This is part 2 of a blog about my journey around Iceland's ring road, which circles the edge of the country. (For part 1 see here: http://www.nordicadventurer.com/blog/2016/1/26/route-1-driving-around-icelands-ring-road).
After a night spent at the HI hostel in Höfn (I recommend the HI hostels for their high commitment to sustainable practices), we continued our journey through the beautiful East Fjords. The road initially cuts through a short tunnel through some high mountains which protrude out into the sea north of the town. Once through the tunnel, Route 1 stretches out through alongside some wide coastal fjords which are more like lagoons, and then rises up to hug a dramatic headland right on the coast
There was a lingering grey light which enhanced the moodiness and drama of the coastline as we looked out across the sea, figuring out that the next dry land was Norway, over 1000 miles to the east.
A little further along the same stretch of road, we found a small turning which took us down to a hidden beach enclosed on one end by a big wall of rock.
The next "major town" (with a population of 470) is the fishing village of Djúpivogur. It is near here that the small island of Papey lies, where Celtic monks once prayed before Iceland was settled. The story goes that they were chased away by Viking invaders, with some taken as slaves. One day I hope to get on a boat and visit, but for now we had to be content with just seeing the island on the horizon from the mainland. The village of Djúpivogur is gathered around a small harbour
After a quick coffee and lunch stop in the village we continued around the long fjord called Berafjörður and found a striking lighthouse at the next headland.
The roads through the East fjords wind through fjord after fjord, making a journey which is not far in direct distance a lot longer. My 1992 Suzuki Vitara began to struggle as we neared the pretty little village of Stöðvarfjörður. The gorgeous little church is unfortunately no longer used as a place of worship, but has been converted into a holiday home. We peered through the windows and saw the altar still intact and standing in the living room!
The car began to shudder and something didn't feel right as I drove. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere I carried on until we reached the little village of Fáskrúðsfjörður, which used to be a base in East Iceland for French fishermen, and even the roadsigns there have a French translation. Something smelled odd in the town, and I assumed it must be something to do with fish or a factory. A few kilometers outside the village, however, the smell persisted. I pulled over into the entrance to a farm track and realised the smell was coming from my car, as smoke poured out from the back.
Even in the summer, temparatures can drop fast as night approaches and we had to quickly come up with a plan. The car smelt strongly of gas and we couldn't stay in the car for fear of being overwhelmed by the fumes, so we opted to add as many layers as we could and sit by the side of the road. I called ahead to our friend Hafsteinn who was the manager of the guesthouse we were heading to in Egilsstaðir. After a short while and a few phonecalls later he managed to contact a mechanic in the next town of Reyðarfjörður, who told us that after another hour or so he could come and help us. In Iceland, you need to know people who know people.
After a few hours of sitting by the road, and at one point running up and down and exercising and even dancing to keep warm, help arrived in terms of a couple of friendly mechanics. one of whom had his 10 year old son with him. As they took a look at the car, the 10 year old said "your car is really really terrible. Really terrible". They say the most truthful people in the world are children and drunks. Maybe he was being a bit harsh, the car is 23 years old and still going, right? That's not too terrible in my estimation. In a years time Cecil the Suzuki will be 25, and classed as a classic car, with no tax payable. I'm praying he makes it to this milestone birthday.
The mechanics drove our car slowly through the long tunnel which awaited just a kilometre up the road, while driving us in a separate vehicle. They took the car into their workshop in Reyðarfjörður and our friend Hafsteinn very kindly picked us up to take us on a further 30 minutes to the guesthouse in Egilsstaðir.
Our stay there turned from a planned stay of three or four days to over a week, while we waited for some new wheel bearings to be delivered from Reykjavik to the mechanic. Hafsteinn went out of his way to drive us from place to place and he took us to the stunning Hengifoss waterfall.
Eventually, after a longer than scheduled stop in the beautiful East, we drove on to Dettifoss, Akureyri and the West Fjords (which will be the subject of the next blog!)
If you are interested in purchasing any landscape shots featured in this blog or other shots of Iceland, please click here:
http://www.nordicadventurer.com/ring-road/