Day 16
Tuesday 16th July – 123 Km (by coach!)
I’m up at 8:00; I make breakfast and then put the tent
away hoping to catch the tour bus at 10:00. My leg is sore and stiff and I want
to give it a good rest.
It’s cold and windy, with low grey cloud obscuring Askja.
Too stay warm I walk halfway up Drekagil which is a narrow, twisting canyon with
a stream running through it and a loose, steep path winding alongside. I get
about halfway up then decide it’s time to go back.
The coach seems to be late so I check with the warden who
tells me I’ve got the times wrong. It will be here at 12:00, so I’ve another
2 hours to kill. I chat for a while to the warden and her friends, she also
enjoys cycling but prefers to do it in Spain rather than Iceland!
Eventually the coach arrives and I jump on. The narrow
track winds uphill for 8Km through piles of fantastically twisted black lava. At
the parking area we follow the guide for a kilometre over cinders, snow and
finally dense, chocolate-pudding like mud to reach the crater Viti.
The water is milky turquoise and steams slightly, most of
the crater wall is steep and banded with colours but in one place the angle is
shallower and people slide down the steep muddy path to the water. No one goes
swimming today though.
I follow the lip of the crater and then limp down another
muddy slope to the main lake, Oskjuvatn. It’s still very cloudy and I can
barely make out the shape of the lake through the mist. I take some photographs
anyway and am about to rejoin the others when the cloud lifts and I can see the
entire lake, a beautiful steely blue reflecting the rock and snow around it. I
take another set of photos then rejoin the rest of the group as we trek back to
the bus and are driven down to Drekigil.
After the entire group walks up to the waterfall at the
head of the canyon I load my bike and kit onto the bus and we set off, first
down to the junction I reached yesterday and then onto F88 to Myvatn.
The road looks like it would be an easy, if long ride.
Mostly flat with a good surface, the driver has fun with some of the tight turns
through the lava fields though.
We stop for 15 minutes at Herdubreidarlindir, an oasis in
the desert caused by springs flowing from beneath the lava fields. This is an
absolutely beautiful spot, a short distance from Herdubreid, green grass,
flowers and low shrubs with mountains visible across the plain through the clean
air. I run out of film and the rest of my stock is in the hold of the bus!
Another group of German cyclists get onto the bus here,
they have thigh length fishing waders strapped to their panniers, and I’d
thought I was worried about crossing rivers!
As the road twists through the Odadahraun lava field the
guide amuses us by telling us her litle sons favourite story “Bukolla the
Magic Cow”.
The coach plunges into the ford across the Lindaa, which
looks both wider and deeper than the rivers I crossed the other day.
We approach Myvatn and the town Reykjahlid by driving
through some steaming geothermal areas. I unload my bike, talk to the Germans
from the bus for a bit and then trundle off to the Elda campsite next to the
lakeside.
As I’m starting to put my tent up a Dutch guy called Roof
comes over and asks if I want some food! He explains that he also rides a bike
and knows how hungry it makes you. I shamefacedly explain about the bus but the
offer stands, so I eat bratwurst and fried potatoes whilst talking to Roof and
his wife. They’re touring around by car, nice people. Thanks to both of you!
I finish putting the tent up and then queue for a shower.
This is a largish campsite and the shower block is far too small. There is
nothing wrong with the temperature of the water though: Note – when Icelandic
taps are marked “Careful – Hot Water” they mean it!
Clean shaven, washed and smelling slightly of sulphur I go
to the nearby supermarket to buy some Ibuprofen only to find that Icelandic
supermarkets do not sell any drugs. The supermarket itself is fairly small and
for some reason only sells milk (nymjolk) in 2 litre cartons.
At the campsite office I ask where the nearest pharmacy is only to be told it’s in Husavik, 53Km away, however there is a health centre in the village and I may be able to get some drugs from the nurse there tomorrow.