Driving outside of Reykjavik takes you through large swaths of unpopulated areas. On the journey are are all sorts of unofficial pull offs that beg you to park your car and do some ad hoc exploring. If you ever visit Iceland I would urge you to do the same.
Ísafjörður
The trip up to the northwest city of Ísafjörður took us through some elevation gains and snow was much more prevalent. Our car reported that the outside temperature was 0 Celsius when we were at the highest point in our drive.
There’s a tunnel closer to Reykjavik underneath one of the fjords. The tunnel has a toll which is rather expensive ($10 to $12 USD) but like everything else in Iceland you can pay with your credit or debit card. We have yet to need actual paper local currency.
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is common here due to an extremely low crime rate and small population. On our drive we saw a young boy who was between 8 and 10 years in age hitching a ride back from his soccer practice. We did not stop but our mouths were agape given the taboo that hitching is in the United States.
Heydalur
Our logging for the night is the Heydalur guest house which is located on a farm. Signage in Iceland is very muted so we initially drove right past it. Secondary roads outside of Reykjavik are rarely paved but our Chevy made it just fine down the dirt and rock road to the guest house. The guest house has 17 rooms and two guest house on the property. The reception area is also where the restaurant is located. When we parked our car we were greeted by a friendly dog named Loki.
Loki
Loki has two passions in life: fetching rocks and herding horses. There is no shortage of either of these at Heydalur. Our host informed us of the local area and notified us that there is a geothermic hot pot that we were welcome to take a relaxing dip in. Loki made a pretty good escort. He led us straight to the hot pot even though I doubted he would cross the stream to get there. Loki seemed eager to leave the hot pot area due to the lack of rocks that were available for him.
