The ride to Fljótsdalur was one of the longest of our tour. We headed off early and made good progress, turning left after about 20 miles onto Iceland's ring road (route 1).

By lunch we had arrived at the small town of Hvolsvollur, where we stopped for sandwiches and cake from one of the service stations there. Following lunch and a provisions stop at the local co-op, we turned off the ring road and headed east again towards Porsmork. After 10 miles of pedalling the road changed from tarmac to ash. Cycling is much harder work on unmade roads, making the final 10 miles to Fljótsdalur hostel seem more like 40!

There are superb views of the north side of Eyjafjallajokull glacier approaching Fljótsdalur, which is camouflaged against the grassy hills by its turf roof. Fljótsdalur is a small, basic hostel run by an English guy. With its turf roof and rickety wooden walls its certainly one of the more unusual hostels I've stayed in but is very cosy and definitely one I'd recommend.