We had breakfast at the hotel (was good) and then slowly prepared for the day. We worked on paperwork a bit and just took our time. We left our hotel in Rekjahlid on Lake Myvatn around noon to head up to Krafla. We stopped at the supermarket and purchased chocolate and excellent rolls for lunch.
We drove the 8km to Krafla and stopped at the visitors center at the Krafla geothermal power plant. A nice young man took us up multiple sets of stairs to the observation deck overlooking the two 30MW Mitsubishi turbines. The plant is running at full capacity and has enough excess steam to double capacity. The steam comes from 34 boreholes, not all of which are active. We learned in the video that during construction of this plant there was an eruption (starting 1975) that lasted about 10 years. One of the bore holes actually spewed molton lava. The construction continued and the plant was finished in 1977 and began generating in 1978 when they overcame all the technical difficulties. It was curious to see lava in the fields around the plant and where the pipes to the plant were laid.
We then began up the hill to visit Viti, a geothermal lake. We took at least 3-4 tries to get up this hill but the rocks and soil were very soft so our Corolla could not make it. They had put gravel on top gravel on top of the road but had not yet rolled it. Many smaller cars failed but others did not, not sure why!! We ended up parking at the bottom of the hill and walking up to Viti the last 2 kilometers. Viti means explosive cauldera. It was a beautiful sunny breezy summer day and we were not bothered by the midges.
We sat along Lake Viti and ate our rolls and cheese. The breeze was pleasantly cool and the view was nice. After awhile several busloads of folks came to see the lake. We headed back down around 3PM.
The famous hill we could not climb in our Corolla.
We next headed back to town and turned south to go to Dimmubogir. This is an old volcanic lake (flowed 2000 years ago) that slowly drained leaving behind the pillars that held up its roof and the roof pieces. The pillars were from a previous volcanic origin. This was a breathtaking place with lovely shapes.
View of Lake Myvatn from Dimmubogir.
View of Hverfell from Dimmubogir.
Kirkja, the church is a lava form that looks like an old gothic church. It was very dramatic.
This was a beautiful lush field, with birth trees and ground cover. It took nature 2000 years to achieve this perfect garden.
A view of Rekjahlid on Lake Myvatn from Dimmubogir. It was a beautiful day.
After we finished at Dimmubogir we drove a ways down the lake to see birds. We were a bit tired and decided to return to the hotel for dinner. We ate at the small cafe next to the hotel since the meals at the hotel were full and fixed price. After dinner we did paperwork, writing all our postcards and catching up in our journal! Hurray!!