Unfortunately I forgot to take a good photo of the the hostel from the ourside so I stole this one from their Facebook page

There are several reasons why I chose Vík hostel as our first stop. First, the drive from Reykjavík to Vík is a really comfortable distance for a day of travel as even though it’s not far away from Reykjavík there is so much to see and do on the way. Second, I love hostels because of their social elements and self catering facilities and I always try to stay in them for at least portion of my trips when I travel. Last but not least I happen to know the owner Æsa a little and I know how welcoming and accommodating she and her staff is. So it was an easy choice, really.

The house itself is not big. It’s three floors with rooms on the top floor and the basement and kitchen and breakfast facilities on the middle floor. If you read through the ratings for Vík hostel on the HI website you will notice that a lot of people mention the bathrooms and how there is not enough of them in the house. It’s true, although the hostel does fulfill all requirements for accommodation in Iceland when it comes to bathrooms, it could use one more bathroom just to make things a little more efficient in the morning. However, it was never really a problem for us and if you know about it beforehand you can plan to visit a pool on the way or take a shower before bed instead of starting the day with it like usual. It’s all about your attitude.

The charming heimasæta Panda – also stolen from their Facebook page

The positives about Vík hostel far outweigh the negatives (or negative since it’s really only this one thing and it’s only a thing if you let it be a thing) and I definitely recommend that you stay there. The atmosphere is really cozy and because it’s rather small you feel a part of a community, sitting in the lounge area at night chatting with your fellow guests about the adventures ahead (or the ones you just experienced). The kitchen is spacious with everything you need to make a budget saving and delicious meal and our twin room at the top floor offered a fabulous view over Vík all the way to Reynisdrangar. Plus you have to meet Panda, Æsa’s dog, that loves running and hiking (as we found out when we did an evening hike to Hjörleifshöfði) and doesn’t mind at all if you take the time to throw her a stick and play with her for a while. So cute!

The view from our room, you can see Reynisdrangar in the distance

Top tips

Don’t miss the breakfast because it’s really good. The hostel uses local produce where ever they can, the bread and jam is homemade, the eggs from Æsa’s chicken that live in the hostel garden and there are waffles. Not to mention the awesome selection of tea. Need I say more?

The breakfast was really yummy… and filling.

Also, take advantage of the fact that you are staying in a hostel and connect with the people that are staying there with you. We saw some friendships being made and travel tips exchanged but the little sofa area by the entrance of the hostel is where the magic happens.

Finally Æsa, her partner Þráinn and the staff at the hostel offer tours from the hostel every week (I think) that are really interesting. Æsa invited Helga and I, along with our two new travel partners, on what she calls the Viking Tomb tour. It involves a hike to the nearby Hjörleifshöfði which has a really interesting history. As I’ve mentioned before I’m in pretty bad shape (which I fully intend to change this summer – darn it) and even though I took my time with the walking, Æsa never made me feel like I was slowing them down and was really good at making me feel better about the whole thing (my competitive spirit was pretty crushed). It really shows what a nice person she is and I really appriciated it. She’s also very knowledgable about the area which added a lot to the tour. I definitely recommend it, even if it will take you twice as long to get to the top than the rest of your flock. The highlight of our first day.

Æsa getting us ready to go up the mountain. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side in regards to views but approaching the tomb in the fog was pretty awesome

Helga probably Instagramming something (and not noticing the beautiful rock straight in front of her)

Approaching the top

The leisurely stroll back down

In and around Vík

We went to Halldórskaffi for dinner since we wanted to end the day with a nice meal with our new friends that had been traveling with us that day. My sandwich was just OK but our Canadian friend had the Arctic Char and really loved it. Of course Vík is known for the black sand beaches and Reynisdrangar that are a must visit but there are a lot of nice routes for hikers around too so make sure you ask Æsa where to go. Also check out Víkurprjón where they make the fabulous Vík Prjónsdóttir products.

Hipster Reynisfjaramus – a new and not so rare bird species found around Vík in the summer, wearing a Vík Prjónsdóttir scarf

The details

Vík hostel is open all year and offers beds in dormitories and private rooms. Prices start at 3200 ISK per person if you are member of Hostelling International, 3800 for none members. It’s really easy to become a member but you can buy a membership card at the reception of the hostel for 2000 ISK. It pays for itself really quickly if you intend to stay for a few nights or stay in other HI hostels around Iceland (or the world for that matter). Breakfast is not included but at least if you book online it’s 1000 ISK per person which is well worth it based on how well we ate and how long it lasted us.

Make sure you also like Vík hostel on Facebook for more photos and info on their tours, the people that stay there and of course Panda.

This post is long overdue. I fear that I have made some people mad at me for not posting it sooner but I was insanely busy for the past month or so with exams, the whole driving around Iceland business and everything else I’ve got going on my life. I sometimes also feel a bit strange about posting personal stuff on the blog because I think most of you come here because you’re interested in Reykjavík and Iceland and not me and my business.

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter or if you have signed up for my newsletter you already know that I took part in a blogging competition called The Big Blog Exchange in March. To make a long story short – I won. What this means is that I was chosen, along with 15 others, out of a group of 100 finalists (but I became a finalist by getting people to vote for me -thanks again for all the votes) to exchange lives and blogs with one of my fellow finalists somewhere in the world. The 16 winners were announced on the morning of April 29th and later that day we got to know where we were going. The country that came out of the hat when it was my turn: Israel.

Jerusalem – image via http://www.freeisraelphotos.com/

I would be lying to you if I would say that I was super excited when I saw where I was going. I was happy about winning and very grateful that the jury saw something in my blog that they thought was worth this fantastic opportunity but I didn’t really know what to think of Israel. Firstly, I didn’t know Israel as a tourist destination and apart from connecting Jerusalem with the bible I was more or less stumped with ideas. Second, the conflict in the area concerned me. I’m not afraid for my safety or anything like that, I’m just a peace loving person against most military actions. I know every country has its problems and I don’t know if it’s just that we hear more about the problems between Israel and Palestine but to say that I was conflicted is to put it mildly.

Fast forward to today. After mulling this over for almost a month now I think I’ve reached the decision that politics are politics and people are people and I’m going to focus on the people on this trip. I’m going to do my very best to take in all that this experience can offer and immerse myself in the many different cultures represented in the area. I’m looking forward to the Middle Eastern cuisine (falafel – yum), historically significant sites and hopefully warm and welcoming people. If Ali who I’m doing the exchange with is any indication I believe I will be successful with that. I will also take this opportunity to try to learn more about the conflict, because you can’t visit a place where something like that is present without giving it some attention, but for the sake of fairness and respect for the people who are working hard at making sure my trip will be an unforgettable one and those who were not lucky enough to win I’m leaving all my opinions and predefined assumptions behind.

You will be able to read about my adventure on Ali’s delightful blog The Sweeping Swallow but more importantly you can read about her impressions of Iceland here on this blog. I don’t know about you guys but I’m really looking forward to see what she thinks about Iceland. This big adventure takes place June 7th to June 17th, in just over two weeks, so I better start cracking on figuring out where to go and what to see – not to mention what to pack for 30°C and sun. I hope Ali knows what she’s getting herself into weather wise – maybe I should lend her my Lopapeysa while I’m away?

The Big Blog Exchange is about changing the world using the power of blogs and I guess in a way it is already doing exactly that by putting a skeptic on a plane towards the unknown. I hope I will make you proud, since you are the reason all of this is happening. Takk for that.

Today I believe the pool is mostly maintained by volunteers and of donations but you can still very much swim in it while enjoying the spectacular surroundings. It’s built next to a rock wall that makes up one of its four walls and the water comes from a natural hot spring close by. It’s 25 meters long, 10 meters wide, and even offers dressing rooms where you can change but no showers. There is no entry fee and you are asked to treat it with care and respect but alcohol consumption is strictly forbidden. I don’t think you want to be wasted in that location with something happening and no life guard anyway!

Walking towards Seljavallalaug

The changing rooms

The pool itself

Helga enjoyed the pool!

On the way back to the car

The landscape in the valley is pretty intense

Jumping over a stream

How to get there.

When you are driving in the direction from Reykjavík you turn of the ring road (No.1) into road 242 marked Raufarfell. It’s just past Þorvaldseyri (The Iceland Erupts exhibition) so make sure you don’t miss it (like we did). You drive until you see a sign that says Seljavellir but if you follow that road you get to a new pool that was built later where you can park. From the car park you walk for 15-20 minutes towards the bottom of the valley and in the end you will see the pool peaking behind a corner. You can’t see it until you get to it so if you think you’re going the wrong way you probably aren’t. You will have to jump over a little stream and the way is a bit uneven but it’s an easy walk and everyone should be able to do it.

It’s been a few years since I was there last time and I’m sure that the access to the pool changed a bit in the eruption because it didn’t look anything like I remembered. So if you have a guide book that says it has a nice trail to it and you feel confused when you don’t find it – don’t worry about it. It’s there!

As I mentioned in some of my posts from the road, throughout the summer I’ll be sharing with you more detailed information about the places we slept at, where we ate and what we saw and experienced. It might take a while since I will have to start work soon and then I’m going to Israel in less than three weeks (which I will tell you more about later this week). However, since I know a lot of you who were following us will be going on a similar trip soon I thought that today I’d give to some practical advice about traveling around Iceland that we picked up on our way.

Fuel prices

We were driving a Skoda Oktavia Combi (group N) and we filled up the tank 2 and 1/4 times. I haven’t done exact calculations but I think we spent somewhere around 22.000 to 24.000 ISK on fuel. On GSMBensín.is you can find up to date petrol prices by areas listed by the type of fuel and the station that sells it. Orkan, ÓB and Atlantsolía are generally cheaper than the rest but the difference is not great. You will also notice that there’s no difference in price when it comes to gasoline versus diesel.

Road conditions

I’ve always been told that the ring road is paved the whole way and that’s what I’ve been telling people also. This is not exactly right because once you reach Berufjörður in the east a portion of the road is a gravel road. Normally when people are driving to Egilsstaðir they drive a road called Öxi which I don’t think is paved (please correct me if I’m wrong) but the road through the fjords (Stöðvarfjörður, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reyðarfjörður) is paved the whole way. There are also some gravel roads between Bakkafjörður and Þórshöfn in the north east, although they’re pretty good,  and the road from Siglufjörður to Hofsós is gravel in parts and not very good. Finally, the road over Þverárfjall, from Sauðárkrókur to Skagaströnd, is very bumpy and no fun to drive but if you go slowly and according to instructions you should be fine. For more information about road conditions in Iceland visit The Icelandic Road Administration online. If you are on the move and you are not sure about the road ahead of you, you can always call their service number 1777 for information.

The weather

As you know if you were following our journey we pretty much experienced a little bit of everything weather wise. We sat outside in T-shirts and shorts in Siglufjörður, didn’t see a thing due to snow and wind on our way from Egilsstaðir to Vopnafjörður and almost rained down in Stöðvarfjörður. We never felt we were in any danger, not even in the middle of the snow mess, but of course we had checked both the weather forecast and  the road conditions so we knew exactly what to expect. The people who stopped and were too afraid to carry on hadn’t. We also knew we had good tires and had faith in our car.  So if you don’t feel comfortable figuring out whether something is safe yourself, just ask at the reception at your hotel or hostel and they will check it for you. The Met office and the Icelandic Road administration give out regular updates about all areas in Iceland and if they say something is impassible it really is impassible.

What to pack

My first advice to travelers trying to figure out what to pack (and one I never seem to be able to follow myself) is that less is more. You always end up wearing the same stuff anyway and if it needs cleaning you can arrange to stay in a hostel or somewhere with laundry service to wash your clothes. Helga and I brought our whole world with us and it ended up being in the way most of the time. What you will need is good waterproof hiking shoes, street shoes for when you are in the towns and villages, a waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, some base layers and then some warm layers that you can mix and match. I mostly lived in a pair of leggings, a skirt, my woolen socks, my Cintamani Merino wool underwear,  some t-shirts, my lopapeysa and either my parka or my rain coat. I had the luxury of bringing both but if I hadn’t I probably would have brought my Cintamani Björg jacket that with the right layers can both keep me warm and shield me from the rain. On top of that I of course had a hat and mittens with me too. Although we may have moaned a bit about the rain in the east it was never THAT cold or miserable.

Opening hours

I was somewhat surprised, because I’m so used to everything being open all the time in Reykjavík, to see the limited opening hours in some of the places we visited. This wasn’t a problem per se but something I wished I thought about before we started our trip. So make sure you go to the supermarket if you need to on a Saturday because it might be closed on Sunday and pack basic stuff to battle a flu or headache because you will not find a pharmacy in every town and they too have limited opening hours. Even restaurants in some places were closed by 6 or only served food between certain hours. It’s important to keep in mind though we were traveling just before the season starts so this may be better in summer.

Mobile coverage

As I mentioned before, Síminn gave us 3G mobile internet to use on the trip and I was interested in seeing whether their claims that you can be online pretty much everywhere in Iceland with them was accurate. Helga and I both have mobile services from a rival company so it was interesting to see the difference. As it turns out Síminn kept us online more or less everywhere except in the Langanes peninsula and in spots around the south (mostly beneath the glaciers). To be fair our phone company didn’t have 3G in those areas either. The only place where we were without a phone (where we couldn’t even call anyone) was at the edge of the Langanes peninsula.

Traveling in the off-season

The one thing I would change if I was doing this trip again it would be not to plan so much as we constantly felt we were late for something and loosing out on something else. Of course because we wanted to meet people and check out certain places we had to have a plan but for the normal traveler I would recommend having a rough plan and modify it according to weather and what your heart tells you along the way. Once we got past Höfn most of the places we stayed at had vacancies so finding accommodation on the fly didn’t seem to be a problem. Please note though that traveling in the high season is a whole different ballgame.

I didn’t take a single photo today. I did however visit the Seal Center in Hvammstangi which was one of the things on my 2013 Iceland bucket list. It was a bit less of a museum than I imagined but I now know a lot more about about those peculiar creatures that apparently live all over the island. I also know that a walrus was spotted in Hrútafjörður a month ago which for a reason unknown to me totally blows my mind. And harbor seals are pregnant for 11 months and nurse and feed the pup for a month before they get pregnant again. Apparently the fetus grows for a while before the pregnancy comes to an halt for three months (if I remember correctly) which also blows my mind. Maybe this is common knowledge but it’s all new information to me.

After the visit to seal center we were invited to dinner at Gauksmýri where I had a really yummy chicken breast with mashed sweet potatoes and some sort of orange/citrus sauce. Really well cooked chicken (I hate it when chicken is dry) and really nice salad. Apparently during the summer they have a grill menu which is really good so maybe I’ll check it out the next time I’m in the area. I didn’t even know this restaurant existed.

Tomorrow Midge from the Seal Center is taking us on a little tour around the Vatnsnes peninsula where we will hopefully see some newly born seal pups before we head back to Reykjavík. As much as I have loved our little adventure it will be good to sleep in my own bed again tomorrow night with the man who waits for me there. Helga is a useless snuggle partner.

Every time I start these posts from the road I hear Ted from How I Met Your Mother in my head saying “Kids, it was May 2013 and your aunt Helga and I were waking up after a great day in [insert location]“. Maybe it’s worth looking into why I identify with a male character but that’s probably a subject for a different post on a different blog.

The reason I’m posting this now and not last night is that I fell a sleep while editing the photos last night. I found my computer on the floor this morning with the battery out but I assume it must have fallen out of my lap. Thankfully the bed is rather low and I’m writing on it now so it seems OK. We spent the night in Sauðárkrókur in a really nice apartment in the old post office in town. It’s run by an Australian lady, Vicki, who gave us a warm welcome and showed us around her two apartments and the rest of the space in the house. She is kind of living the  dream (my dream anyway) welcoming guests on a small scale into her apartments while working on her art in a studio in the basement. The only difference is that I have no artistic abilities so I would probably just sit around scratching my head if I had a studio. In any case I’m envious of people who just uproot their lives like that (I think moving from Australia to Iceland classifies as uprooting) and manage to find exactly the right place for them, both geographically and mentally.

We left Dalvík yesterday with a bit of sadness in our hearts because we wanted to stay there for a longer time. We’ve felt that way about almost every place we’ve stayed in and I’m already working it out in my head when I can return to all of them with the boyfriend and the princess to stay for a few days. I’ve been really amazed by all the nice people I’ve met and all the big plans they have for their respective towns and businesses. I’ve also been saddened by some of their tales but I’m not going to get into that just yet.

Dalvík showed its best sides yesterday and the drive to Sauðárkrókur through Ólafsfjörður, Siglufjörður and Hofsós was nothing less than spectacular. The white mountains, the blue sky and the sun (which has left me with a red nose that even Rudolph would be proud of) left us in awe the whole way. When driving down to Skagafjörður from Siglufjörður we gasped at least 10 times over the sheer beauty the surroundings. We also had a really nice lunch at Kaffi Rauðka in Siglufjörður, where we sat outside in the sun, and finally it felt a little like summer was here. We had plans to stop at Hofsós swimming pool on the way, just because it’s my all time favorite, but by the time we got there (just before 5pm) it was closing so we missed that chance.

Last night we went to a restaurant some 200 meters away from our apartment where we watched the Eurovision final and ate some really decent pizza. The food was good but the service only so so. It left me thinking about the fact that after 9 days on the road we’ve really only experienced bad service two or three times and even then it wasn’t particularly bad, it just wasn’t that good. OK, in one place it was pretty bad.

Now I’m just waiting for Helga to wake up so we head out and start the last leg of our journey. The next 24 hours will be all about seals in the Vatnsnes peninsula and I’m looking forward to meeting the person who started this all by sending me an invitation to visit the Seal Center which somehow escalated to a full circle around the country. I do think this journey is something Helga and I will tell tell our kids about later. The princess might be too busy with her new bike she got while I’ve been away to sit down and listen though.

The hot tub at Dalvík hostel. The town was hit pretty bad with snow this year and because it started so early the folks in Dalvík didn’t have time to store their belongings before it hit. A lot of stuff didn’t survive but this hot tub did just barely and Helga took a nice dip in it at midnight.

I love hammocks and think every garden should have one

We had a ridiculously beautiful day yesterday and here Helga is enjoying the view somewhere just outside Dalvík

The snow is no reason not to enjoy the sun!

When we opened the fridge in our apartment last night this is what we saw. Love this gesture

The sunset in Skagafjörður last night was just spectacular. Such mild colors, almost like a water painting

Siglufjörður

Driving down from Siglufjörður to Skagafjörður

PS. Sorry for only having Instagrams on offer today – I hadn’t saved anything when the computer took a tumble.

]]> http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-9-dalvik-to-saudarkrokur/feed/ 0 http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-eight-akureyri-to-dalvik/ http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-eight-akureyri-to-dalvik/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 00:21:29 +0000 Auður http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/?p=11646

I want to start this post by issuing a public apology to all the tourists that have ever been on a whale watching trip with me without seeing a whale. I’m bad luck, it’s not always like this and I’m really really sorry. I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if I never go on one of these tours ever again.

I woke up this morning after almost no sleep at all because my cough decided sleeping is an unnecessary luxury. Thankfully our hostel had some really good coffee at the breakfast buffet (the best coffee I’ve had on our trip so far) so I could get enough energy to drive over to Dalvík where we were booked for whale watching at 9am with Arctic Sea Tours.  The whale watching tour from Dalvík had been recommended to me by several people and I was looking forward to a trip at sea in new surrounding. Unfortunately for the group that was on the tour with us (we don’t really care since we’ve seen them plenty of times) we didn’t see any whales on this trip. It was still a nice tour but the lack of whales was a bit of a downer. Spirits picked up again when out of the blue the sun showed up and the captain stopped the boat so we could catch our own lunch. Only a few minutes passed from when the first line went into the sea until the first cod was on board. One guy even got a wolf fish which is by far the ugliest fish I’ve ever seen. It sure was tasty though but when we got back to shore our guide threw the fish we had caught on the grill. I know this tour was all about the whales but I’m all about the fishing so I was pretty happy.

After the tour I was officially done. The going to bed late and getting up early for the last few days combined with this flirtation with a flu got the best of me so once we had met up with the lovely Bjarni and Heiða that run the Dalvík hostel I more or less just crashed. And I slept and slept until the day was gone.

Now we are just hanging in our cabin, enjoying the view of the mountains around Dalvík and listening to the radio. Although I would have liked to explore more today a part of me enjoys just kicking back, eating dinner at the veranda in the sun and hanging with my sister. Sometimes it’s just about enjoying the moment.

Our captain Júlli looking for some whales. We think he would look good with a red hat in a Wes Anderson movie

Helga sporting the fancy overalls provided

Enjoying the view

Fishing

Wolf fish

Our guide Bjarni and Júlli getting the fish ready for the grill

Helga caught a fish!

The first and only photo of yours truly from this trip.

Draumur and the mountain

I also caught a fish but it was so small that we threw it back into sea

Relaxed atmosphere on board

Draumur or Dream

Waiting for the fish to be ready

The old farmhouse at Dalvík hostel is so cute and cozy. Like a page out of a cozy country home magazing

The old house at Dalvík hostel

The cabins we are staying in for the nigh – so good to finally see the sun

The road out of Dalvík

There is still plenty of snow in Dalvík

Sveitaswag

Of course, like with everything else we’ve mentioned in these blogs from the road we’ll tell you more about the things we’ve seen and places we’ve stayed at once we get back to Reykjavík.

]]> http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-eight-akureyri-to-dalvik/feed/ 0 http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-seven-still-in-akureyri/ http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/05/around-iceland-in-10-days-day-seven-still-in-akureyri/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 22:40:10 +0000 Auður http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/?p=11630

Don’t you just love days where you have no expectations but then things just sort of happen and you end up having the best of times? That’s the kind of day we had today. We had a late start since I didn’t sleep well due to the stupid cough that is teasing me a bit. We started the day by visiting Andreas and Ulrica at their home in Svalbarðseyri some 10 minutes away from Akureyri. They are a couple from Switzerland that run a yoga and wellness focused travel agency called Inspiration Iceland and we were there to learn more about their company. They were kind enough to invite us to join them, his parents and their staff for lunch and a short yoga session in their home studio. I will tell you more about Andreas and Ulrica later but the visit to their home was a great start to what would turn out to be an amazing day.

The rest of the day we spent checking out cute stores that were recommended to us by different people we met today and trying out the world famous Brynjuís. We liked the stores more than we liked the ice cream but people in general love it so maybe we’re the weird ones. Helga bought a Voss typewriter from the fifties and I bought some postcards to fulfill a promise I made on Facebook. Nothing big happened but it was exactly what we wanted and needed and we enjoyed it immensely.

Tonight we are  staying at the Akureyri Backpackers hostel in a cozy little double room on their top floor. So far we are really enjoying it but we got a great burger for dinner and were able to watch the Eurovision semi-final where Iceland advanced to the main competition on Saturday. There were some people here that are fro the same town as the artist that was competing from Iceland and they clapped and screamed when it was announced. This hostel is not by any means lacking the social experience people expect to find at a hostel

Tomorrow we move to Dalvík where we are going whale watching and then who knows what will happen. Life is good!

Apart from having yoga and wellness retreats Andreas and Ulrica also have some huskies in their home that travelers can interact with

We were very happy to see this sign

A fantastic shop you have to check out called Flóra

Fröken Blómfríður antique shop

Fröken Blómfríður

Brynjuís, the home of famous Brynjuís

Brynjuís

48 hours is a long time when you are traveling but that’s how long it has been since I last sat down to tell you about what we’ve been up to. At the moment we’re in Akureyri, staying at the top floor of the Icelandair hotel and the view from our room is amazing. I could sit here all day and stare out the window but that’s not why we are here. I might have to come back for that though.

We left Egilsstaðir in slightly better weather than we had experienced the day before and headed west towards Vopnafjörður. We hadn’t gone far when we hit a snowstorm that had me a little bit worried for while simply because we didn’t see a thing. It didn’t last long though and before we knew it spring was on the horizon again. After checking out Vopnafjörður we took a dip in the hot tubs at Selárdalslaug, a really nice pool just outside Vopnarfjörður that is free to visit and there are no guards that mind it. It’s located in a little valley, next to the river Selá, and it was surprisingly clean and lovely. Next we headed towards Bakkafjörður, a village of about 80 people, and watched the waves break on the old harbor in the strong northern wind. After Bakkafjörður the road turned into a gravel road and remained that way more or less until we got Þórshöfn.

We had a reservation at Ytra Lón Farm Hostel and arrived there only about 4 hours after we originally planned to be there. Halldóra, the lovely woman  who greeted us was very patient with us and did never make us feel like we had done her a big disservice by arriving so late. She took us to meet the animals on the farm, many of which had only been born in the last week and a half, but Ytra Lón has about 400 sheep and this is the height of the lamb season. I don’t know if it’s actually called the lamb season.

Next Halldóra took us on a tour around Langanes peninsula and to make a long story short, because I’m going to tell you more about it in a separate post, it was fantastic. She took us all the way to Fontur lighthouse, which is on the tip of Langanes and probably as far from Reykjavík as you can possibly get on land. She even sang us a little song in the lighthouse to demonstrate the acoustics and when we got back to Ytra Lón I confined to Helga that the moment almost made me teary-eyed out of pure joy. “Oh my god, me too” she answered. I can’t tell you why it had such a profound impact on us both but I can imagine it is because our little day trip (that actually happened at night) was everything I hoped this whole trip would be: Something unique and oh so wonderful.

Today we woke up and had breakfast with Halldóra and decided against doing a hike to Rauðanes like we had planned due to bad weather conditions and my health but Helga’s stupid flu has decided that it’s my turn and I’ve been feeling rotten all day. Instead we drove to Ásbyrgi, where we took a little walk, and then drove towards Mývatn where Helga bathed in Grjótagjá, naked of course, and we looked at some mud geysers by Námafjall. Because I’m not feeling good and I’m doing all the driving we kind of hurried through Mývatn and only did a quick stop at Goðafoss waterfall. The against my better judgement (I wanted to stay in bed with tea but Helga wouldn’t have it) we went out for dinner and cocktail which I will without a doubt pay for tomorrow. I already am actually, I really do feel quite bad.

So that’s it for the last 48 hours. A lot happened and very little all at the same time. One of the things that happened is that I misplaced my camera cable which is why you’ll only get photo from my phone from today.

Vopnafjörður

Bakkafjörður

Abandoned farm in Langanes

Abandoned farm in Langanes

Vetrarblóm or Winterflower

A Gannet colony on a cliff in Langanes

Langanes

Our trusted vehicle that took us around Langanes

Fontur Lighthouse

Driftwood – notice the new redder ones at the bottom

Svartfuglsegg

Some buildings at Ytra Lón and snow

A lovely lady at Ásbyrgi shop that makes really pretty and cheap Lopapeysur

Ásbyrgi

Námafjall geysers

A very yummy cocktail we had at Strikið in Akureyri

When we finally got up it was evident that Helga’s flu had got worse and it was pouring down outside. We had plans to meet up with a guide from Meet The Locals, a local travel agency in east Iceland that offers all kinds of interesting activities all over the east fjords, but due to the rain and Helga’s cough we had to cancel. It’s a real pity because we were really looking forward to taking one of their village walks. If the guide I talked to a couple of times over the phone is any indication, they are a helpful and friendly (and flexible) bunch. Next time!

What came next was pretty much rain, more rain and then even more rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much constant rain in my life and then the weather lady at one of the TV stations said on the evening news that the east experienced “a bit” of rain today. She obviously was far away in sunny Reykjavík all day. We drove from one town to the next, running out for short photo stops and cough medicine at the pharmacy and I literally had to dig up a towel from my luggage to wipe down the phone after each time. Finally we gave up and were going to visit a café in Seyðisfjörður that had been recommended to us and just hang out and play some Yahtzee but after driving through a mix of snowstorm and fog to get there the café was closed. We didn’t even go out of the car and just returned and drove back to Egilsstaðir and checked into Egilsstaðir guesthouse.

We probably should have just gone straight to the hotel because it’s super nice and cozy and more importantly open and not wet. At the moment we are sitting in their lounge area, drinking beer and listening to music. We had a fantastic lobster salad at the restaurant earlier and looking around the room (they were quite busy, both with guests from the hotel and just from town) everything people were eating looked really good.

The graphic exhibition in Stöðvarfjörður

Street art in Stöðvarfjörður

Street art in Stöðvarfjörður

Street art in Stöðvarfjörður

Street art in Stöðvarfjörður

Fáskrúðsfjörður

Fáskrúðsfjörður

Eskifjörður

Eskifjörður

Eskifjörður

On the way from Reyðarfjörður to Egilsstaðir

On the way from Reyðarfjörður to Egilsstaðir

I want to leave you today with some lessons from the road:

1) When traveling around the more remote areas of Iceland make sure you have some Panodil Hot and Painkillers (or something similar) with you because pharmacies are few and far between and are closed on Sundays. It took us two days to get Helga something for her cough.

2) If possible, stay with local people. Our trip would not have been as good as has been if we had not got some insider advice from both Æsa at Vík hostel and Fanney at Dyngja Guesthouse. Getting local advice from local people is very valuable and can add that extra special something to your experience.

3) If there’s something you really want to do, make sure it’s open when you are going to visit. It would have been great to know that the café in Seyðisfjörður today didn’t open till 17:00 as we could have saved us the 50 kilometers it took to get there and back.

My personal highlight today was finding all the awesome street art in Stöðvarfjörður and our hotel here in Egilsstaðir. Stöðvarfjörður seemed like a cool little town and all the people we talked to there were super nice. I would definitely want to go back there and stay for a night or two.