Icelandic Seaside | Akureyri, Iceland

On the sixth day of our road trip, Markus and I were driving toward Akureyri, the whale watching capital of the world. We were both very excited because the next day we would be going on a whale watching tour. I read somewhere that there was a cool maritime museum on the way to the town. Unfortunately, my information was incorrect and it was just a small tourist shop, but the area nearby was beautiful. We decided to climb the rocks and explore for a bit before we moved on to Akureyri for our whale watching tour! 

Abandoned Houses of Iceland #1 | Route 1, Iceland

As we were driving on Route 1 through Iceland, we noticed that there were heaps of abandoned farms and houses. We would've loved to stop at every single one, but we were already stopping too much. I heard that there are close to 550 abandoned homes throughout the country. A majority of Iceland's population is located in Reykjavik, thus causing these rural areas to lose most of it's inhabitants. 

This house was the first one we decided to photograph. We debated for a bit whether or not we would go inside and decided, to pass. There is definitely a quiet beauty about this place and I didn't want to disturb it by trespassing. I can't help but wonder a bit about the people that left this place behind. What caused them to pack everything and move on. I love that these houses haven't been torn down and instead are left as reminders of the past. 

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!