So much to do in such a small area.

Starting from hrifunes guesthouse, we headed east. On the left of the M1, there are stretches of black sand.

Hjörleifshöfði was once an island, located in the Mýrdalssandur sandar (sandar are found in periglacial regions). The hill is one of the first places of settlement in Iceland, the plain of desolation results from a Jökulhlaup, a particularly powerful and devastating type of brutal flood resulting from a sudden draining of a glacial lake.

The hill is named after Hjörleifur Hróðmarsson, second settler of Iceland, brother of Ingólfur Arnarson. Hjörleifur was killed in 875 A.D, by his Irish slaves, you can see his grave at the top. The grave of Hjörleifur is at the top of the mountain, dating all the way to that time.

The place has been haunted since then.

Let us know if you get any ghostly encounters …

A little further east, we are back in Vik, a small southern town with stunning cliffs, the peculiarity lies in the color of its famous black beach recognizable between 1000, reminding us of the volcanic origine of the island.

Swimming is forbidden, and do not even come too close to the waves. There have already several fatal accidents, including 2016. The peculiarity lies in the color of its black sand, the white of the waves moss and the black sand is perfect for photography.

We also came to admire, what we called the rocky needles, whith their top filled with seagulls. You can climb on it to take some photos. (going up is way more easy than going down when the rocks are wet and slippery). Below it you will see a mini cave where you can observe the basalt columns. As basaltic lava cools over an extended period of time, beautiful geometric forms emerge.

After taking a handful of black sand and putting a pebble in our pocket for our travel memories, we went back on the road.

The abandoned airplane wreckage on Sólheimasandur Beach is one of Iceland’s most iconic photography locations. You can not drive out to the plane anymore, no regulations for his visit, unfortunately led to many abuses. The landowner have now installed an impassable barrier on the side of the road. The tourists tended to get lost in this black rock “desert”, while others diverged from the track and damaged the area with their cars.

Back in 1973 a United States Navy DC-3 crashed on the beach and is still there. If you know where to look and want to explore what’s left of it, just follow the trails, a 15-20 minute walk. Once again, it was pouring rain, and walking 1 hour, without being able to finally take a single photo, was not our choice.

It will be for next time.

The night would fall and it was time to head towards tonight’s hotel.

In a nutshell:

Hotel :

FarmHouse Lodge

Address : Skeiðflöt, Iceland

Telephone : +354 867 0759

Website : http://farmhouse.is

Rental Car : Lagoon Car Rental

Adress : Keflavík : Smiðjuvellir 3230 Reykjanesbaer Iceland    Reykjavik : Sundagarðar 8104 ReykjavikIceland

Telephone : +354 515 2220

Website : www.lagooncarrental.is

@ : [email protected]