Iceland - Feeling Happy with our Sad Car

Our Iceland Trip 2016

Our Iceland Trip 2016

A long term wish came true, we had finally decided to go to Iceland. For some six weeks ahead we had been making plans for our route, booked the accommodations, bought the necessary wind- and water resistant clothing, and of course we needed a car. Our plan was to book a couple of places in the west and the south, each for a couple of nights as our base.

We would not go camping, but would stay at guest houses and simple hotels. The route we had in mind consisted mainly of paved roads and gravel roads, not the so-called F-roads for which you need a Land Rover or something. But for the gravel roads in the very Northwest, we would need a four-wheel drive sedan or stationcar.

Now, renting a car in Iceland is quite expensive. By some coincidence we found a local company, appropriately called SAD Cars, that rents out cars of at least 10 years old, for prices that are much more attractive. We found good and bad reviews, with a tendency to the positive, so we decided to give it a shot. We saw it as adding to the adventure, and a bit of a calculated risk. Iceland has an up to date system for safety checks of cars, so we were not too worried about brake failure and things like that. And we would go for 2 weeks, so even if something would go wrong mechanically, our vacation would not be totally disrupted by having to wait half a day or so for a mechanic or a replacement car.

Enjoyment starts already at the flight

After a very nice 3 hours flight with Icelandair (we got ourselves upgraded to business for a minimal extra amount), we landed at Keflavík. We had to wait just a little while, but soon enough the guy from SAD Cars showed up to pick up us and a few other travelers. It took a short ride to their facility just outside of the airport. It is not your usual rent-a-car facility, it's more like a shed. But ten minutes later they showed us to our car, a weathered dark green Subaru Legacy 4-wheel drive stationwagon, with definitely a long and successful life already on its way, and couple of hundreds of thousands kilometers of "experience". With some instruction, and after signing the long checklist of dents, scratches and little flaws, we were on our way.

They don't have the policy that you get a full tank. It is sort of honesty policy. You bring it back with more of less the same fuel level as when you got it, or a bit more is fine too. The tank was half full, and we wanted to fuel up first and get some water, snacks etc. just in case. At the nearby gas station we discovered a few things: the electronic key only worked to open the door but not to lock it. Also, the hatch made a lot of noise. And, as we would find out later, the dashboard lights were hardly working. No problem... these are just details, we decided.

Guesthouse Steinsholt

Steinsholt hot tub

Soon enough we were on our way to the first guesthouse where we booked, in a non-descript hamlet called Steinsholt, about two and a half hours' drive. We had a good map, no GPS of course, but sure enough we found the place easily. It was a family run guesthouse with comfortable rooms, with a dining room which was more a family room, delicious home cooked food and... an outside hot tub!

By the time we arrived the sun was already about to set, so we walked a bit around there before dinner, and after dinner everybody took their time talking over a coffee or tea in the dining room before going to bed. Bedtime is usually early in the Icelandic countryside...

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The next morning we had a generous breakfast with bread, eggs, all sorts of cold cuts, coffee, tea, milk, home-made jam and of course the inevitable icelandic skyr yoghurt (which is now on my daily breakfast table at least a few times per week!). It was more cloudy than yesterday, so we were not really sure what to do today, but being with other guests at the same breakfast table helps a lot. We got the suggestion to visit Haifoss valley, a valley not too far away with a waterfall at the end. We would be able to get close to there, with some 10 km from the parking to the fall on foot, as long as we had a 4-wheel drive. Well, we had one.

However, the drive was more adventurous than we thought. It was more a road for a heavy duty army tank or at least a jeep. Carefully manoevring around deep holes in the path, and huge rocks, we got to the place to park the car.

The hike was stunning. Empty land (we were there all alone), rainbows, sheep, horses, and we could even find the hiking path. However, heavy clouds started to accumulate where the valley made a 90 degrees turn, so we never made it to the fall.

Haifoss Valley, fluorescent algae in a creek

Well, so sorry... we would see more falls than we could count later on, so we walked back to the car after 8 km, that makes 16 in total, burning up our breakfast calories. Sheep were observing us from high on a cliff, probably finding us pityfull to venture out in the rain while we could have stayed in a house. Or just laughing at us, we didn't ask them. Far below, we saw a group horse riders galloping in the wide open.

At walking speed the managed to get the car back on the paved road without ruining it, and drove further east to find a warm place and a warm lunch. It started to rain harder, so we took our time.

At the end of the afternoon, we decided to take a detour back to the guesthouse, and we found a gorgeous road with the Hekla volcano in the clouds on our left, and a beautiful river with rapids (Þjófafoss) on our right. It was dry again, so we did take quite a few pictures.

The barren terrain near Hekla

Þjófafoss

We arrived back in the guesthouse for dinner, which was very good again (veal and lamb and soup). After a few drinks we decided we were tired and fell asleep almost instantly.

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