Day 9. Möðrudalur - Akureyri

7:30 am again, or still raining. Well, I won't let the weather discourage me.

Petrus, I will show you, just......okay, in an hour. After going to the shower, drying off was unnecessary, so I had breakfast first.

I went shopping yesterday. So the day started with bread, ham and cheese, small tomatoes and yogurt. Meanwhile, the rain had stopped. The opportunity to pack up the tent and put everything on the bike.

As I set off, the nasty drizzle returned. The advantage of the strong wind is that the jacket and pants only get damp. The water is blown away immediately. I continue driving on the Ring Road towards the west. Occasionally, the sky in the distance gets a little brighter, then gets dark again. Eventually, a side road, 862, branches off to the right. This is the road to Dettifoss. Originally, I planned not to visit such attractions during peak hours. From various travel reports I knew how crowded it would be.

But now that I'm here, my hope was that, due to the weather, it wouldn't be so crowded. After 24 kilometers, I rolled into the crowded parking lot. So much for that. Unfortunately, I packed my hiking boots so well that I would have had to unload half of my things. Well, then in motorcycle boots, it won't be a mountain hike. I wasn't the only one dressed inappropriately for the occasion.

From the parking lot, it's 600 meters to the viewpoint. Many of those coming towards me were dressed in full-body rain suits, others were wearing soaked jogging pants and soggy sneakers. Most of them didn't stay long at the viewpoint. The rain on the way here was a joke compared to the water stirred up there. Now my motorcycle jacket and pants could show what they can do. Test passed, everything is waterproof. Taking photos was more difficult. Why did I leave my action cam with the waterproof case on the motorcycle? So after every photo, I had to wipe the lens, but drops can still be seen on some of the pictures.

In the distance, you can still see another waterfall, Selfoss. Unfortunately, the weather is too bad to hike further.

On the way back to the parking lot, the drizzle felt like refreshing moisture. Now completely wet, I continue towards Akuryri. After more kilometers on the Ring Road, I reach Námafjall.

Here, the ground is smoking and bubbling. It's dry here too, in sunlight it must be a magnificent display of colors. The prevailing light only hints at it. The earth's crust is so thin in some places that there is a risk of collapsing. These areas are accordingly fenced off. Whatever comes out here, be it water, steam or mud, is up to 100 degrees hot. It smells strongly of sulfur here. A good opportunity to release the occasional fart unnoticed.

Even in this region, it looks like a moonscape. I can only agree with all the conspiracy theorists. The Americans got lost with their Apollo and landed in Iceland.

The road now descends from the mountains to the shore of Eyjafjörður and along it to Akureyri. Along the way, I keep encountering real male toys.

By now it is 7:00 PM. I find a campsite north of Akureyri, set up my tent, and cook a 5-minute noodle. Here, there is a shelter with a table and chairs, and plenty of power outlets to charge various devices. Here I sit now, writing this text with a cigarillo and a glass of whiskey. Due to the abundance of grass and bushes, there is plenty of flying insects. Apparently, it's not cold enough for them. It is for me, it's 7 degrees Celsius.....but at least it's dry.