You know I sit in the car during our long rides to our next destination thinking up these whimsical blog titles.   Anyway the title refers to the different phases of water and how we saw all three today.

We started the day in Myvatn at Vogafjlo’s guest house.   At 9am I went over to the restaurant/cow farm across the road for the breakfast buffet included with our stay.   It was AMAZING!   I’ve had alot of breakfasts at alot of different hostels now and this by far was the best offering I’ve received.   So good I took a video of it:

A long with fresh fruit and different flavored cheeses, there was a lamb pâté and an amazing caramel spread called Mysingur.   I’ve never seen either of the last two and I tried them both.   Of course I put it on the wonderful fresh Geysir bread they had.   There was also an assortment of different coldcuts as well as smoked salmon.   If that wasn’t enough, there was also a wide selection of cereals and nuts.

Like I said – quite the spread!

Around 10am as the sun was rising we checked out and headed out to see the rest of the sights around Myvatn we didn’t get a chance to see last night.   We started by driving around the big lake in town to see the false craters created years ago from lava that overran the lake.   The lava caused the water to be trapped underneath and created steam explosions that made several false craters around the lake.

Of course we also did the obligatory walk onto the frozen lake.   Taking very cautious steps we stepped out onto the ice and took some pictures and videos.

Our next stop was back to Grjotagja where we saw the caves last night.   Because it was getting dark when we were there last night, we hadn’t noticed that a huge crack formed from a huge volcanic explosion 20 years ago was just above the caves.

The crack is a true testament to the unbelievable force a volcano wields as the crack was miles away from the actual volcano.   It was great to see yet another amazing natural beauty – one of many we’ve seen on this trip.

And then it was off to Hverir – a geothermal area with boiling mudpools and steaming fumaroles just outside the town.   Once we got past the overpowering sulphur smell (something we’ve had plenty of time to acclimate to as the tap water the last few days has all had that same smell) we were treated to a truly wonderous sight.

You can actually walk up to the boiling pools of mud taking in the sounds of the mud boiling in the ground letting up streams of steam.   Of course after walking in the mud for awhile I felt like I was dragging a couple of extra pounds on my boots as mud was caked onto them.

So, that was the gaseous water phase.   On to the liquid phase…

We continued our trip east on the ring road and took a 24km detour to Dettifoss – the most powerful waterfall in Europe.   We could hear the falls long before we reached them and walked 20 minutes through the snow until we reached them.   Majestic is the only word I can think to describe them.   You could literally see how powerful they were.   On the way back to the car I did the obligatory spelling of my name in the snow.   Oh, and Dorianne’s feet went through the ice into the water so it was an adventure for both of us.

And the solid phase…

We finally reached the east coast around 3pm surviving a couple of stretches of wintery roads.   We stopped briefly in Egilsstaðir to get a late lunch.   I had a yummy smoked salmon sandwich with a noodle salad and Dorianne had a vegan pizza.   Afterwards we drove for another 30 minutes up a hill through the snow to the tiny fishing village of Seyðisfjörður.

Another guest house awaited us here at Seyðisfjörðurf Hostel.   The place definitely has a feel good at home vibe.   To top it off, there are 3 other people staying here – all of whom we have met on our travels around the ring road.   I guess what they say is true that if you travel around the ring road you will sooner or later meet up with people you’ve met along the way.

For dinner we went to the only place open in town – Skaftfell Bistro.   Their menu was limited to pizza so Dorianne had another vegan pizza and I tried the reindeer pizza.

Yup, I had a pizza topped with reindeer meat and caramelized onions.

We were joined by our new friend from Lucerne, Switzerland.   Pauline is doing the same trip as us but has been hitch hiking and taking buses instead.   We’ve actually stayed in the same hostels a few times but missed each other by a day here and there.

Anyway, we didn’t really explore Seyðisfjörður as nighttime had already fallen thanks to the 4pm sunsets.

Tomorrow the plan is to explore around the coast here and then head to the southeast of Iceland staying in Skálafell for the night.

Only a few days left!