My friend Thorunn took me to Hveragerði to spend a few days hosted by her family. Her hometown is in the south of Iceland, 45km east of Reykjavik. With an area of 9 square kilometers, Hveragerði is the third smallest municipality in Iceland by size. I hiked the surrounding mountains at the outskirts of the town to get a view of how small Hveragerði was with only 2000+ residents (year 2006).
Thorunn’s father offered me a short jeep ride towards Reykjadalur Valley. I was amazed when we had to ford a river, as if it was something very common. That was my first (but not the last) river crossing, in Iceland you really feel the importance of 4×4 jeeps!
Icelandic nature never stopped to amaze me, the beauty is not only at the major sights but actually exists everywhere. Simple, breath taking, beautiful scenery everywhere you are, everywhere you look. You can find your peace in Iceland.
The surrounding area is part of the Hengill central volcano, is geothermally active and experiences frequent (usually minor) earthquakes. The town is known for its greenhouses, which are heated by hot water from volcanic hot springs.
I was lucky to visit a lovely place that doesn’t exist anymore, named “Eden”. It was a roadside restaurant-greenhouse where you could have a meal or take your time exploring its sprawling greenhouse which featured all kinds of plant species, some of them foreign to Iceland. Sadly everything was completely destroyed by a fire on July 2011. There were plans to rebuild Eden, but a few years after the fire the area was developed into apartments.
Thorunn and her family were extremely hospitable and lovely people. They were so kind to me and it was an amazing experience to spend time with an Icelandic family. Nobody smoked, nobody drunk alcohol. In order to get by in Iceland both of the parents need to work. Thorunn has been working since 12 years old and her sister was working in the local “Bonus” supermarket. The winter is quite hard with the snow, the cold and the darkness. They were concerned about my upcoming trek and gave me many warm clothes. After the trek I re-visited them again and they drove me to many places showing me around. The last day before I finally leave their place they gave me an amazing present, a knitted woolen sweater, they have been knitting it during the time I was away in my trek! I still have it, its so warm you can wear it only during days of freezing cold. The day of my departure they drove me to the next town so I could catch a bus… big thank you to Thorunn and her family for their hospitality and help!
*All photos taken with a Canon Powershot S1 IS, 3.2 megapixels, my 1st digital camera.
Additional information
GPS coordinates for places in this post, click on them to be redirected to the exact point in google maps. Click on the names to be redirected to their official websites (if applicable).
Hveragerði : Google Maps location
Reykjadalur Valley : 64°01’59.3″N 21°12’57.7″W
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