Iceland at Dawn – Somewhere In Time Weekly Travel Photo.

Somewhere in Time is a weekly photo from around the world. Enjoy! (You can click the photo to make it bigger.)

One day in Iceland we rented a car and drove from Reykjavik to Hofn. It took 5 hours and we took our time so we didn’t arrive until late at night. All the hotels we happened upon on the way were really expensive ($200+/night) and we couldn’t figure out why. They looked nice but there were in the middle of nowhere. We concluded that they get away with charging that much just because of that fact. Needless to say, we continued on.

Around 11pm we arrived in Hofn and found a hostel. Only thing is that it was definitely one of those annoying hostels with a lot of rules. Due to a lot of water drinking and lack of facilities en route when we arrived in Hofn I really needed to use the ladies room – coincidentally the hostel was the only spot open in town. I went in to inquire about 2 beds and I stood around a while – no one showed up. So finally I just decided screw it and I went in to find the bathroom. Turns out it was a really small hostel with only a handful of people in it and they were all in this next room. Awkward. I stood out like a sore thumb and it wasn’t because I was a new face sneaking into to use the co-ed bathroom. Nope, I had broken the cardinal rule which labeled me as an outcast – I didn’t take off my shoes.

I’m not going to lie – I HATE the rule of taking off shoes, especially in public places. Hate it. (Disclaimer: Except in Diane’s house. Love ya Diane:)).

Now I didn’t really see the sign (ok, I did) but no one was around initially and the place was very quiet so I figured what the heck, I would run in and out really quietly WITH my shoes on – I mean who would know right? Right off the bat Randy was mortified. He absolutely hates it when I do things like that and takes it personally when I do something directly against the rules. He threw a little hissy fit at me with his eyes but I marched on – right through the glares and whispers and into the bathroom. Randy retreated, thoroughly embarrassed, to the car. He didn’t want to be involved in my crazy shoe wearing, bathroom seeking, late night Hofn shenanigans.

It was insane, before they looked at my face, they looked at directly my feet and I’m not lying – everyone’s face fell when they spotted my clunky hiking shoes traversing their tiled floors which, duly noted, were sparkling clean. A man & woman followed me into the bathroom (not gonna lie, freaked me out a little) but their ruse did not stop me -I was on a mission. No doubt irritated, they waited for me, right outside the stall – weird. After I peed I was descended upon immediately- who was I, did I need a room and why for the love of God, why did I have my shoes on? Did I not see the sign?

Above all else this was the major faux pas I had committed. Their faces were priceless, as I’m sure was mine – shocked I was just followed into a bathroom I wasn’t supposed to be in and lectured about my ‘indoor footwear’. Thank god Randy had gone back to the car.

Nope – guess I didn’t see the sign- oops. After some not so pleasant pleasantries I discovered it was $30/per person for the hostel. Ahhh $60 to spend like 6 hours in a place where I can’t wear my shoes (hello it is Iceland, it’s freaking cold!) and would have to deal with their weird attitudes after I had already alienated myself and Randy by association. I could imagine the bunk whispers if we stayed -“That’s her -the rouge urinator in shoes!” I declined the beds and woefully went outside to deliver the news to a less than enthusiastic Randy who was not pleased.

So now we’re in Hofn, it’s 11:30 at night, I’ve pissed in and pissed off the only hostel in town, which was overpriced anyway – where would we stay? There was a campground down the street so we decided to pull in. No one was working so we couldn’t pay. We debated for a bit on this- was it wrong to sleep at the campground and not pay? Should we park on the street instead?

We decided to sleep in the car at the campground and pay in the morning. We woke up before dawn because Randy was uncomfortable in the car and no one was there to collect money so we left. We did feel a little guilty about it but there wasn’t much we could do and they didn’t have a box to leave a payment in.

Thanks to our early morning wake up we got to see this out of control sunrise. On the ride back we stopped along the road when the sun started to rise over the Norwegian Sea. It was spectacular. The color was hypnotizing.

If you go to Iceland, make sure you wake up early to see the sun rise. You won’t be sorry. I have never seen a sunrise like this anywhere else. It was outrageous and absolutely gorgeous.

Just think, if we had stayed in that hostel then we probably wouldn’t have woken up early enough to see it!

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

Like Our Post? Subscribe by email and get new posts delivered straight to your inbox!

Or add us to your favorite feed reader by clicking the orange icon!