WE DRIVE TO THE NORTHEAST REGION the next morning, having a short detour from the Ring Road to the Dettifoss, one of Iceland’s most known falls. The sight is otherwordly – in fact, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus was shot here. Detifoss, while not tall (it’s just 45 meters high), is massive, with 400 cubic meters of water cascading from a 100-meter wide cliff. This makes it the falls with the largest volume of water in Europe.

Our main destination, though, is the Myvátn region, where the “Fire” part of “The Land of Fire and Ice” becomes more apparent. Myvátn is a lake in northeast Iceland, and the region surrounding it is geologically active, resulting in volcanic steam coming out of the ground, craters, and lava formations.

We stop at the Námaskard north of Lake Myvátn. The area contains boiling hot springs and fumaroles in a colorful landscape that seems more like Mars. While pretty, the place is also smelly (like a rotten egg) due to the presence of sulfur.

We arrive in the village of Reykjahlíð shortly before noon, checking in at our hotel. For lunch we head to Vogafjós Cowshed Cafe, a restaurant with a cow barn that allows diners to interact with the bovines and make you want to hesitate to order beef.

In the afternoon, some of the group go out to take a dip at the Myvátn Nature Baths, while the rest do groceries, explore the surrounding areas, and – uhm – use the empty roads to do a photo shoot.