Day 10: Egilsstaðir – Vopnafjörður

Today’s route takes us from Egilsstaðir to Vopnafjörður.

Along the way, we make a quick detour to Rjúkandafoss, a waterfall that thunders down a drop of 139 meters.

Then, a stop at Stuðlagil Canyon with its magnificent basalt columns. It’s like a mass migration of people – our first encounter with mass tourism along the Ring Road. If there are this many people out and about in June, what will it be like in July or August? Wow...

Still, it’s worth it; the short path to the various viewing platforms is nicely laid out, and the rock formations are beautiful to look at.

The rest of the drive across the Fljótsdalshérað high plateau is incredibly beautiful, too.

A little south of Vopnafjörður (on Route 920, parallel to Route 85), there’s a nice campsite, but we decide to drive into the town itself first. We don't like the municipal campsite very much – the view of the fish processing plants isn't exactly scenic, and the little café in the cultural center is no longer there.

So, we just take a look at the exhibition on the history of emigration during the interwar period: between 15,000 and 25,000 people left Iceland back then – about a quarter of the population. Most traveled via the Faroe Islands and Scotland to Canada, where – if we understood correctly – they had been offered land.

We head back to our little campsite in the valley – a good choice. Erla is lovely and keeps everything in great shape. We have sunshine, the air is almost mild, and it’s reasonably easy to cook in the shelter of the wind. It looks like this trip is going to be all about stews :-)