Moving Along Smoothly...and wet...

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Friday August 15

Today I arrived in Hofn, Iceland. A town of about 1800 on the southeast coast of the country, which sits near the tongues of 3 major glaciers. My previous 2 nights were spent in Egalsstadir which was one more night than originally planned, but when I woke up at 6 a.m on Thursday to catch the bus, I decided that it was entirely too early to get up on a Thursday, so I went back to sleep. It's nice being able to make those choices.

Thursday in Egalsstadir was fairly uneventful. I did truly get to have my first Icelandic meal however. It was at a little cafe near the campground, and they were offering a lunch buffet. More or less it was a good meal, even though I ate a lot of things that I'm not sure what they were. There was the usual ham and potatoes along with types of soups and main courses that I will never know the main ingredients to. After lunch I went for a stroll to the neighbouring community of Fallbaer, about a 20 minute walk and looked around. Later that night I went to sleep in my rainforest dome or as some call it, a tent.

Waking up this morning at 6 for the bus was easy enough, but the record levels of precipitation that fell in my tent were not all that pleasant. The worst part is the fact that it didn't rain outside all night. It was a clear windy night in the rest of the town, but overcast with showers where I was sleeping. I took down the tent, for what I kept telling it was the last time. I'm not convinced I can give it another shot at redemption. I hopped on the bus to Hofn (pronounced Hupf) and settled in for a 3 hour journey. We passed what seemed to be the most desolate areas that I have seen on the trip, but the landscape kept changing so much that it was yet again a fun ride. Rolling mountains, to huge valleys and then to coastal plains of gravel along the ocean. We arrived at Hofn at 10, and I set out to find somewhere to sleep that wasn't in my tent. The first hostel was booked and the second one had a $100 price tag for a single room with blankets! (since when is that a selling feature?). I then began my journey to the town's campsite knowing full well that they had dorm rooms, but not knowing if they had vacancy. To my delight they had some available. After I booked in I had a solid nap, then set out to see the town. I walked to the end of town and checked out some glacier and mountain views from the local golf course. I was tempted to play 9 holes, but with the wind blowing harder than I've ever felt, and the course being ocean side I didn't see the need to hit golf balls into the water.

Now I sit in my cabin having just talked my roomate for the night, a guy from Rome who teaches Italian and now lives in Moscow and another guy from Taiwan who is a med student. They are both pretty interesting characters. My next dilemma is where my next stop on the journey is. There is a National Park I could stop at, but it would involve having to spend a night in the Rainmaker 4000 again and as of now I don't like that idea.....

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Photos

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Hofn Glaciers

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View from Golf Course