text: West of Jokulsarlon by another hour and a half is the seaside town of Hofn, and a good place to bed down for the night. If you intend to splurge at any point on your travels, this is the place. Icelandic lobster -- langoustine -- is fresh off the boat here, as is trout and a number of seafish. A dinner for two at Hofn's Pakkus, a converted warehouse, will easily set you back $200CAN. But it is a welcome change from sandwiches and hotdogs. Here we experienced incredible winds throughout the night and into the morning. Unfortunately, our on board heater also ceased to function. The south is normally warmer and wetter than the north, but it can experience gale-force winds, although normally these do not occur until October. In spite of Go Iceland's efforts to help us, the heater was lost for the duration of the trip. I will say, however, that the company quickly agreed to a 15% discount on the rental, and that otherwise our little Renault was a trooper. The only night our sleeping bags were truly put to the test anyway was in Grimsstadir when temperatures plunged to -5 degrees Celsius. Thankfully, they did not skimp on sleeping bags. Sometimes you really can tell the difference quality makes.
  Because our vehicle came equipped with WiFi, I was able to do a little last minute digging around when we awakened to the same sustained winds we had experienced the night before. An Australian blogger clued me in to a "wild hot pot" no more than fifteen minutes from Hofn in a little place called Hoffel. Most people are aware of Iceland's geothermal baths. The Blue Lagoon and Jardbodin are two popular examples of these. But there are also wild hot pots speckled across the country, which are little frequented by tourists. Hoffel was one such place, and we were glad to come across it in a farmer's field, shielded from the wind by a cliff face. We were alone there, soaking in the outdoor tubs for almost an hour. A good way to start the day.
  Rejuvenated, by mid-morning we reached Djupivogur, a small picturesque town in the eastern fjords. Aside from its pretty harbour, offering boat trips to Papey Island, there is a wonderful property next to the ferry landing, where a former fisherman has opened a gallery featuring entire whale skeletons, rock sculptures and jewelry designed from reindeer antler and bone. The owner is a character, and his home is worth a stop, even if only to sneak a peak.
  From here you can follow the Ring Road farther east around Breithdalsvik, and then cut inland toward Egilsstadir. Or...you can take the more dramatic direct route over the mountains by way of a road that doesn't even appear on Google Maps. Honestly, I took this route by mistake. Now it's a story. The side road at the end of the fjord careens up from sea level to dizzying heights in only a few short kilometres. The road becomes gravel and drops off hundreds of feet without barriers. I drove white-knuckled the entire way. The views: incredible. The risk in a Renault Kangaroo: limitless. Would I do it again? No. But I'm glad I did it once and lived to tell the tale.
  Egilsstadir is a good service centre to refuel and restock your refrigerator, but it is the drive around Lake Logurinn that draws visitors. At its south end, there is a beautiful villa once owned by the Icelandic writer Gunnar Gunnarsson, and on the plain below it are the interesting ruins of a Catholic Cloister from the 15th century. From here you can also see the country's tallest peak, Snaefell. As you begin your drive up the west bank of Logurinn, you will also pass the multi-leveled Helgifoss as it spills through a split in the hillside. Egilsstadir is also a jumping off spot for the northern fjord towns like Seydisfjodur, perhaps even more charming than Djupivogur, with a small collection of artisan shops and restaurants around a placid bay.
  Once again, guidebooks will suggest that you bunk down here, but it would be much more worth your while to drive on to Grimsstadir. Again, while far to travel at the end of the day, it is essential to set you up nicely for Dettifoss and Lake Myvatn in the morning. And the scenery here in the evening with the sun slanting in over the hills is stunning. This high valley is a much gentler landscape than the heart-stopping hills of the fjords. It is green and lush and dappled with farms and sheep and horses, before rising to a plateau of lava fields and distant views of the Arctic Ocean.
  So. Day five. Incredible. Leave the campground at Grimsstadir early. The road to Dettifoss is bad. Really bad. Drive fast if you don't want the corduroy gravel to shake you senseless. It is also farther than you think. The falls is among the country's most spectacular. If you arrive before 10am, you can catch rainbows in the ample mist. Dettifoss is the third highest of the waterfalls in Iceland, and it also rivals Gullfoss in power and flow. The canyon into which it spills is simply awesome. And when you approach it from the east, you can practically sit next to it as it roars past.
  Not far away is Lake Myvatn which is just as packed with sites as the Golden Circle outside Reykjavik. Some of the most marvelous are the sulfurous mud pots of Namaskard. These bubbling vents do not erupt like the geysers, but they are hotter and are rumoured to be 1000m deep. You have to be careful here and stick to marked paths. The colours of the runoff are fantastic, but the smell...not so much.
  Just five minutes to the north are a series of volcanic craters. The Krafla eruption site of Viti is the most stunning with its blue waters and high red banks, but to the west there are further and larger sulfur blisters that still let off steam. Leave yourself enough time to hike a few kilometres here.