Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.05.2007, Side 44

8_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 05_007_TRAVEL/HITCHHIKING
Much like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Gal-
axy, this is not really a guide, rather a whacky
story. Hitchhiking in Iceland is not for the im-
patient, but can nevertheless be a reward-
ing experience for both the traveller and the
unsuspecting locals. With the travel season
coming, here’s a how to and how not to,
from a traveller that wore out her thumbs on
the deserted Icelandic “off season” roads.
Even though summer had come and gone
we - the Danish writer of this article and her
travelling companions, two exchange stu-
dents from Canada and Germany - thought
it would not be too late to go see the coun-
tryside. In late September, on a Tuesday, our
group set out from the now “old hringbraut”
picking the bus stop closest to BSÍ as our
starting point.
After 20 minutes we got our first ride,
a microscope salesman, who took us all the
way out to the gas station after Ártún. Here
we met up with some kids who “helped us”
get another ride. As a female traveller, you
can expect unpleasant rides, and this was to
be our worst - even more frightening as it
was only the second of the tour. A farmer
with very few teeth and the dirtiest truck this
writer has yet to see gave us a ride to a junc-
tion just past Mosfellsbær. At this point he
scared us to death by threatening to feed us
to the trolls, before turning the truck around
and stopping it to let us out. A geologist took
us to the Hvalfjörður tunnel, a radio engineer
took us through it, and an older couple took
us the rest of the way to Borgarnes. That
turned out to be an unhappy place for hitch-
hikers.
Cherish Your Ride
So we did what we had to do to keep warm;
walk down the road and talk. And sing. And
see the sights. Like the monument for the
sailors at the side of the road. And then we
did get a ride with a young man going to
Akureyri to visit his parents. We did stupidly
enough turn down the ride all the way to
Akureyri because we had some freak idea
that we would be going to the West Fjords,
so he let us out of the car at the road to
Búðardalur.
And then we started walking. And then
we realised that turning down the ride all the
way to Akureyri had been extremely stupid,
because it soon became obvious that we
would not get a ride on this road. Over half
an hour, only three cars passed, of which one
was full and one only had two seats. Then
we made the harsh decision to let the West
Fjords mind their own business for the time
being and to get back on the ring road.
Most people who have travelled the ring
road have probably noticed the abandoned
building at the junction where the road to
Buðardalur meets the ring road. Well we got
a very good look at it while waiting there for
more than hour and a half for our next ride.
Only when one of us lay down and played
dead, a couple in a minibus stopped. They
had been to Reykjavík to drop off some tour-
ists who had stayed at their farm. The lady
was German, and the husband was well
known in Denmark, so we had some pleas-
ant conversation.
They took us all the way to Brekkulækur,
where their farm was. Then we waited by
the road almost until it got dark and then
Full Circle - Low Budget
Text by Hanne Carlsen Photos by Skari
Fly and discover
airiceland.is
/ tel. 570 3030
Air Iceland destinations
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
WESTMAN ISLANDS
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
NERLERIT INAAT
Greenland
NUUK
Greenland
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