Day 9 - Cycling through the night (part 2), hiking, waterfalls, beach, bus, night out

The later it got the less cars were on the road. By about 1.30am it was down to one or two cars every 20 minutes - amazing considering this was the main road between Hofn and Reykjavik. The scenery started even more special around this time, helped by the light from the sun starting to appear behind the mountains behind me. There were low clouds towards the bottom of the mountains, snow higher up and a mixture of cloud clearing and light breaking through over the peaks - a special moment. I spent a good half-an-hour here with the camera capturing the mountains from various different angles, perspectives and positions along this section of road. I continued to enjoy virtually empty roads for the rest of the ride. As I was in the middle of nowhere and I didn't have my Garmin switched on I didn't know how far I had to go - but was pretty sure I was making decent enough time. Another highlight was stopping at a bridge where the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon was. This was a lake with small icebergs in that merged under the bridge and into the sea - another spectacular sight. There was a campsite there - everyone was asleep which made it seem like I had the place to myself. There were a lot of sea birds there which certainly added to the experience. After a load more photos I continued making my way towards Skaftafell - now concentrating more on keeping the momentum going and covering the distance quickly rather and less stopping for photos. Between 4.30-5am I started seeing the first villages. This was good as I was finally able to get an idea of where I was and how far I had to go. I got to what I thought was Skaftafell at about 5.45am - there was the 'Skaftafell Hotel' along with petrol station with a village nearby. I was wandering around very tired looking for proof that I was definitely in Skaftafell. As I walked up to the hotel doors they opened which I wasn't expecting. I walked in and asked the guy working there where I was. Skaftafell was in fact 5-10km further along, so I pedalled these last few km's, and reached the campsite/tourist information centre just after 6am. My plan had been to stick the tent up for a few hours sleep until my 9.30am coach arrived. However I looked at a trail map, and saw that the famous and spectacular Svartifoss Waterfall was about an 8km walk away from where I was. It would definitely be a missed opportunity if I didn't see this. I ate the last of my food and mentally prepared myself to push through the fatigue for the walk (Come on legs - you can do this!!!). I left the bike by the coach stop and started the walk. There were trails that led to some other places within the local area so of course I had to do as many of these as I could fit in before the coach turned up. The initial trail led me very high up a hill. I came across these strange growling birds - they were quite large, black and fat. Certainly wasn't expecting these. This trail ended at an impressive red steel bridge crossing a river. By this point I was starting to need a poo. On the way back I had to resort to sitting on a low branch by the side of the trail and going - thankfully it was still very early and nobody else was around. The pace quickened significantly post poo and I got to Svartifoss by about 8.00am. The square rock formations surrounding the waterfall were awesome, and spent as long as I could get away with admiring it. I ran back down to the bike arriving just after 9. Just enough time to use the toilet, get changed and clean my teeth before the bus arrived. It was abut 9.20 when I came back outside, and the bus had arrived and people were getting on/loading on their luggage. I went over with the bike. There were two other bikes already there, and the bike rack on the back of the bus had a maximum capacity of three bikes. After the other guys had put their bikes on I started to put mine on. The driver came over and wasn't happy with the way I was doing this. He was a very unhelpful Polish guy (I have known/worked with many Polish guys before most of which have been great, but this guy was a dick). There were these poorly designed elastic straps that held the bikes in place. The elastic straps were deemed insufficient, so I got out my bungees and used these to secure the bikes adequately. I explained that I'd done this many times before and that there was nothing to worry about. He huffed and puffed, said that it wasn't his responsibility and left me to it. Definitely could have done without this in my fatigued state. By the time I boarded the bus it was a couple of minutes after we should have left. I went to pay for my ticket and to my horror realized that I was marginally short of cash to hand. The driver had had enough by this point and waved me on after I'd given him all I had, not wanting to delay things any more. Unsurprisingly I spent most of the bus ride asleep. The bus arrived at Vik (by Reynisfjara) at around 11.30am. I was very hungry so as soon as I got off the bus the first port of call was the service station cafe by the bus stop, deciding to go for a nice stew. This along with the bread this filled me up enough. I then asked a member of staff how to get to Reynisfjara. When they explained that it was the other side of a cliff I knew I would be pushed for time getting there and back before my next coach would be departing from Vik in a couple of hours time, so running was the only option. It was pretty hard going running up, but was great at the top with panoramic views over the beach and surrounding countryside. Getting down was quite sketchy - I went the most direct route I could see involving a steep descent and having to climb over a few barbed-wire fences. Eventually I got to the beach, having just 15 minutes to try and take it all in. There was no time for a walk along the shore, so I stayed at the closest end. This was still really good as I was able to see the abundance of sea birds (including puffins) nesting amongst the incredible rock formations on the cliffs. Before I knew it my time was up and I had to start running back. I'd stayed 5 minutes longer than intended so had to keep up a good pace. I had to powerwalk back up the cliff - this time opting for going a little further inland and avoiding the barbed-wire fences. Once at the top I continued running and kept a good pace until I was back down in Vik. I arrived in the town 10 minutes early - just enough time for a quick supermarket food shop before boarding the coach. I was hoping to buy some beer there as well for my night out later, but all they had were 2.25% cans to choose from, so gave them a miss. I picked up my bike and pannier bags that I'd dumped by the bus stop earlier and stuck them in the luggage compartments under the coach. This driver was really nice, as was the woman/tour guide that took my fare. Again I was able to get away with not having to pay extra for the bike when technically I should have done. The bus was a very reasonable 4500isk, and included stopping at some waterfalls en-route back to Reykjavik - definitely a pleasant surprise. The first waterfall was Skogafoss - an absolute monster standing at 15 metres wide by 82 metres high!!! We got 15-20 minutes to enjoy this before heading to the second waterfall - Seljalandsfoss. This wasn't anywhere near as big but was easily as impressive as Skogafoss, as you could walk right behind the overhanging waterfall and out the other side. I was lucky to witness a small rainbow that had briefly formed at the bottom of the cascade. I was very busy with the camera for the limited 20 minutes that we had here - could have easily spent another half-an-hour here. Before I knew it I was back in Reykjavik - the driver kindly dropped me outside Reykjavik campsite (not one of his scheduled stops). My first priority was planning what to do tomorrow. I went over to the reception and looked at the leaflets. The budget was dwindling and I didn't have enough money left to go diving in Silfra Fissure. I could however afford to go on the Golden Circle Tour that would take me to Geysir, Gullfoss and see the Silfra Fissure nature reserve. This was the only way I could tick the remaining boxes of the 'must-see places in Iceland' in my remaining day here so I booked my ticket that would leave at 10am tomorrow morning. I cooked a batch of pasta that I had bought in the supermarket in Vik after setting up the tent. I had half now and saved half for when I would come home after my night out in the early hours of tomorrow morning. After eating and showering I went into the reception and asked where I would be able to buy beer. Apparently there was only one shop licensed to sell alcohol in the whole of Reykjavik, and this had closed about an hour earlier. It was about 8.30 by now and it was too early to start drinking, so I went for another cycle around the city going to some areas that I'd missed before. The highlight was the famous Hallgrímskirkja church - a spectacular piece of architecture standing proud on a hill well above the city. I freewheeled my way back down to the town, and along to the strip where all the pubs/bars/clubs were. After locking my bike at the end of the strip I had a wander along. There was a 24-hr supermarket, and they were selling beer - result :) . Admittedly it was only the 2.25% cans but after hearing that I wouldn't be able to find anything I was happy with this. Besides I hadn't had a drink for over a month so my tolerance was very low. I wandered around checking out where looked good whilst drinking my two cans. I didn't want to go straight into Austur (the well-known club), so went into an Irish bar. This was dead so went into another bar next door - a place called 'Hurrao'. This was much more popular and had a good vibe so I stayed for a pint in here - 900isk (about £4.50) so not overly expensive. After this I decided to go back to the main strip, opting for the American bar. This is what I'd expected - very similar to a Walkabout or Yates's back in the UK. I had a couple of drinks here and the DJ was playing the standard commercial dance music, so went on the dancefloor for a bit enjoying this. At about 12.30 after an hour or so of being there I decided it was time to go to Austur. They refused me entry - my walking trousers were deemed as unsuitable attire. So back to the American Bar. They wouldn't let me back in because apparently they have a dresscode for anyone arriving after midnight. I definitely didn't want the night to end this early so had another wander around. The other bars on the strip didn't look very good so I made my way back to Hurrao. The dance room that I had barely noticed before was now packed. The DJ was banging out some classic 90's dance tracks and it was great. The pint prices remained the same all night. After a few hours on the dancefloor I was starting to flag and started making my way towards the door to go home. I was stopped in my tracks when Technotronic's 'Pump up the Jam' came on - there was no way I could miss out on this. So back onto the dancefloor it was. It was quite a small area with low ceilings and was very hot - the DJ had his top off and I was close to doing the same. The crowd was predominantly Icelandic and they knew how to party. After another hour or so he started to play predominantly RnB tracks and I had consumed as much beer as I could sensibly handle - this was now definitely time to go home. It was bright light outside when I left at about 3.30am. What was a quiet tranquil city during the day had been transformed into the complete opposite - some of what I saw wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of 'Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents'. I made my way back to the bike, walked with it initially as the police were there and then concentrated on trying to pedal in a straight line. It was a beautiful morning and I saw the sun emerging over the bay on the way back. Arrived back at the tent at about 4.45, ate the pasta and went straight to sleep. The alarm was set for 8 as my Golden Circle Tour was leaving at 10.