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Iceland - Day 25 : Dull day

I set my alarm at 1:30 to make a last attempt at seeing the northern lights. It was slightly dark out and cloudy except at one small spot. There seemed to be a green glow in that direction, but that could also be from the sun or the lights in Reykjavik.

 

Thibaut and I left our remaining food at dedicated racks on the campsite. There was enough food there to eat for several weeks. I considered leaving my stove there, but decided instead to clean it and attempt to bring it back home. Most likely my stove had been the reason my bag had been detained on the flight out, but on the other side it had worked in the end. I cleaned my clothes and tent as good as possible and then said goodby to Thibaut for the third time this vacation, his flight would leave at 1:00 tonight. My flight would leave at 10:15 the next day, but in order to be at the airport in time I had to get up around 4 or 5 in the morning. Instead, I decided to already go to the airport late at night and try to sleep there. If that wasn't possible I would just read a bit. Perhaps I had gotten a bit too nervous about missing flights.

 

Around 17:00 I texted home. I started laughing because of my autocorrect. If I typed 'Reykjavik' my phone automatically turned it into 'sex'. That somewhat changed the meaning of my sentences. My parents called me back to let me know they would pick me up at the train station in Eindhoven. Back home they still thought I was on vacation, but the hiking part of this trip had been much more than just an adventurous holiday.

 

Finally it was time to pack everything and eat. Then the last part of my hike started, walking to the bus station. Along the way I lit a candle in the large church and then the long waiting started. The bus wouldn't leave for another 1,5 hours. The view from the bus was again very nice and it allowed me to pass another 40 minutes. Then I arrived at one of the most horrible places on earth, Keflavik airport. I had spent a bit too much time there already. I couldn't check in yet so started to look for a place to sleep. Downstairs it was super quiet but as soon as I got there I noticed the following sign:

sleeping at keflavik airport

Sigh, this would be a long night. I had already looked at all the photos I had taken in the past 3 weeks while waiting for the bus, so decided to read this entire story which I had written down during my trip. That took 2,5 hours but after that I still needed to wait another 10. I really wished I could have stayed on the campsite and got a decent night of sleep, but the busses to the airport only left once every few hours and including packing, walking to the bus station, and the bus ride itself the timing just didn't work out. The airport had recently won several prizes for best airport in the world, but despite all the hikers visiting Iceland they had zero accomodations for them.

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