Iceland 2.25: Landmannalauger 3

The drive back to Hrauneyjar from Landmannalaugar took us through the Fjallabak National Park, which is a truly astonishing volcanic landscape.  There are cones and lava fields everywhere, and looking down from the top of one of the hills gives some sense of the upheaval which the area has suffered in the recent past.  Possibly the most impressive sight was a "glacier" of lava which had flowed down a valley and into a lake.

I was delighted to see that Icelandic buses still seem to be sponsored by that well known maker of vegetable fat...

The weather cleared for a while, so we decided to go on a slight detour to see if we could find anything interesting.  This took us behind one of the larger volcanic cones and into an area which was used by the locals for grazing sheep.

It's the kind of place which attracts Testosterone Tourism too, and several large vehicles passed us while we were admiring the scenery.

The closer we got to Hrauneyjar the more the weather closed in, and by the time we reached the hotel it was pelting down.  This was a common sight on our previous trip to Iceland in 2013, but we'd got off remarkably lightly on this holiday.  Possibly something to do with the unseasonably cold summer?

Iceland 2.19: Krafla 2

The closer we got to the site of the Krafla Fires, the bleaker the landscape became.  As well as barren and broken rock as far as the eye could see, the whole area was steaming quietly to itself.  It was also very grey, and the only real colour was provided by green moss and the occasional pinky/orange rock which looked for all the world like buried house bricks.  Every photographer should have a spouse with a red jacket, and the first image demonstrates that I am no exception.

Every so often we found a solitary plant clinging to existence among the lava, but this was the exception rather than the rule.  In most areas it was moss or - usually - nothing.

The next few images include people, and hopefully give some idea as to the scale of the place.  Talk about post-apocalyptic...

The last few images are of some of the people we met while walking around the lava fields.  The lady with the camera is clearly not Russian - partly because she wasn't travelling as part of a herd, but mainly because she knows exactly how to use a lens hood.  As for the little boy with his hand over one of the many volcanic vents, his sense of wonder sums up everything I felt in visiting this place.  It was exactly how I imagined Iceland would be when I first saw news footage of Surtsey and Heimæy as a child back in the '60s and '70s.  Truly magical.