This is where we're currently staying. The hotel comes with a restaurant, apparently the only one open in the Myvatn area.
One of the large lava rocks ("chocolate chip cookie") that we saw along the way. Check out the clear reflection in the water.
We stopped at the small town Reykjahlíð to have a look around. There was an information centre and we talked to the person working there to find out what's there to do in the current snowy weather. Eventually we decided to visit the Hverir area where there were mud lakes, the Myvatn Baths and the Bird Museum which was only open between 2 to 4pm. Almost everything is shut during winter including restaurants. We learned that the only restaurant open is the one in our hotel, which has a very small menu so if you stayed here long enough you would have tried everything on the menu.
The sign to Hverir was non existent and we drove pass the area at least 5 times before catching a sign of a pole, the only indication that there was even a road turning.
One of the mud pools. What this image doesn't capture is us walking to the area with winds and snow blowing in our face at full force and having to walk in ankle deep snow if not deeper. When I first opened the door of the jeeep I thought the door was going to fly off!
After our short visit we took a quick drive to the baths to have a look around then drove to the bird museum, which is the largest private collection of stuffed birds in Iceland. Here's a photo of me in front of one of the large mountains around the lake, the mountain is called Vindbelgjarfjall.
Birds in the bird museum! There were many of them, it was an impressive collection. They even had male - female pairs of the same species.
Lake Myvatn is also famous for having "Lake balls". There are balls of algae which can only be found in this lake and in Japan. In Japan these are known as "Marimo" and apparently, regarded as a national treasure.
This the bird museum. It resides besides the lake, which is now frozen. We initially drove past the bird museum because the sign was in Icelandic.
After our bird excursion we went back to the hotel and walked to the pseudo-craters at Skutustadhir which was located pretty much next to our hotel. It was a tough walk! Here's our tracks, no one was crazy enough to walk to the craters in this weather.
One pseudo-crater. You can't see much but there it is.
Walking back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we leave Myvatn for Seyðisfjörður, a small fishing village near the east coast, 171km from where we are currently. Should be an interesting drive if not anything else.
I want to add that the water here smells of sulfur i.e. of eggs. Can't have water without smelling like eggs, the smell is omnipresent in the water here.
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