Our 4th day in Iceland was our least busy day. But it was really nice to have it be more low key because the previous days had been go-go-go and it was nice to relax more. Plus it gave us more opportunity to explore on our own. We started off the day with breakfast at Fosshotel and it was the best breakfast of our entire lives haha. We still talk about how great it was and when we visit Iceland again, we'll definitely stay at as many Fosshotel's as possible simply because of the free breakfast.
Our initial plan was to head to two waterfalls, but when we were soaking in the hoffell hot pots the night before and chatting with those two tourists from Oregon, they told us about an amazing hot pot we had to check out. We didn't have exact directions, just a general area on the island. But it was on our way to the waterfalls so we decided to try and find it.
^ Wild reindeer we got see!
So we didn't end up finding the hot pot that they had talked about, but we found this amazing one instead! A little tip if you plan on exploring Iceland... You can see steam coming out of the ground all around. More often than not, if there's steam, then there is a hot pot near by. So we tried to keep our eyes out for areas where we could see steam. Also, if there is a car pulled over somewhere and it seems like the middle of nowhere, there's probably something cool to explore. There really aren't many people in Iceland so if you see a parked car somewhere, it's probably worth exploring. We had been seeing steam in different areas so we were keeping our eyes out and then we saw a car parked off the road and immediately drove to the parked car. Tucked away from the main highway we found this hot pot and a couple enjoying a soak! We were so excited. We chatted with them for a couple minutes, exchanged tips with them and then they left, leaving this all to ourselves.
From what they told us, this metal tub was used for making cheese? Tub full of cheese or a hot tub? Both sound good to me, but I'm glad we got to experience the hot tub. I wish pictures could show just how beautiful this location was. We could see the beach, the mountains and even a glacier!
The water in this hot pot was so clear and so hot, it was definitely one of our favorites from the entire trip. Also, shoutout to my sister-in-law Desi for the beanie she made me one Christmas. I learned from the night before when soaking in the Hoffell Hot Pots that having your hair up in a bun isn't good enough because parts of my hair somehow got wet and froze! haha.
^ The struggles of trying to get a picture together. So out of focus but I still love it!
I'm so obsessed with the pictures I took from just driving in the car. Every scene is incredible.
^ This was one of those moments where we saw a car pulled over so we pulled over and found this beautiful frozen waterfall.
^ The first waterfall we arrived at is Litlanesfoss.
Next we continued hiking to Hengifoss.
^Hengifoss 
Ultimately we decided to not hike all the way to Hengifoss because honestly it just looked really far away and we had already been hiking for awhile haha. Both of the waterfalls looked a lot lighter than I had seen in pictures and it was probably because parts of it were frozen. While they were really beautiful, we figured it wasn't worth hiking to be right next to it and we were happy with our view from far away.
We hiked back down the mountain and headed to our next airbnb. We checked in to Lyngas Guesthouse.
^ The only picture I got from this place. We stayed in a bunch of different "hotels" during our trip. From hotels that we booked on Expedia, to airbnb's to guesthouses, I have pros and cons for them all and I'll do a separate post about that. The guesthouse means you have your own room but share a common space, kitchen and bathroom with other people. No complaints about this place! We loved having our own kitchen so we could cook ramen noodles and not have to go out since food is so expensive there.
After resting for a bit we debated whether or not we should try to see the puffins. We visited Iceland during a time where it was basically too late to see the northern lights and too early to see puffins. Spoiler alert, we saw both!! I truly think we lucked out with the perfect week where they both overlapped and I'm so grateful. We were feeling so tired and weren't sure if we should drive to this area where we had heard the puffins like to go. We knew it was probably too early to see them. But when looking at the map, it didn't look very far away and we decided YOLO so we went for it.
I don't know why I didn't realize this but when looking at a map, if the road is super windy for a really short amount of time, that means you're going up and down a mountain. So this drive took a lot longer than we anticipated and parts of it were pretty sketchy at times.
We arrived at the puffin sanctuary and one other couple was there. They said they had been there for over an hour and there weren't any puffins. My heart crushed a little bit to hear this, but the views were so beautiful so we decided to just walk around and enjoy it!
The other couple left and after enjoying some time, we decided to head home. We turn around and then Kenneth yells, "THERE'S ONE!!" But yelling in a whisper because he didn't want to scare it haha.
We run over and low and behold, there it was. One cute little puffin.
It kind of sounds funny as I'm writing this that we were so excited to see a bird, but it just felt like Iceland had given us this extra little gift and it was so cool.
It only stayed out for about 5 minutes, but I truly felt like it came out just to see us before it disappeared back into a little hole in the grass/hay area of the cliff.
^ So sad to see, but there was a dead puffin that someone had placed at the base of a flagpole in the parking lot. It was cool to see it so close, but also really sad.
We decided to head back to our car and drive home. But we both felt so bad for the other couple that had been waiting around for over an hour to see puffins and we were only there for 10 minutes and got to see one. But when we got to our car, we found them sitting in their car so we excitedly told them where to look and they ran back. I really hope they got to see some!
We were the only people in this area but when we were leaving a local man drove up and asked us if we were staying to see the puffins. We told him how we saw one and he told us that closer to sunset they all come out. We decided to head home anyways because it started snowing and we didn't want to drive over the mountain in the dark and snow. But a useful tip for anyone else that is planning to see them!
The next pictures are from our drive home. This was my favorite drive from the trip. The views were just stunning and with the sun setting, it felt so magical.
^ An iPhone shot Kenneth snuck of me, taking a picture of the mountains above. One bonus to having the sun not fully set at night is that you can enjoy a really long sunset, my favorite time of day!
We arrived home and crashed. Iceland, I'm so grateful for you.
xo, Lo
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