Day 9: Fáskrúðsfjörður to Hnapavellir
The south of Iceland is quite popular due to its proximity to Reykjavík. There are also several sights all within a short distance:
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Skaftafell National Park
Reynishverfi Beach
Sólheimasandur Plane Crash
Skógafoss
Seljalandsfoss
One of our favourites was the glacier lagoon because of the massive icebergs that wash up on the black sand beach. It is possible to walk right up next to one but you have to watch out for waves rushing in that sweep you away! The Reynishverfi beach is also quite impressive. There are huge basalt columns coming out of the ground on one side of the beach and the famous Dyrhólaey Arch is on the other end.
Most of the sites are easily reached from the ring road. However, the Sólheimasandur plane crash site is another story. In 1973 a United States Navy plane crashed on Sólheimasandur's black sand beach. Luckily everyone survived and the plane was just left on the isolated beach. It used to be possible to drive to the plane crash but very recently the owners of the land have closed the path for vehicles. We thought it couldn't possibly be that long of a walk but we were wrong. It is a very cool sight (after all how many plane crash remnants exist in the world?) but you have to be committed to a forty-five minute walk through a barren desert of black sand to get there. And don't forget, you have to walk back.
