Our original plan to hide in the stable fell apart this morning. Since we walked 35 instead of 24 km yesterday, we theoretically only had 14 km left, so we decided to push hard one more time and walk all the way to Landmannalaugar instead of the stable. According to the GPS set by Arys, it should have been about 35 km. But he himself was sure that he didn’t feel up to another big day today, so he decided to walk with us as far as possible, then stop a car, hitchhike, and wait for us in Landmannalaugar.
We’re leaving. The wind is blowing in an unfavorable direction right in our faces, so we are doing quite slow. We almost don’t stop, because we decided to take a break at the stable. However, we can’t find it for a very long time, so in the end we eat lunch at the 20.km. We eat quickly because it is very windy and we are freezing to the bone. Camille’s legs hurt today (no wonder after yesterday) but she’s keeping up, and we have a good pace. Before long, we meet not a car, but a bus full of photographers, which Arys caught along the way, and we ask the driver how the situation is on the way. Unfortunately, his news did not please us. He told us that our GPS was wrong and Landmannalaugar was still another 64 km away (at that point we were 22 km from today’s starting point).
The stable, which should have been on our 14th km today, is still out of sight. We almost began to fear that it was no longer standing, and we gave up hope that we would ever come across it. What can be done, we can’t all fit on the bus, there’s nothing left for us to do, other than keep walking and hope. Arys waved at us, hopped on the bus and drove off.
But all is not lost, at the 30th km we find the stable after all! And we are not the only ones, there is also a couple of bikers hiding here. We are a bit fed up that we have to spend the next two days in the smelly stable, so we decide to try our luck again. Vivien and I head to the road, hoping to stop a car and hitchhike to Landmannalaugar, where Arys is waiting for us. Unfortunately, we are not very lucky, so far 2 cars have passed in the opposite direction and one car in the correct direction packed to the brim even without us. We decide to start setting up tents after 2 hours, since it is late and the cars are nowhere to be found. But! Hope dies last, so we decide to wait for the last 10 minutes. And what doesn’t happen? Suddenly, not one, but two cars appear, drivers immediately willingly stop, offer us a ride to Landmannalaugar, and have enough room for all of us, including our backpacks. We quickly throw the tents in the car and set off. Our driver is a local, so he is telling us about Iceland, along the way.
They drop us off at a tourist hotel, where we met Arys again. Here, however, our unpleasant news continue – the beginning of the Landmannalaugar National Park, where we are headed, is still 43 km away from here. Let’s go eat at least. None of us could resist a burger with fries, and since it is forbidden to camp here, we try to come to terms with the news that we will pay 1750 CZK/person for a night in the staff quarters (the hotel was completely full). Not only would we be able to treat ourselves to dinner and wellness in the Czech Republic for that kind of money. But here in Iceland, there is not even hot water included for that kind of money. (Jokes, it was included, just didn’t work)
What can we do, we better go to sleep. Good night.
