting the breakfast included with our stay was the best part.
Once we had filled up our tummies, we headed out to Skaftafell, the start of our next tour. I had to rent a pair of hiking boots with proper ankle support (the guide will make you rent proper footwear for safety if yours are found to be insufficient), then we got much heavier duty crampons than yesterday, along with an ice pick and helmet. Our vehicle was also more sturdy and bigger than yesterday's "super Jeep", accompanied by a guide who had more than 6 years of mountaineering experience. Oh boy, this was going to be an adventure!
We were taken pretty far into the park, with some sections requiring the vehicle to tackle serious inclines. I had no idea that kind of climbing was possible by something on wheels! It was a bumpy ride, but I was grateful we didn't have to hike all of that distance. When we were dropped off, our guide took us up another incline, then helped us gear up. First, we went into a cave formed by glacial retreat, similar to yesterday's tour, but different because we had to kind of crawl into the cave due to low ceilings. This glacier (Vatnajökull) was 10,000 years old and you could tell it sits much farther from a volcano because there weren't any sediment layers visible in the ice. After crawling/walking through the cave, we emerged onto the glacier - here's where we needed those crampons. Our guide taught us how to stamp down with our crampons to get stable footing on the ice, so we wouldn't be knocked over by the winds. Luckily the weather was mostly holding up for us - only a few gusts of wind and drizzles. We spent just over an hour walking along the glacier, admiring the views of Vatnajökull park, and going through another cave, this time deep in the glacier with little light.
In hindsight, it was a good thing we did the tour in Vik first because today's tour was a bit more challenging, but also more rewarding as a result. Would definitely recommend coming to Vatnajökull and trying a glacier hike.
After we got back to the parking lot, it was past lunchtime, so we skipped Svartifoss which is accessible from this part of the park (we can always catch it tomorrow) and headed straight to Glacier Lagoon for lunch. The cafe beside the lagoon had a decent selection of simple sandwiches, so we basically got a picnic by the lagoon without having to do any of the lagoon was preparation. The lagoon was a sight to behold - a large body of clear water filled with bright blue icebergs that broke off from the glacier. Tons of tourists, of course, but the walkway along the lagoon wasn't crowded, probably because it was quite stormy with rain and wind.
From there, we kept on travelling further east to Höfn, a fishing town close to Hornafjörður fjord. It was much larger than I expected, with multiple businesses, including Deloitte! We stopped at the Tourist Information center to check out the museum, which explained some of the local history.
By the time we stepped out of the museum, the sky had already turned dark, so we went across the street to Humarhöfnin Veitingahús - a restaurant specializing in langoustine. The langoustine was seasoned well and cooked perfectly - split in half for easy eating! We both tucked in and thoroughly enjoyed the meal - making sure to get every morsel of food (including the salad) before giving up our plates. Yes, I had to drive in the dark back to our hotel, but this meal was worth the pitch black drive. Car karaoke was a great way to make the drive more fun - despite the stormy conditions.
Tomorrow is a driving day - we'll head back to Reykjavik for the night and hopefully catch the aurora borealis if the weather cooperates.
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