Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [104]
Gistiheimilið Brenna ( 487 5532; www.mmedia.is/toppbrenna; Þrúðvangur 37; sb/linen Ikr2300/3100) Down by the river north of Rte 1, this pink guest house has the most beautiful window boxes, and offers hostel-style accommodation. There are three family and three double rooms, plus a cute little kitchen and a guest sitting room. Walls are quite thin, so you’ll have to tiptoe on those laminated floors.
Fosshótel Mosfell ( 487 5828; bokun@fosshotel.is; Þrúðvangur 6; s/d with washbasin Ikr9500/11,500, with bathroom Ikr20,900/22,900; ) Facilities are limited, but the staff here are really charming! Most of the 53 rooms are en suite, with neat if unremarkable green decor; however, upstairs rooms are half-price because they’re tiny and bathroomless. The hotel has plenty of big communal spaces, plus there’s internet access in the lobby.
Hótel Rangá ( 487 5700; www.hotelranga.is; Suðurlandsvegur; d from €234; ) Midway between Hella and Hvolsvöllur, Rangá is a kind of luxurious ranch. It has cosy wood-panelled rooms (all with verandahs, bathtubs and the extras you’d expect from a top hotel), three outdoor hot pots and a superior restaurant. If you can afford it, go for one of the seven fantastically decorated ‘World Pavilion’ suites (€750). They’re so distinctive that it’s hard to choose a favourite, although Africa – with its ostrich-egg lightshades and grass roof – is pretty magical. Prices include breakfast.
The cheapest place to eat is the grill at the Olís petrol station. Alternatively, there’s Kanslarinn ( 487 5100; Dynskálum 10c; meals Ikr1200-3000) on the main road or the bar-restaurant Kristján X ( 487 5484; Þrúðvangur 34; meals Ikr800-2900). Both serve the usual burgers, fish, grills and pizzas.
There’s a Kjarval supermarket ( 585 7585; Suðurlandsvegur 1; 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 11am-9pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun).
Getting There & Away
Reykjavík Excursions (RE; 580 5400; www.re.is) and Trex ( 551 1166; www.bogf.is) both run numerous services between Reykjavík and Skaftafell, Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk, Vík and Höfn that stop at Hella (and also Hvolsvöllur, with the exception of the Landmannalaugar buses). The RE buses run from mid-June to mid-September only, but in winter a reduced schedule is operated by Trex. The fare from Reykjavík is Ikr2500.
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HEKLA
The name of Iceland’s most famous and active volcano means Hooded One, as its 1491m-high summit is almost always shrouded in ominous-looking cloud. Hekla has vented its fury numerous times throughout history, and was once believed to be the gateway to hell.
The volcano is due to blow its top again in around 2010. Several walking trails lead up to the summit, but many people are happy just to see Hekla at a distance.
History
Viking-era settlers built farms on the rich volcanic soils around Hekla, only to be wiped out by the eruption of 1104, which buried everything within a radius of 50km. Since then there have been 15 major eruptions – the 1300 eruption covered more than 83,000 sq km in ash.
By the 16th century, Europe had decided that Hekla was the entrance to hell. Contemporary literature reported that the black skies overhead were filled with vultures and ravens, and that you could hear the howling of the damned.
In 1947, after more than 100 years of inactivity, Hekla belched a mushroom cloud of ash more than 27km into the air. This was followed by another huge eruption in 1970. Since then Hekla has gone off at roughly 10-year intervals, with short but powerful outbursts in 1980, 1991 and 2000. The main danger comes from the ash, whose high fluorine content has poisoned thousands of sheep; although, unexpectedly, the 2000 eruption produced a small pyroclastic flow (a high-speed and highly destructive torrent of rock particles and gas, which typically