The Vatnajökull region

Maybe I was just damn lucky, or I was being unnecessarily paranoid. I don't know, I still can't really judge the situation properly. In fact, I've been cursing my naivety for quite a while today and in between I was really afraid of ending up with a flat tyre or any other damage which would prevent me from driving home eventually.

I was on my way back from my 2-day-vacation when I was passing a road sign indicating the way to this outlet glacier, Fláajökull, of which it's said in the tourist guide that it was 'easily accessible' and an area which 'offer[ed] spectacular views of the ever-receding glacier [...] leaving a glacier lagoon in its wake'. Further down it said 'The area can be described as a hikers' paradise as it has several good hiking trails and offers a rich variety of birdlife'. Well... considering the costs and benefits it was definitely not worth it... or at least I neither found these good trails nor did I see any birds worth mentioning. 

At first sight, the gravel road really didn't look that bad so I felt quite comfortable in the beginning. Very soon, however, the road turned bumpier with huge potholes and sharp stones in between. I swear, this road was just as bad as the ones in Kenya (for all of you who have got an idea of what that means). Not daring to drive any faster than 10 km/h, it took me more than an hour to arrive at the 'parking lot'. Hiking the trail was ok, but the scenery didn't flash me at all. It was rather monotonous, harsh and rugged, and the glacier was dirty and thoroughly unimpressive. Judge for yourself! 

My second stop on the way back was Vatnajökull National Park whose views and scenery actually made up for the previous frustration. When I parked the car at Skaftafell, I was highly sceptical because the place was packed. There were so many people that you had the feeling of participating in kind of a pilgrimage. Anyway, as soon as I reached the plateau, people went off in different directions and in the end, I was more or less on my own. I truly recommend going there, should you ever travel to Iceland. Although very touristic, it is definitely a must see!

That was all in all a thoroughly great 2-day-vacation. Tomorrow I'll be shoveling shit and milking cows again ;-)