Fire and ice: Iceland road trip, day 3

Hraunhafnartangi, northernmost point of Iceland

This was a historic day for us. We came to Hraunhafnartangi, the northernmost point of mainland Iceland (there is an island further north) that is just 3 kilometers away from the Arctic circle. It is the closest we have ever been to the Arctic circle and the closest I hope to ever be. Ironically, it was another pleasant sunny day and the warmest we had while in Iceland. It didn't really feel like we were getting closer to the North Pole.

Raufarhöfn

Lighthouse in Raufarhöfn

We stopped at Raufarhöfn, a nearby village with a bright orange painted lighthouse. They are building the Arctic version of the Stonehenge which will eventually become a massive stone structure aligned just so to be able to catch the rays of the midnight sun.

Arctic Stonehenge

These northern parts of Iceland are quite deserted and we often found ourselves alone on the ring road in the middle of nowhere. The road once again left the coast and led inwards, towards the snow capped mountains.

Endless road

Our destinaton for spending the night was lake Mývatn, a popular tourist vacation spot around the picturesque lake full of volcanic islands.

Lake Mývatn

Our welcoming committee was a swarm of midges! We didn't expect to encounter midges in Iceland because there is so much wind. But these are a special kind of Arctic midge, big and fat and obviously adapted to the wind. They were all over us, in our eyes, ears, mouths. We had to pull our hoods over our heads and stay indoors as much as possible or walk very quickly to outrun them.

Big fat midges (you can see the black spots in the photo)

The area around lake Myvatn is obviously volcanic which we could tell while walking through lava fields.

Lava field

We finished our day by soaking in the Mývatn Nature Baths. The water source is very hot but the temperature tapers out as you wade further away so you can find a temperature that suits you. The water is full of minerals and has a slight sulfuric smell. These nature baths are the second largest in Iceland, not as popular as the Blue Lagoon (where we didn't go because we thought it would be too touristy) but still very pretty and enjoyable.

Mývatn Nature Baths