Another sunset in Iceland

Kayaking on the Laxa

Woke up in the sun, and shortly after a large coach arrived in our volcano crater and cracked out their breakfast. Provided us with some amusement as we ate ours, and Tom took quite a fancy to one of the ladies in the party. Eventually get our gear packed up and head off west in search of more white water.

Stop off at boiling mud pits near Reykjahlíð and had a quick wander about looking at small pits in the ground full of glooping mud. Rather a lot of people here and we hasten back to the Landrover to find a German tourist taking photos of it. We rush up and offer to pose on the bonnet, but he looks a bit sheepish, and makes a quick retreat.

That is enough of other people for one day, and we skirt to the south of Mývatn and take a look at the Laxá. A common name for rivers in Iceland (translates as river containing Salmon, as far as we can tell). This one is rather small and flows out of Mývatn, and there are plently of hydro stations about, so we are not optimistic about finding anything suitable for a paddle.

Whilst scouting about for the river, we find a garage door built into the hillside. Looks like something out of a James Bond set and inside there are lots of sodium lamps, and valves and the like. We find a section of the Laxá that is much more like a Welsh stream than the rivers we have become used to paddling, but we get in an give it a go.

There are some tricky falls, especially at the end of the section, and Andy and I both make a bit of a hash of it, Andy removing some skin from his knuckles in the process. Not a section of river I will rush back and do again.

Now camped in the Laxá valley waiting for my tea.