Day 17. Continuing eastward

Today was another travel day. I got up early, expecting a situation similar to waiting in line for a new phone at an Apple Store before the only washroom at the campsite.

When I arrived at the campsite yesterday, there was plenty of space, but it quickly filled up throughout the evening. By 6:30 am, the only shower was already occupied and there was only one toilet available. The ladies' section was already bustling. By the time I finished breakfast and packing up my tent, there was a line of people waiting outside the building.

We continued along the Ring Road towards Seyðisfjörður in the best weather.

Today's destination was Svinafell Campingground. Along the way, the sky changed from blue with white clouds to gray and back.

After continuing on, it becomes dark gray in front of me, and you can see the rain falling from the clouds. There's no choice but to go through it. 

About 10 minutes pass driving through pouring rain. Suddenly, the rain stops and it's bright again in front of me. And then this view. The Svínafellsjökull, a glacier tongue of Vatnajökull. 

I then stopped at a rest area and had a panoramic 360-degree view from there. From now on, the drive keeps getting closer to the glacier.

Further up the road, on the right-hand side, there is a pile of bent steel beams. These are remnants of a bridge that was washed away in 1996 after a glacier run caused by a volcanic eruption. Enormous forces must have been at work here. The steel beams seen in the pictures have a material thickness of 20 millimeters.

About 10 kilometers before the campsite, a parking area appears on the left, from which a small gravel road branches off towards the glacier. The first section looks quite passable, although a sign specifically indicates the very poor condition of the road. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The poor condition is true. One pothole after another. Suzi is also fully loaded. Maneuvering around the holes in a zigzag pattern, we make progress meter by meter. The sign at the beginning of the road said two kilometers. It made no sense to drive slowly, as the rear wheel repeatedly lost grip and the traction control system tried to counteract it. By sitting, I had enough weight on the rear wheel, so it went somewhat better. The parking area at the end of the road was moderately filled, but the view was already good. 

So I parked Suzi, put on my hiking shoes, and set off. The dark clouds came closer. Here are the pictures of what I saw there.

With the arrival of a tour bus filled with Asian women and men, the rain started again. Fearlessly, the people came towards me in various colored plastic ponchos. By the way, the selfie-stick Chinese guy from Þingvellir was also there again. When I arrived at Suzi, the sky opened up again. I just managed to put away my shoes, put on my helmet, and put on my gloves. Cooling down with the water, I rode back. The advantage was that the potholes were now more visible. They were all filled with water. Suzi's suspension bottomed out several times, and I promised to give her an overhaul after our return. She has already covered twenty thousand kilometers after all. When I arrived at the campsite, it was as if nothing had happened. Setting up the tent was dry. I won't be sitting in the common room for long today. The noise level here is unbelievable. Yesterday it was mostly French people, today it's Italians. The common room has about 25 tables for four people each. And it's crowded.

I'll head into my tent right away and look forward to tomorrow. Maybe I'll have a little sleep drink. By the way, it's pouring rain again.