We asked for a taxi at 7:15 AM to be sure that we would be on time for our flight to Egilsstaoir at 8:35. Icelandanders are punctual; our driver pulled up at the front door of our precisely at 7:15. Ten minutes later we entered the terminal; by 7:30, we were checked in, our baggage tagged and on the conveyer belt. When our boarding was announced, we had our boarding passes scanned and we were on board the plane within 5 minutes. The plane’s door closed and we were up in the air at 8:35 AM, the published departure time.

From this description, did anything strike you as odd? No security check of our carry on or a body scan. We walked directly from check-in to the plane. I will ask someone in the know about the lack of TSA-like procedures and report in a later blog.

The flight took about 45 minutes almost entirely over clouds. Upon arrival, Mike, our guide from Czecha met us. We were whisked off on a 70 km, one hour ride over a mountain range to Borgarfjordur, our home base for the next five days. Because our rooms weren’t ready at the Alfheimer Guesthouse, we went on a tour of the town that has a permanent population of 100 people. Our hotel, more like a 1960’s US motel, can be seen in distance over the fjord. The rooms are spacious and will serve us breakfast, lunch from offerings at the breakfast buffet that we will eat on our hikes, and dinner. Laird and I tried some drafts from the local craft brew house after dinner — the IPA and the dark lager. Thumbs up. We will visit again for after dinner nightcaps as the days turn into twilight.

After the brewhouse, our tour took us to the oldest heritage house in this town built in the late 19th Century. This home was way ahead of its time in using natural materials as insulation and protection. We took a group photo in front of it. We are 14 experienced hikers – six from the US, four from Australia, three from Switzerland, and one from England. One happy and eager band of hikers.

Part of our town tour included lunch at one of the two local restaurants. The fish soup was delicious and was a significantly better rendition than that from the Seabaron in Reykjavík featured in Somebody Feed Phil. Both of us downed two bowls along with nicely flavored slices of bread. When did Eastern Icelanders start using curry to flavor their bread?

Our rooms were still not ready. So, we continued our town tour that featured a mural showing puffins in all of their glory. Sharon wanted to see live puffins but it wasn’t meant to be. Here were puffins celebrated on the side of a building. Turns out that Eastern Iceland has the largest number of puffins in Iceland. Who knew. One of hikes will start near a rock inundated with puffins. In the end, Laird and I will view the puffins. Perhaps Sharon and Jean will need to make a return visit to Iceland, the next time to the Eastside.

As we neared the junction of whether to turn back to the guesthouse, Mike made a command decision to have our group hike down a road that led to a trailhead. We turned right and were treated with meeting friendly horses, rocks where elves may live, and the roar of a fast moving stream that cut between walls of rocks where we turned to backtrack to the town and our hotel.

We made our way to the hotel. Keys to rooms were given out; dinner was eaten; and Laird and I ended our first day with glasses of beer bursting with flavor. But the highlight of the day was receiving some kitty love before retiring.

It started with the Road Scholar catalog. Thumbing through, I came upon “a class” roughly entitled — Hiking Through Iceland. However, the hiking seemed to be limited to short jaunts seemingly to go to and fro by bus from lagoon to lagoon. Pshaw – a kindly anachronistic five letter word that substituted for Roy Kent’s favorite four letter word on Ted Lasso.

Undeterred, I googled “hiking Iceland” and settled on a double tour with g Adventures – eastern Iceland followed by southern Iceland. These are guided and use bases from which hikers are taken to various trailheads. These tours are diametrically opposite from the self-directed, continuous path, and walking only hikes that are described in my previous blogs of the 88-temples, Camino Santiago, and Via Francigena. We’ll see how this one goes.

Laird Evans who walked the Portuguese Camino with me in March 2022 will join me. But beforehand, we spent five days exploring Reykjavík and environs with our wives, Sharon and Jean. As we talked about this trip with friends and acquaintances, we found that we were late comers to this Nordic island. Almost everyone knew of someone who had been to Iceland including themselves. But hiking —- ah, we were the first. Day 1 will begin tomorrow.

But first, some stories about the five days of the pre-hike experiences in Iceland.

Indeed, Iceland is very expensive. We can confirm Manhattan styled sticker shock everywhere from a $8 hot dog from a stand (no fries) to $80 for three kebobs at an Asian fusion restaurant whose tables were filled for the two hours that we dined. Even a selection of fresh radishes and goat cheese with garnishes of micro radish tops and crumbled rye bread was $19. But these dishes were excellent as were the cinnamon rolls at Brauo and Company – $7.50, the best deal in town. Thanks Phil of Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix) for your recommendations.

We did not try the oysters at one restaurant which offered them at $12 each — beyond the planet earth price. Be prepared but you can enjoy some superb meals. We won’t mention the cost of beer, wine, or spirits. We can attest though that Icelandic gin is smooth and delicious.

Getting around can be costly but in the end worth it. Sharon and Jean rode the on and off touring bus – $45 each. We rented a car for about $1000 not including gas but it was worth every penny.

We drove the Golden Circle counterclockwise and for the most part avoided following the gigantic tour group buses. We did meet in the middle. We shared the mighty Gullfoss with 20 buses and another 100 cars.

But we had the flexibility to stop wherever and stay as long as we wanted. We spent over two hours at Fontana Spa on the Golden Circle whose water is fed from hot springs. On another day, we drove north of Reykjavik and spent even more time at Krauma Geothermal Bath in Deildartunguhver. The water comes from the largest natural hot springs in Europe. What a site – you can skip the lines at Geysir on to see steam vents and bubbling water on the Golden Circle and have a relaxing bath at Fontana and Krauma.

Most impressive was the rift at the Pingvellir National Park. It is here that the North American Plate slides by the Eurasian Plate causing the dynamic smoldering of lava that formed and continues to form Iceland. In between these two plates, the Iceland assembly met a thousand years ago and where the ceremony that created the independent nation was held in 1944. We were at the easternmost edge of North America.

Driving in Iceland is easy and made easier with Waze. Traffic is light and drivers really follow the speed limits which are much lower than American ones. I think that having red light cameras at the critical intersections and speed cameras at random places on the road control the animal instincts of many drivers. The driver’s side of the car is the same as the US; you have to remember to put your headlights on when driving — rain or shine, night or day. If you are interested, I can share some tips on finding free parking in Reykjavík.

Finally, museums are a plenty in Reykjavík. The Harpa concert hall is well constructed with interesting geometric accents. We attended a free — yes, free — jazz recital with a renown Polish pianist, Artur Dutkiewicz. You can find these gems.

Reykjavík at 11:30 PM. Thank goodness for blackout curtains. The prelude ends. Our flight to Eastern Iceland and Day 1 is tomorrow. Sharon and Jean return to Newark.