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Iceland - As good as it gets!
I've been lucky visiting many countries with motorcyle both on and off road and often the last trip is the best. But 1 week in Iceland was all I hoped for and more, and blue sky and no wind surely isn't something you can take for granted but that's what we got all week :D But most surprising was the diversity, was expecting just moon like lava landscape, which you also get, but it's so much more.
Bikes were sent with container from Norway which was easy and not that expensive. Arrived on a Friday afternoon, went to pick up the bikes and had a nice evening out including a visit at Chuck Norris bar :D First day started with mostly tarmac but the roads are fun and scenery great so still enjoyable. Then it was more and more gravel and sand and we went as high as we could on the Hekla, Icelands most active vulcano. Pretty technichal but fun and cool continuing when those giant 4x4s give up! Then back down on some really ccol roads dwon to the Landmannalaugar area with hot springs. Pretty rough road there, which is good as there isn't that many "normal tourists" there, more back packers with tents types so looked more like a base camp rhan a tourist trap. First river crossing : https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...42773961_o.jpg Hekla: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...33320134_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...59653263_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...47242672_o.jpg Landmannalaugar: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...40985515_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...52126485_o.jpg Down from Hekla, it's steeper than it looks: |
Day 2 was Hwy 26 through Higland to Myvatn. Mostly gravel, wide-ish road were cars can meet but still bumpy an rocky and a few river crossings so wouldn't try this on a road bike. Believe europes biggest desert so lots of stones and sand but cool and most of the time you can see one or more glaciers. And a few water falls at the end of the day.
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Day 3 we took it easy, just drove around to all the attractions in the area. Myvatn is a fantastic area with vulcanos, hot springs and of course the lake itself (vatn=lake) but mor toursists than in Highland (were there is almost none).
Myvatn: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...24410788_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...10967108_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...74192053_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...03942671_o.jpg Nice swim in hot springs, Myvatn in the background: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...52729188_o.jpg |
Day 4 we went to Akureyri but did a big detour first going to Dettifoss, then North to the coast and followed the coast to Husavik were we had a Nice lunch before back on gravel.
Dettifoss: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...60907504_o.jpg Ásbyrgi: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...54188520_o.jpg Near Husavik: https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...14330540_o.jpg |
Day 5 we went south and found one of the best roads ever ridden, crossing small river, twisty and fantastic scenery. The when finally was in Highland the road opened up and we all felt like Dakar racers (though, Coma wouldn't be to impressed I guess). Then we got to a small Natural hot spring where we took a bath, cooked some food before we all fell asleep ij the sun. Coul it be more perfect?
Bjt then we ran out of luck when got to a river much larger than those we had crossed before. Some wanted to turn around but then we would end up where we started the day so I took a chance and fortunately got across :D https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...19853809_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...93038474_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...14065899_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...46115337_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...03923179_o.jpg https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...97494092_o.jpg |
Day 6 it was back into Highland and more river crossings. The very last one was wider and tougher than all the other ones and finally I ran out of look for real, hiy a stone or somthing, lost my Balance and didn't manage to save the bike. But drained the exhaust , removed the tank, airfilter and plugs, ran the start motor till no more water came out, reassembled and its started :-) Fortunetaly no water in the oil so could continue as planned :D
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Day 7 and last day on bike. We just followed Hwy 35 from Higland which is surfaced when gettingdown from the Mountains and then shortest route back to Reykjavik. Which is not bad as the roads are nice and plenty to see. We passed Gullfoss, Geysir and Pingvellir but I didn't stop as I planned to og back there 2 days later as my wife arrived the same evening. These areas are VERY touristy but hard not to be facinated by those geysirs and Gullfoss is truly beautiful. So thes pics are taken 2 days later :D
https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...62&oe=583E9CF9 https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...bf&oe=5837C90A |
But to me Iceland is the Highland with bad (=good!) roads far from civilisation and tourists. Big question is, will I og back? Lots of places haven't seen, like the entire eastern part. But afraid will be dissapointed if trying to repeat the success .
Anyway, highly recommend Iceland. Prices are similar to Norway which is not good news as Norway is very expensive, sorry :( But it's worth it! We had 2 KTM 950SEs, 2 Yamaha 660s, one KTM690 and one CCM 450 which all worked very well. Some of the roads would be a challenge for me with a bigger bike like GS1200 and KTM 1190/1290 but more talented riders might manage. Gas is a challenge, me and the 690 had bigger tanks and about 500km tank range. the others had like 350km which was enough..but only just. The bikes manged the beating but the luggage struggled, racks broke and screws loosened and disappeared. I had Heidenau K60 Scout rear and Pirelli Scorpion Rally front which worked great. https://scontent.fsvg1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...28832429_o.jpg |
Great series of photo's. Hoping to get to Iceland one day in the not to distant future.
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Here's a compiled video from the trip |
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