Námaskarð Pass | Myvatn, Iceland

Iceland is one of those countries that has an insane amount of natural beauty. One minute you're in an icy wonderland and the next in an interstellar landscape. One of these amazing sights is Námaskarð Pass, an area filled with geothermal activity. There wasn't anything else like Námaskarð on the rest of the trip and it truly was incredible. The area looks like a vast desert filled with bubbling mud pools. The smell of sulfur is quite intense and takes a moment to adjust. After a while, you forget about the smell because in that moment you're transported to somewhere otherworldly.

Noelle and The Rocks | Route 1, Iceland

On the way to Dettifoss, Markus and I crossed a small bridge and saw this incredible field of rocks and stones. We, of course, decided to pull over and snap a few pics. I like to think that if I were a famous singer, this entire set of photos would be the insert in my latest album. Maybe the title of the album would be "Rocky Road" and comprised entirely of acoustic covers of sad love songs. I've apparently had way too much time to think about this. A girl can dream!

Dettifoss Waterfall | Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland

While Markus and I were in Iceland, we saw our fair share of waterfalls. The island is covered in them and after a while, we were a little over waterfalls. Despite seeing almost every waterfall in Iceland, there were two that were incredibly beautiful and unique. The first was Svartifoss and the other is Dettifoss.

The trek to Dettifoss was a bit annoying because there were it was icy with heaps of puddles and tons of tourists At first, I was annoyed and wasn't in the mood to go through all that for another waterfall. At one point, it was like we were being shuffled along with a swarm of bodies. When the falls first came into view, I knew I recognized it from somewhere and then it clicked. It was the setting for the opening scene of Prometheus.  As you can see from the photos below it was totally worth it. Dettifoss is absolutely incredible. Honestly, one of the best waterfalls in Iceland and a must see! 

Hótel Hallormsstaður | Lake Lagarfljót, Iceland

I loved the Iceland self-drive tour I booked through Tour.is, it wasn't perfect, but nothing really ever is. The itinerary was on point and so were the separate tours I booked. The only thing that was iffy, were the accommodations. When you choose the guesthouse option, there's a 50/50 chance it will be good or bad. Half the time our accommodations were amazing and the other half they were quite grim. In the case of Hótel Hallormsstaður near Lake Lagarfljot, we really lucked out. We were originally booked for Guesthouse Grau hunduriin, which is managed by the hotel, but there weren't enough people checked in so they upgraded us to the hotel. Thank goodness, because the reviews for the guesthouse sounded like a nightmare. The hotel was perfect and it was so close to the lake. We spent a good portion of the following morning walking along the waters edge and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I do wish that we had more time there, but as usual we had to stay on course and the day was packed with driving and beautiful sights! 

The Hills Are Alive | Iceland

 Markus and I had been driving for a while on our third day and stopped for lunch only two hours before. I checked the itinerary and saw that we didn't have anywhere to be for a while. We saw a sign that pointed upward toward a mountain. Even though Markus and I rented a little car, we decided to take a chance and see what was up there. The mountain roads are very small and it's difficult for two cars to maneuver. As we were driving up, an SUV didn't move and pushed us to the side of the road. We ended up stuck in some gravel and couldn't get out. 

When all hope seemed lost, another car drove up behind us and a couple jumped out. They didn't really say much, just walked next to Mark and started to push our car. With their help, the little car made it back onto the road. We thanked them profusely and they got back in their car and left. We were tempted to turn back around, but decided to keep going. After the road debacle, we had to see what was at the top of this mountain. Thank goodness we stuck it out and kept going. At the end of the road, there was an incredibly beautiful valley and a shallow stream. We didn't see any other places like this the rest of our trip. It felt like we stepped out of Iceland and into the Swiss Alps, or something similar. It's amazing that at the end of a crappy situation we were rewarded with such a stunning place.