Before I start this post, I just wanted to check to see if anyone knows anyone in Copenhagen or Hamburg who I could stay with for a night or two? I´ll be in Copenhagen April 16-18 and Hamburg April 18-19. (Dates are flexible). I´m a really easy guest - all self-contained in my bag here. All I need is a flat surface.
Ok, now that we have that, on to the show!
The theme of the past three days has been hitchhiking. If I had lots and lots of time and a computer that worked (I´m semi-stealing time from one at a hostel in Borgarnes right now) I´d draw a map of where I just was, but since I don´t have either of those things right now, a verbal description accompanied by this map will have to suffice.
On Monday, my host in Borgarnes dropped me off at the highway intersection outside of town on her way to work and pointed me in the direction that I needed to go: Stykkisholmur on the Snæffels peninsula, in western Iceland. I had gotten lots of tips to go there and nobody was willing to host me further north in Akureyri, so I went.
I´ve never hitchhiked before. The closest I´ve come was doing ride-sharing in Germany, which is pre-arranged hitchhiking. It does not involve standing on the side of the road holding out your thumb though, waiting for some kind stranger to stop and pick you up, which is what I did Monday morning. It took me about an hour and a half before I waved down "Bill", an Icelander who had lived in Perth, Australia for a long time and so had taken this adopted, English name when introducing him to foreigners. His real name was ÞÖÆRFGmaAjurll or something similarly impossible to pronounce and unsimilar to "Bill".
Bill was driving from Borgarnes to Stykkisholmur to pick up a fishing boat he had just bought but whose trailer had a flat tire the night before and so required a second trip with a spare to fix it. I was thankful for the flat, as it meant that I got the chance to get a free ride with him that otherwise would have cost me close to $20.
After a night in Stykkisholmur that included hanging out in a natural thermal bath (they´re everywhere!) I hit the road again the next morning with the intention to travel further west along the Snæfells peninsula - just to see how far I could make it. It´s hard to make solid plans when you´re hitchhiking. I managed to get three rides though that took me all the way to Hellnar, on the opposite side of the peninsula and right between the Snæfells Glacier and the sea. From Stykkisholmur to Grundafjörður I rode with a telephone repairman going out to fix the phone at the local school. He slowed down when we saw seals in the bay - nice guy. Then from Grundafjörður to Hellisandur, I rode with a teacher, and then from Hellisandur to Hellnar I rode with a Dutch couple touring through Iceland. I think they picked me up for the novelty.
Today, from Hellnar back to Borgarnes, was the toughest day. Being way out on the peninsula, there wasn´t much east bound traffic. I lucked out with a construction worker, then a guy who owned his own fish processing plant drove me a ways, then an off-duty police officer drove me the rest of the way into Borgarnes. Overall, I´d say that just the experience of hitchhiking was the best part of the trip. The scenery was amazing and my morning hikes along the seaside cliffs were awesome, but the feeling of being alone on a very long, cold road, just waiting for a car to come by and MAYBE pick you up is a much less familiar one to me.
The longest I ever went walking between rides was two hours. That wasn´t because people didn´t like the looks of me, though, it was because nobody passed me. My spirits were pretty dismal this morning as I was walking along in the blistering wind, trying to catch rays of sun as storms blew intermitently overhead. My ears would play tricks on me and I´d swear I heard a car coming, but then it´d just turn out to be the wind.
But then the feeling of exhiliration that came when you finally did see a car and they finally did slow down to pick you up instantly wiped out any anxiety that you had been feeling up to that point. I didn´t care at all who was behind the wheel (most were middle aged men - all very friendly) as I figured dealing with them was preferable to dealing with the weather outside. I have way more respect now for Iceland since I know that I can (for the most part) get where I need to go by hitchhiking.
Now there is the question about tomorrow. I´m trying to get to Akureyri, which is way up north. I could take a try at hitchhiking, but Akureyri is a good 130 miles north. The bus is $40 - hitchiking is free, but certainly comes with its own discomforts. I suppose we´ll just have to see how I feel when I wake up in the morning. I´m pretty exhausted from the past few days of anxiously waiting for cars to come up from behind me. The road to Akureyri is much more traveled - I could even land a one-way ticket there...
The excitement of the road beckons.
Ben
Ok, now that we have that, on to the show!
The theme of the past three days has been hitchhiking. If I had lots and lots of time and a computer that worked (I´m semi-stealing time from one at a hostel in Borgarnes right now) I´d draw a map of where I just was, but since I don´t have either of those things right now, a verbal description accompanied by this map will have to suffice.
On Monday, my host in Borgarnes dropped me off at the highway intersection outside of town on her way to work and pointed me in the direction that I needed to go: Stykkisholmur on the Snæffels peninsula, in western Iceland. I had gotten lots of tips to go there and nobody was willing to host me further north in Akureyri, so I went.
I´ve never hitchhiked before. The closest I´ve come was doing ride-sharing in Germany, which is pre-arranged hitchhiking. It does not involve standing on the side of the road holding out your thumb though, waiting for some kind stranger to stop and pick you up, which is what I did Monday morning. It took me about an hour and a half before I waved down "Bill", an Icelander who had lived in Perth, Australia for a long time and so had taken this adopted, English name when introducing him to foreigners. His real name was ÞÖÆRFGmaAjurll or something similarly impossible to pronounce and unsimilar to "Bill".
Bill was driving from Borgarnes to Stykkisholmur to pick up a fishing boat he had just bought but whose trailer had a flat tire the night before and so required a second trip with a spare to fix it. I was thankful for the flat, as it meant that I got the chance to get a free ride with him that otherwise would have cost me close to $20.
After a night in Stykkisholmur that included hanging out in a natural thermal bath (they´re everywhere!) I hit the road again the next morning with the intention to travel further west along the Snæfells peninsula - just to see how far I could make it. It´s hard to make solid plans when you´re hitchhiking. I managed to get three rides though that took me all the way to Hellnar, on the opposite side of the peninsula and right between the Snæfells Glacier and the sea. From Stykkisholmur to Grundafjörður I rode with a telephone repairman going out to fix the phone at the local school. He slowed down when we saw seals in the bay - nice guy. Then from Grundafjörður to Hellisandur, I rode with a teacher, and then from Hellisandur to Hellnar I rode with a Dutch couple touring through Iceland. I think they picked me up for the novelty.
Today, from Hellnar back to Borgarnes, was the toughest day. Being way out on the peninsula, there wasn´t much east bound traffic. I lucked out with a construction worker, then a guy who owned his own fish processing plant drove me a ways, then an off-duty police officer drove me the rest of the way into Borgarnes. Overall, I´d say that just the experience of hitchhiking was the best part of the trip. The scenery was amazing and my morning hikes along the seaside cliffs were awesome, but the feeling of being alone on a very long, cold road, just waiting for a car to come by and MAYBE pick you up is a much less familiar one to me.
The longest I ever went walking between rides was two hours. That wasn´t because people didn´t like the looks of me, though, it was because nobody passed me. My spirits were pretty dismal this morning as I was walking along in the blistering wind, trying to catch rays of sun as storms blew intermitently overhead. My ears would play tricks on me and I´d swear I heard a car coming, but then it´d just turn out to be the wind.
But then the feeling of exhiliration that came when you finally did see a car and they finally did slow down to pick you up instantly wiped out any anxiety that you had been feeling up to that point. I didn´t care at all who was behind the wheel (most were middle aged men - all very friendly) as I figured dealing with them was preferable to dealing with the weather outside. I have way more respect now for Iceland since I know that I can (for the most part) get where I need to go by hitchhiking.
Now there is the question about tomorrow. I´m trying to get to Akureyri, which is way up north. I could take a try at hitchhiking, but Akureyri is a good 130 miles north. The bus is $40 - hitchiking is free, but certainly comes with its own discomforts. I suppose we´ll just have to see how I feel when I wake up in the morning. I´m pretty exhausted from the past few days of anxiously waiting for cars to come up from behind me. The road to Akureyri is much more traveled - I could even land a one-way ticket there...
The excitement of the road beckons.
Ben
What was the name of the German carshare website? We are going from Berlin to Paris and don't yet have a way to get there that doesn't cost a ton!
ReplyDelete