Day 18 (24.7) – Hvammstangi to Krossneslaug and Drangsnes
One night at Hvammstangi Campground costed 9.9 €. This one simply didn’t have showers for campers. Most towns of Iceland have an indoors pool where you can go to take a shower, but I always arrived after closing time. In any case, someone should do something to rise the standards of the campsites in the north. The south was a different story.
I picked my tent, filled the tank with 12.5 €, and went north following the eastern shore of the Westfjords. Somewhere along the way I had lunch for 15.2 €, and ice cream and coffee for 8 €. I also bought some sandwiches for 40.5 € in a N1 gas station. I can’t remember how many, but for that price I guess they were four, at least.
I started to learn what the Westfjords are about in road 643. Curly roads, no asphalt, and amazing views along the coast. Some sections of road 643 had many potholes or gravel, but most of it was a joy to ride. A good example of the typical Westfjord road is the picture below taken in this location.
In my post about Vacaburra’s modifications for the trip I showed you the picture below, which was taken in this location. If the picture of the banner still matches, you know where I took it.
Almost at the end of the road, in the middle of nowhere, I found Krossnes geothermal gool. And since it had been almost two days without taking a shower, I didn’t miss the chance to spend 4 € to swim in the warm pool and relax in the hot tub while enjoying the view.
The pool never closes and I took advantage of that, but as you can see in the picture it was getting darker so I started my way back south. The twilight gave me a new amazing view of the same route, as in the picture below taken in this location.
The view of the abandoned factory of Djúpavík is better in this direction, with the cascade in the background.
I have many good pictures from that day, but I don’t want to go on too long. The day ended in Drangsnes, where I arrived quite late.
By the way, I mentioned before that I should have brought a back-up phone. It was this day that my phone started failing frequently, to die a few day later.
Day 19 (25.7) – Drangsnes to Ísafjörður
One night at Drangsnes campsite costed 9 €. It didn’t have a kitchen or eating facilities, but it had good showers and (if I remember correctly) a washing machine. I didn’t use it, I hand-washed my clothes the entire trip. The weather was good so I decided to use my rope to put the clothes to dry.
Despite what the picture looks like, I still hardly came across other motorcycle riders. That was specially disappointing in the Westfjords. In my opinion it’s the best area for dirt-road motorcycling in Iceland.
After a while of drying the clothes and chilling in the sun I picked my tent and filled the tank with 17,4 € to go to Ísafjörður. The way through roads 645 and 61 is all asphalt, but still nice with curves and slopes and great views of the fjords.
In this location there is a resting area with some tables and benches. I stopped there to eat my sandwiches while enjoying the views, as in the picture below.
Later I came across this cozy cafe where I had home-made waffles and cafe for 8,2 €. Totally recommended.
I took the best picture of the trip in this location. You can see it below.
I arrived to Ísafjörður with time to spare. In Icelandic terms, it’s a “big” town with good services. I filled the tank with 18,8 € and washed the bike in the local N1 station. Washing your vehicle with guns of pressurized warm water is free, at least in N1.
I went to have dinner here. It’s a popular place so I had to wait for a table enjoying the sun and a pint at the terrace. The beer costed 9,8 € and dinner 20,2 €. I have no recollection of what I had, but I know it was very good.
Day 20 (26.7) – Ísafjörður to Patreksfjörður. Road F622
In Ísafjörður I stayed in the best campsite of my entire trip. It has great facilities: good showers and toilets, kitchen, eating area, washing machine, Wi-Fi, even a guitar to pick and play. But the best part is the location, with gorgeous vegetation and flowers, a beautiful river crossing the campsite, and a waterfall in the background. A night costed 13,9 €. There are other campsites in the town, make sure you end up in the right one.
I filled the tank with 4,6 €, bought groceries for 13,9 €, and hit road 60 south. Road 60 is a good dirt road with many curves and slopes and nice views.
And finally, I reached the renown road F622. One of the goals of my trip was to get the (apparently) only HD video of the entire road for my YouTube channel. The weather was perfect and I had 64 Gbytes of memory and three full batteries for the camera. But I was not so experienced and I didn’t control the duration of a single battery when recording. I noticed the camera was off in a stop and I replaced it. To make it bad, I missed the best, most challenging part of the road: a passage of big stones and rocks between the cliff and the water. In any case, I put my recording and links to other recordings showing the missing part in the video below. Click on the “i” in the top right for the links.
As for road F622, it’s more scary (because of the cliffs) than difficult. You will come across a sign saying “impassable” right before the rocky shore, but in normal conditions you should have no problem. Beware of high tides, though. That day I saw a VW Transporter 4×4 doing the road. I had more trouble crossing rivers or sand in other roads than anywhere here. Overall, it lived up to its reputation and it was the best road of my entire trip.
Back to road 60, I went to see Dynjandi waterfall. Dynjandi is one of a series of consecutive waterfalls that make a beautiful sight. Walk all the path to the top, it’s worthy. It’s fantastic how in Iceland you see waterfalls everywhere yet everyone is different and you never get bored of them.
I went further south in road 60 and then 63 west to reach road 619. 619 is a good dirt road with more great views of fjords. I did half of the road and turned around because it was getting late. I continued road 63 south to reach Patreksfjörður, where I was going to spend the night. I filled the tank again with 12,5 €.
Day 21 (27.7) – Patreksfjörður to Reykjavík
Patreksfjörður campsite has good showers, toilets, kitchen and eating room. Nothing to complain about. One night costed 14 €. The town itself could be the tiniest where I have stayed, so don’t expect many services or shops. There is a gas station.
I had filled the tank the previous night, so I just picked my tent and followed roads 617, 63, 62 and 612 south-west to Látrabjarg. In the Westfjords, dead-end roads like 612 and 617 are dirt roads which are good at the beginning but have more potholes and gravel as you reach the end where they serve less residents or none at all.
My telephone was dead for good, so for the rest of the trip I took all the pictures with the Yi 4K. I don’t like the deformation of the wide lens of action cameras, even set to the minimum. A bigger inconvenience is that I’m no longer able to give you the exact location where pictures are taken. But comparing to pictures in Google Maps, the one below must be of this beach.
If you are planning to go to Látrabjarg, don’t spend your money in a puffin-seeing tour anywhere else. You can’t get any closer and it’s free. Mind the warnings about unstable soil in the edge of the cliff.
My next stop was Rauðisandur beach, where I took the picture below. The road down to the beach is very steep.
From there I started my way to Reykjavík, where I had a booking for two nights. Unfortunately I underestimated how long it takes to go through the jigsaw road of the southern fjords. To make it worse, I had to go slow in that area because I was hit by the strongest winds after Snæfellsjökull. Along the route, I stopped two times to refuel for a total of 43,4 €, I had a cappucino for 6 €, and I spent 1,6 € in Hvalfjörður Tunnel again.
Without telephone I had no GPS, so I had to ask for directions to find my hostel. Luckily it was next to Hallgrímskirkja, whose tower is visible from many places in the city. I arrived past midnight and it was closed, but the manager heard my motorbike and opened the door for me.
Day 22 (28.7) – Reykjavík
I stayed in GEST-INN guesthouse. The place is fantastic, the breakfast great and the location very convenient. Two nights costed 224 €. Considering the prices in Reykjavík, I totally recommend it.
That day I didn’t take the motorbike. You know I don’t intend to write a touristic guide, so I won’t go through the sights I visited. Out of the most typical, I enjoyed eating at The Laundromat Cafe, where I had a veggie burger and a smoothie for 31,5 €. Later I spent 5,3 € in ice cream and 3,6 € to send three postcards. I ended the day listening to live music at The Drunk Rabbit. I spent a total of 50,6 € in beers along the day.
In case anyone urgently needs to know how my trip ends, it’s obvious: I followed the south coast to Seyðisfjörður, where I took the ferry on August the 3rd. I will write about this part in my next post.