Being a tourist for a day or two

Today I became one of those damn annoying and slightly embarrassing tourists that populate Iceland. It seems that there are two groups of tourists. In fact, most of them are Asian, or American or both! They drive from one touristy highlight to the next, get out of the car, take some pictures by standing in everyone else's way and hit the road again. The second group, presumably of Central European origin, looks as if they've just come out of the Globetrotter store, so well-equipped are they. Among them I actually feel kind of underdressed despite my expensive Meindl hiking boots ;-)

I'm having two days off, and I did what I would never do in Germany: I drove 500 km eastwards along the coast stopping at all the tourist highlights along the way.  It was a day full of extraordinary views and impressions (just look at the pictures!). What's more, no shit shoveling for two days, a clean bathroom for 150,- € per night (the cheapest accomodation I could find in the area, not even breakfast provided, but it was still worth it) and the great feeling of being free to go where I wanna go.

The family car I kindly was allowed to borrow again is a very old Toyota, with a mileage of 250.000 km and many actually useful functions which don't work anymore. For example if you want to refuel, you need to break open the fuel tank with an old bread knife because it doesn't open otherwise, or the rear doors don't open from the outside because the door handles are broken. I hope you've got a picture in your mind of what the car actually looks like. Please don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the fact that I'm allowed to use it, but with this great distance of 500 km ahead I was a bit afraid this morning of having a mechanical breakdown somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, my sense of adventure was much stronger and I didn't let these conditions prevent me from taking gravel roads which were actually recommended for cars having a 4-wheel-drive only. I love exploring new areas!

I safely made it, otherwise you wouldn't be able to enjoy the pictures ;-)