Mystical Myvatn3 min read time

One late afternoon on our Iceland road-trip, a white horse with a long mane dancing in the strong winds of Lake Myvatn (in the north) appeared from behind a large hill where we were pitching our tent for the night. This beautiful animal continued to saunter down the road, off into the clear golden sunset until I couldn’t see him anymore. Sauntered! No big deal, just a horse making his/her way through Iceland, thought it would see the rest of the country before settling down. Maybe he was making a break for it and was trying to play it cool so no one would notice. I thought I was seeing things. Was it a mirage? I’m pretty sure we hadn’t had anything to drink yet…though, my eyes could have been drunk on the beauty of this place, for such is Iceland.

Myvatn is an area that is surrounded by lakes and can be very windy. We staked our tent at the campsite pretty well but were a little concerned it wouldn’t be there when we got back because the wind was blowing so hard!

One of the main draws in this area is the Myvatn Nature Baths, the northern sister to the Blue Lagoon. It’s smaller and they don’t have that mud you can put on your face, but it’s still cool! It’s basically a large turquoise pool that stems from hot springs that have been diverted to this place. There’s an entrance fee, and you have to take a shower in the open before heading in, but if you’re shy there are stalls with small curtains in the women’s locker room. There are beer bracelets for purchase where you can order beer from the pool. Attendants wander around the area taking orders. How luxurious!

As you can see from the photos above, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets from this place while in Iceland, something amazing since most of the time here was grey and rainy. I couldn’t help myself and brought my camera out into the pool to snap a few pics! Even though the wind blew my bag into the pool at one point, the camera remained dry, so it was all good! 🙂

If you travel here and are camping, I would recommend this campsite we stayed at. It’s called Hlid, Lake Myvatn. It has beautiful views of the lake and a kitchen area with picnic tables where you can make dinner, play cards, and of course enjoy a nice cold drink!It was another cold cold night spent here in our tent. 40 degrees seems okay during the day but when you only have a thin layer of nylon separating you and your sleeping bag from the restless night winds, it chills to the bone. This was September! Anyway, overpack on the warm stuff except for the swim suit for the hot springs, of course 🙂

Cheers!

Molly