Day 6: Cold Rain and Hothouses

It rained all night long as usual, and luckily, also as usual, it cleared up enough by morning for us to get out running.  Instead of following the road around the driving range we took the steep gravel road up the Reynisfjall mountain.  Since it was still drizzling I decided to leave my camera behind, essentially the only time during the trip I did not have my camera close at hand.  Wouldn't you know it, when we reached the top, we found puffins!  It was still early enough in the morning they were by their burrows on the cliff.  They are curious and don't mind visitors and let us get very close.  Seeing them within arm's distance (and not fighting!) was a very happy moment.  I just wish I was able to take some photos :o(

The view of Reynisfjall from the hostel parking lot.  You can see the winding gravel road to the top. They are puffins up there, I swear!

Breakfast at the hostel was not your typical continental breakfast.  We ate our weight in homemade breads, smoked trout, eggs from their free-range chickens, yogurt, and fresh waffles covered in local jams and exotic syrups.  After pasta and beans for the past several days we were hungry!

We said goodbye to the puffins and chickens and followed the Ring Road northwest, stopping to view some sights from the roadside. 

South Iceland has about 200 man-made caves located on 90 farms.  This one was probably used to store hay.  Another cave perpendicular to it (not visible from this angle) was used as a smithy.

Eventually we made our way to the town of Hveragerði.  This town is famous for being built on top of geothermal activity and for harnessing the subterranean heat for daily use.  Many greenhouses were built utilizing the heat to grow exotic produce such as tomatoes, and the town is considered the horticultural and gardening center of Iceland. 

While waiting for the rain to end we stocked up on some provisions at Bonus and meandered around the shopping center.  

I liked the climbing wall for the kiddos!

We took a little walking tour of Hveragerði.  Notice anything unusual?  Never mind the steam coming out of the drainage ditches, but see all the trees!  Since the townspeople love horticulture so much they actually made efforts to plant trees!  

Yup, just steam coming out of the ground...  Supposedly mud springs just pop up here and there.

The river Varmá runs through town--and it is actually a little warm!

One of the many geothermal hothouses.  Quite a few were missing glass panes, perhaps from the numerous earthquakes?

Lots of homes had their own little greenhouses.  This one doesn't look very successful.

Harnessing the geothermal energy

This restaurant specializes in "earth cooking", ie. using underground ovens!

We ended up camping at a site right on the edge of town.  It was a little awkward being right across from an elementary school and we could hear someone playing basketball all night.  After getting to bed around 11:30pm the sun was still lingering and this person was still shooting hoops.  It then suddenly began to hail and we figured they would finally stop.  Nope!  When the hail ceased the basketball playing started back up!  I suppose it is true that since the sun only comes out a couple hours in the winter, Icelanders like to make the most of the long summer days.

Our camp dinner.  Don't be fooled by the veggies; those were a special treat!