We almost get stranded in rural Iceland without gas after dark. The needle falls and falls and E. insists on pushing on and A. and I aren't paying enough attention apparently, because all of a sudden the needle's on empty and we haven't seen a gas station for quite a while. Hoping that some house will be able to sell us some gas [we are in farm country, after all, where people might keep some around for tractors and such], we stop at three different homesteads and meet with no bensín. I sigh, "I don't want to die in Iceland," think some more, and then add, "Yet."
[Die? Well, somewhat overdramatic. But seriously, it was so cold, and night was coming on. I'm sure we could have found a house that would take us in. But that got me started on this nasty fantasy about having to be the eye-roll-inducing city girl who starves for lack of vegetarian fare.]
In contrast to A. and I, E. says that he is not worried; he has supreme faith in the power of the dollar.
He's a savvy traveler and I think he's right, that when you're traveling, it's a lot harder to really run into difficulties if you have money.
In the end, an angel of a woman hooked us up with a neighbor who fed our Honda Jazz some gas from a watering can. We make it to Höfn, where we have an overpriced but good dinner and are unimpressed with our hostel. We decide that instead of staying until tomorrow, we'll drive back and get back into Reykjavík late tonight. Höfn is a big city for this corner of Iceland, but that's not saying much, and there just doesn't seem to be much to do once we've driven through the town.
Three or four more hours of driving back to Rvk. Channel-surfing constantly on the radio, talking quietly up front to keep A. awake, sticking in my new múm CD. When combined with the road flying under our headlights and the indistinct dark landscape, most of the tracks creep me out. [Sample here]
So this was our route. We drove inland from Rvk to the three stops on the Golden Circle, then back to the coast, through Vík, to Höfn, then back along Route 1.
[Die? Well, somewhat overdramatic. But seriously, it was so cold, and night was coming on. I'm sure we could have found a house that would take us in. But that got me started on this nasty fantasy about having to be the eye-roll-inducing city girl who starves for lack of vegetarian fare.]
In contrast to A. and I, E. says that he is not worried; he has supreme faith in the power of the dollar.
He's a savvy traveler and I think he's right, that when you're traveling, it's a lot harder to really run into difficulties if you have money.
In the end, an angel of a woman hooked us up with a neighbor who fed our Honda Jazz some gas from a watering can. We make it to Höfn, where we have an overpriced but good dinner and are unimpressed with our hostel. We decide that instead of staying until tomorrow, we'll drive back and get back into Reykjavík late tonight. Höfn is a big city for this corner of Iceland, but that's not saying much, and there just doesn't seem to be much to do once we've driven through the town.
Three or four more hours of driving back to Rvk. Channel-surfing constantly on the radio, talking quietly up front to keep A. awake, sticking in my new múm CD. When combined with the road flying under our headlights and the indistinct dark landscape, most of the tracks creep me out. [Sample here]
So this was our route. We drove inland from Rvk to the three stops on the Golden Circle, then back to the coast, through Vík, to Höfn, then back along Route 1.
As we've cut our planned trip short, we now have an extra day with the rented car. We make plans to daytrip north from the capital in the morning.
Sounds like fun!
ReplyDeletei LOVE ICELAND, DID YOU KNOE 70% OF THE POPULATION BELIVE IN ELVES, ChaCha!
ReplyDeleteFranco - Seriously?! Wow, best trivia of the day award to you. Hah. I'd believe it of them!
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolute adventure! I'm SO jealous. One day I will do something similar.
ReplyDelete