Askja - Viti crater

We went on a superjeep tour to Askja, an area in the highlands of Iceland which is difficult to reach by normal car or small jeep like we have, since you have to cross rivers and drive over stony roads. The shortest road to the area was closed the day before, due to fear of flooding if the volcano Bárðarbunga, that has had over 1 000 earthquakes under it over the last few days, should explode. Just after we came back, they closed the remaining road too, so we made it just in time. They are now evacuating all the people in the area, we came across some cyclists on the 100 km gravel road, they were probably picked up by someone. The Civil Protection authorities are being over cautious since the volcano has not erupted yet, the problem is once it starts, the melting ice from the glacier will move so fast and will wipe out everything in its path. We had a nice day anyway, walked across some snow, hard to believe it is summer, and if the volcano does erupt, the landscape we saw will change totally. The blip is of Viti crater, it is filled with warm water and people often bathe there, but it is not allowed at the moment due to recent landslides and the fact that the steep sides are very slippery. I am actually glad it is forbidden, I would have loved to do it, but there is no way I would have been able to get up again, even if I could slide all the way down!