We are between the sea and a super volcano – the Katla . Should this active volcano ever erupt, the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, which in 2010 caused the northern domestic sphere to stand still due to its columns of smoke, would be a children’s birthday party. Good to know that this outbreak is long overdue.

More curious than wise, of course, we have to look at this chunk up close and in the travel guide we find the directions to a campsite that is supposed to be here in the middle of the wasteland. But we can’t find a way. In the end, a little inconspicuous reveals a slope in the ashes.

We have full confidence in our Duster (attention: a lot of product placement follows here) and steer the car straight into the ashes.

On the way we come across the settlement of former miners. This settlement has long been abandoned, but the weather preserves the wood well. The sight of the dried up skeletons of the huts fits into the picture of the desolate surroundings. Desolate – but epic.

The vastness and the brutal, pure nature leave a deep impression on us and make the blood pressure rise. We feel like we are trapped in a film, because such images are only known from television. At the same time we feel transported back to the Ice Age and like the explorers from Jules Verne’s adventure “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. We are convinced that, like the heroes of the novel, the earth suddenly opens at our feet here in Iceland and gives way to the hearth of the world.

Wir haben schon nicht mehr daran geglaubt, aber letztendlich finden wir wirklich den Campingplatz von Þakgil am Ende der Piste, nachdem wir zahlreiche Höhen, Täler und Flüsse überqueren mussten.

Still, as expected, everything is dead here. The place is probably only open in “summer”, which means, only in the months of July and August. We make our way back and look over our shoulders to see if the opening to the mouth of the earth is waiting for us here.