34 days in Iceland: Day 20 (16 July): On the Road Day (Snaefellsnes)

Getting up sharply at 6 a.m., I took care of my daily business and packed some sandwiches for the bus trip to Snaefellsnes. I arrived at the BSI Bus Station well before the departure time of the bus, even before the Trex ticket office was open. When it was open, I went to ask about where should I leave Bus 350 (Reykjavik-Hellissandur) in order to catch Bus 356 for the circle trip around Snaefellsjökull (1446 m). Surprisingly, the answer was that I didn't have to change the bus at all. Bus 350 would continue as Bus 356 around to Snaefellsnes National Park and around Snaefellsjökull. This seemed to be a funny system which was practical for me!

Before the bus left at 8 a.m., I went to the ladies and noticed a huge bottle (gallon) of hand liquid soap. Its size appeared ridiculous compared to the size of the basin. Someone who was responsible for the toilet must be too lazy to refill the soap. Well... this was a bad solution (just a bit funny).

The scenery of the route to the West was quite nice.

The first brief stop (20 minutes) was in Hellissandur at the Fisherman Museum. The museum compound consisted of the old turf houses of early fishermen and rowboats from c1826.

There was a lovely statue in the museum's area.

From Hellissandur, the bus returned to Olafsvik from which the unpaved road leading to Snaefellsjökull started. The large bus brought 5 passengers including me along the curvy and steep loose gravel road. This head-shaking ride took around 45 minutes.

Snow and ice were everywhere along the road, especially when we came closer to the glacier.

With no stop at the glacier, we headed to Atnarstapi. From Atnarstapi, I had an easy but stunning walk on the Ströndin trail which continued to Hellnar, the next place the bus would stop. However, I didn't walk from here to Hellnar. Along the trial, there were plenty of beautiful cliffs with incredible birdlife.

The steep Mount Stapafell (432 m)...

Deep holes to the ground, which looked similar to man-made wells, were filled with a lot of birds.

A walk along this path also gave me panoramic view of Breidavik ocean.

The cliffs were never quiet as numerous birds were around.

Natural rock formations of bays, cliffs and little island sculpted by the surf were incredibly artistic.

I walked until I saw the rough rock monument of Bardar Snaefellsas, the mighty man of the mountain and guardian spirit to Snaefelljökull, by Ragnar Kjartansson. He was believed to be born to a giant and a human mother. Bardar Snaefellsas Saga is one of the lesser-known tales outside Iceland.

After the monument, I turned my back and walked towards the direction from where I was. I noticed a lot of tourists at one point by the coast. So, I followed the crowd and found the cliff with a hole in it which is called Gatklettur (hole-cliff). This cliff showed the incredibility of how distinctive wave action could erode the rocks into swirled patterns and arches.

Then, I walked the same route back to the bus. Today was a clear and warm day. When I arrived at the parking where the bus dropped the passengers, the bus wasn't there. Then, I remembered that the bus driver said that he would moved the bus a bit up from where he let us out. He actually moved the bus pretty far away. It was nearly 1.15 p.m. when the bus was supposed to leave for Hellnar. So, I needed to run for a while as I didn't want to miss the bus. While walking (and running) in search for the bus, it seemed that the story of my golden circle trip was unfortunately flowing in my head again. Anyway, at Snjofell, a restaurant in a red, twin-gabled, turf-roofed house, I was happy to see the bus in which the driver was sitting in a relaxing manner and said "we aren't in a hurry, we have plenty of time." As I was sweating heavily, I felt I needed a cold refreshment from the restaurant. The apple juice (300 ISK) really cooled me down before the bus departed at 1.45 p.m.

Having arrived at Hellnar around 2 p.m., we had 45 minute at this spot. From the parking I walked down towards the stony beach beneath the Grouholl hill. Valasnös, a freestanding rock, extends east of the bay.

Rock formations were again truly impressive. Nature has wonderful power to create pure beauty humans can appreciate. The photo below is Badstofa, one of the most peculiar grottos in Iceland.

Stones on the beach were of various sizes and gray colors. When I was walking on the beach, the sound of my feet interacting with stone somehow created a meditative moment to me.

The old pier at Hellnar which was damaged in stormy wether in 1970s.

The bus then brought us to Djupalonssandur where we spent 45 minutes. The pebble beach Djupalon (deep pools) had unusual lava rock formations. Its shoreline has eroded into various shallow ponds.

On 13 March 1948, the British trawler Epine GY-7 ran aground east of Dritvikurflogur. Its iron wreckage on the beach has been preserved until today. Iceland seems to be fond of keeping the wrecks of boats that sank or ran aground at the original locations and used them as tourist attractions, very smart tourist idea! Visitors are thus asked not to move the wreckage.

The rocks that local fishermen lifted to determine their level of strength: Fullsterkur (fully-strong: 145 kg), Halfsterkur (half-strong: 100 kg), Halfdraettingur (half as good: 54 kg), and Amlodi (weak: 23 kg).

A view of Snaefellsjökull...

Sudarbardi, the cave in the in the photos below, was a means of entertainment made by the early fisherman.

The pillared complex of lava rock is called Tröllakirkja (troll's church).

Then, I walked back to the parking lots. The view from the parking was still nice...

This was my bus for the trip today.

The same bus brought me to Grundafjördur, arriving almost 5 p.m. From the bus station, which was at a gas station as usual, I walked to the Grundafjördur Youth Hostel on Hildarvegur 15. The boy who took care of the hostel during this summer is a Finn. Without he telling me that he is Finnish, I could guess it from his Halti jacket. I got a bed in a dorm room of 6 beds (2200 ISK).

Having left my stuffs in my room, I started my search for dinner. As I was super starving and tired, dining at a restaurant was decided to be the right choice for me. I chose to go to Krafkan, a family run restaurant on Saebol. After walking back and forth on this street for a few round, I gave up the idea and thought that perhaps this restaurant was no longer existed. On this street, I saw a tree which had only the trunk part in a house's yard. It looked funny and seemed as though it was non-living.

Then, I continued to Hotel Framnes on Nesvegur 6 with the need for good food. Unfortunately, the restaurant was not yet open and would open at 7 p.m. It was 6.30 p.m. but I just couldn't wait anymore. The hotel manager suggested me to go to Kraffi 59 on Grundargata 59, a place that my bus passed by before approaching the town center. It was too far for a starving me. I also knew from this woman that Krafkan was closed for renovation this summer. So, the best choice for me was to go buy food at the supermarket at the gas station and cook it at the hostel. I bought a big pack of salmon and salad that should be enough for 2 meals and spent only around 1000 ISK. This was surely much cheaper than a meal in a restaurant. I didn't intend to save money today but my unfortunate destiny forced me to do it.

The hostel was surprisingly filled with French people traveling in big groups. After the dinner, I went to the swimming pool of the village which was located just behind the youth hostel. The long dip in one of the hot pots together with the view of the mountain truly refreshed me.

I then went back to the hostel, wait until my hair was dry and left the hostel again for a walk. On the same street as the youth hostel, I noticed a dog funnily posed on the fence of his house. He looked so bored... Every time the dog turned his full face to me and saw that I tried to get the shot of his full face, he turned the side of his face to me as if suggesting that the side posture was nicer that the front one. Well, I had no other choice; I had to believe the dog!