A Nordic Escapade - Vik to Hofn, Iceland - Day 4 - 13 May 2025

The Barn hostel was comfortable. The dorm had filled up as the evening wore on. The only problem with a dorm is that you have to put up with all sorts of smells in a confined space. However, the experience is much like a train journey. The shared showers and bathrooms were spic and span. Kudos to the users, too. The consideration that they have for fellow residents is remarkable. The common kitchen was well stocked too. After the customary breakfast of muesli and apple I left The Barn. The stunning views of the green mountain range with snowy capped mountains in the background were enhanced by the blue skies.

I drove through the pretty town of Vik towards Eldhraun, which was about an hour's drive from Vik. As I got closer to Eldhraun I could see vast fields of hardened lava rocks. The impressive Eldhraun lava field is the biggest lava flow in the world, it is said. It occurred during the Laki eruption of  the 18th century. The enormous site, which is 565 square kilometers, is where the Apollo 11 crew trained for their moonwalk.

The Laki eruption lasted from 1783 to 1784, and scientists consider it the most poisonous eruption that has occurred in recorded history. It is fair to say that this was a cataclysmic event, not only for Iceland but also for Europe. In Iceland, it caused disease, crop failure, and famine. As a result, more than half the domestic animals and a fifth of the human population perished. Europeans felt the eruption, as well. In Great Britain, that summer was known as The Sand Summer due to the fallout of ash. The eruption haze blocked out sunlight, causing crop failures and famine in Europe. Many historians hold the view that the Laki eruptions thus contributed to the French Revolution.

Less than 10 km away is Fjaorargljufur. It is loosely translated as "feather river canyon". Through the canyon flows the River Fjaora. The canyon has steep walls that make it 100 metres deep and winds through two kilometers. The origin of the canyon dates back to the about two million years ago, which was formed by progressive erosion by flowing glacial waters through the rocks and palagonite over millennia.

From the parking lot of the canyon, it's a stiff walk for about 1500 meters to reach the waterfall that flows down the western side of the canyon. The waterfall is visible from an observation platform at the end of the hike. The canyon was closed to visitors in May 2019, after massive streams of visitors started pouring in there, consequent on the canyon appearing in the music video for Justin Bieber's "I'll Show You". The visitors threatened to damage the canyon's environment. However, now it is open to visit. Just as in most other touristy places in Iceland, payment of parking fee is also the entrance fee. If one comes on foot, entrance is free!

The pretty town of Kirknubaejarklauster, less than 10 km from the canyon, was inhabited by Irish monks even before the first Norse settlement in Iceland. Between 1186 and the Reformation in 1550, a well-known convent of Benedictine nuns, Kirkjuaejar Abbey, was located there. The names of the waterfall Systrafoss ("waterfall of the sisters") and of the lake Systravatn ("water of the sisters") on the highland above the village refer to this abbey. Folk tales in the town also illustrate the history with stories about good and sinful nuns. The small town is worth a drive past, where time certainly stands still.

The Vatnajokull National Park is nearly 15,000 square kilometers spanking 14 percent of the country's land area. It is the the largest of the three national parks in Iceland. The national park has a wide variety of landscape sculpted over millennia by glacial ice, rivers, geothermal activity and volcanic action. The Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon, bordering Vatnajokull National Park. It's still, blue waters are dotted with icebergs from the surrounding Breidamerkurjokull Glacier, which is part of the larger Vatnajokull Glacier.

The Glacier Lagoon flows through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on a black sand beach. In winter, the fish-filled lagoon hosts hundreds of seals, but I was there at the wrong time to see it. However, the different hues on the chunks of ice indicate if it has broken off from a pure glacial overhang or from an underlying lava field. The smaller ice chunks float by mesmerizing the onlooker and pleasing the professional photographer. I was transfixed and transformed into a child with a sweet candy.

On the opposite side of the bridge that spans the waterway is the Diamond Beach. It is a strip of jet-black sand covered in sparkling chunks of ice. Not all the fractured ice from the icebergs makes it out to sea. Blocks of it wash up on Diamond Beach, where they glisten like gemstones strewn across the black sand. The "diamond" effect grows stronger with time, as the waves and wind polish the stranded ice chunks. The sight cannot be believed until experienced. What nature can provide no human can even dream of.

I had booked to stay in a guesthouse in Hofn, about 80 km from the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. Hofn is an enchanting harbor town, nestled between the ocean, the Hornafjardarfljot glacier river, and the colossal Vatnajökull glacier. Hofn is renowned for its delicious seafood and stunning surroundings. The small town with less than 2500 inhabitants primarily depends on tourists and the harbour activity. The town can be explored by foot in less than an hour.