Icelandic nerds
When I exited the tent in the late morning, there was no one around. Was this going to be the new pattern?
I wasn’t in a hurry, so I set the phone on a little tripod and made a video of myself taking down the tent.
After that I still wasn’t in a hurry, so I went to the one local coffee shop and got myself a mocha, and sorted more photos on the laptop.
For a while I was the only person in the shop, and then a crowd of college-aged people came in. They carried books and papers, which they spread all over the largest table in the room before sitting down around it and talking excitedly in Icelandic. A stout man aged about 22 with a pile of curly blond hair sat at the head of the table and answered questions. He seemed to be in charge.
At first I assumed they were studying for some class, and turned my attention back to my laptop. Then I overheard the following conversation between the stout man, the woman on his right, the man on his left, and the barista who had come over to chat:
I grinned. This was making me feel right at home. I hung around for another half hour, enjoying the silly banter of the gaming crew, and then realized it was time to continue my journey before I got too lazy and just crept back to the campsite.
One more tunnel to pass through: The Múlagöng. Another older single-lane model; the twin of the one I’d passed through three nights ago.
I tried again to take a video of my passage through, and this time I held it a bit steadier. Here’s a 2x sped up version:
On the other side of the tunnel was a pleasant stretch of coastline. No nasty wind or rain, no biting cold. Just sunlight and a few fluffy clouds. It looked like Iceland was back to treating me like a regular tourist, instead of a human punching bag. Hooray!
I did the usual stopping and snacking. As I made my way down to Dalvik, my next rest stop, I checked out a few waterfalls by the side of the road.
The moss growing around them was fascinating:
A little farther along I saw this marker:
And a few interesting things in town too:
I found a restaurant specializing in fish, and ordered a giant chunk of it. Super delicious, as usual. Then I rode over to the local campground and found a place to set up. As I curled up in my sleeping bag again, I reflected that the day had been the perfect combination of relaxing and exercise to move me closer full-on touring mode. Tomorrow would be a big push down to Akureyri.