[This post is part of a series documenting my last trip to Iceland in October 2017. The previous post is here and the next post is here.]

I knew this was going to be a long day of driving and it was. It was also a day of snow, rain, mist, fog, night driving, and very hilly dirt roads as I made my way from the north, through the east, to my next lodging at Fosshotel Vatnajökull. Despite the length of the drive, I still made two side excursions — one to Dimmuborgir near Lake Myvatn in the north and the other to Tvísöngur to the east of Egilsstaðir.

Dimmuborgir is a lava field next to Lake Myvatn that’s covered with large lava pillars and other formations. There are a variety of paths through the field that give you good views and a sense of the variety of the formations here. There are also good educational signs to explain how these features are thought to have formed — definitely of interest to the geologically-minded. I thought it was nice, but I’m surprised the Wikipedia article claims it is one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions.

Continuing on, more of the kinds of vistas that keep bringing me back to Iceland.

Eventually, I reached Egilsstaðir, which I think is the biggest town in the east, where I was able to refuel and then start my second diversion to Tvísöngur, a sound sculpture on the slope above the fjord and town of Seyðisfjörður. Fun fact: I just realized that Seyðisfjörður  was the setting for the awesome Icelandic TV series Trapped.

I actually had a second reason for visiting Sejðisfjörður — Skaftfell Bistro, which is listed in Happy Cow as having vegan options. Much to my disappointment — I was very, very hungry — the bistro was closed for maintenance on the day I passed through. 😦

Tvísöngur, which for the musically-inclined means twin-singing, is shown below. For scale, the largest dome is about four meters high.

Having no idea how to really “use” the sculpture and having absolutely zero musical ability (actually, can you have negative musical ability?), I tried making some noises with my throat while standing under each of the five domes. For someone who knows what they are doing, I’ll bet this can sound awesome, so go check it out. Anyway, with all fair warning here is what I sounded like — my apologies to the town of Seyðisfjöður!

Some nice ice on the path from the parking lot to the sculpture.

And an absolutely stunning little waterfall with an unusual outcropping of red stone nicely framed by moss just off the path. I’ll leave it to you to find this small gem — it is hidden in plain sight.

As I headed back to the Ring Road, the light was beginning to fade and as I made my way onto the dirt section of the road while heading down towards the coast, the mists and rain closed in. It was long past dark by the time I arrived at the Fosshotel Vatnajökull — here are a few shots taken along the way.

Fosshotel Vatnajökull was weird. I’ve stayed there twice before and enjoyed it, but this time I wasn’t so happy. The staff is nice and they are able to make some kind of a vegan option for dinner if you ask and you can get by at breakfast as well, but I had issues with the room and the noise.

The room was designed differently than the ones I’d stayed in before. It had a kind of deconstructed bathroom in which the main room and the shower area were combined in a weird way, which I was mostly okay with, but it also included a section of the floor with radiant heating. The room was too warm for sleeping even with the radiator turned down and I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the floor heat. My only recourse was to open the window, which didn’t work because there was a party going on in a room beneath me and they had their window open as well. Not being able to sleep, I finally called the front desk like a crabby old man and asked them to at least ask the partygoers to close their window, which they did. The staff also explained how to turn off the floor, but I don’t remember the trick — I do remember that it was not obvious.

Dinner at the hotel and breakfast as well before continuing along the south coast the next day.

Proceed to Day 6.