On Day 17, we went for our final guided activity for Iceland, a horseback riding tour offered by Islenski Hesturinn. They have raving reviews on TripAdvisor and like other tours we communicated and made our reservations via emails and payment was made at the end of the tour.
We were picked up at 8.30am from our apartment and attended a short briefing by the boss, Begga after we were comfortably seated in the stable. She gave us an introduction to Icelandic horses and went through certain commands and actions for that we would use later; you could really feel her love and passion for the horses as she spoke. We are true novices to horseback riding and there really isn’t any better way to experience it since Icelandic horses are much smaller than regular horses and have good temperaments. They also have a unique fifth gait that makes riding more comfortable. We were then fitted with gloves and helmets before being pair out with our horses. After a short period of walking around the pen, the gates were open and we started on our route! It can get pretty cold along the way and since you have to keep both hands on the reins, bundle up properly before you go!
Begga led the way, stopping when necessary to describe the landscape. She gradually introduced and explained the 5 types of gaits, so we were able to experience all of them. The whole tour lasted about 3 hours and we were riding and moving for about 80% of the route. As beginners I wouldn’t say it was extremely easy, but it would have been much harder on regular horses! We tend to hold on to the reins too tightly and also have problems keeping our legs straightened (the wife blamed it on her short legs). Every now and then, the crew will give us pointers on and encourage us to keep trying; it was well appreciated and needed 🙂 Begga gave us a horseshoe for good luck after learning that we were newly-weds on our honeymoon and they sent us all the pictures that were taken during the tour to our email.
It was around lunch time when we arrive back at Reykjavik so the bus kindly dropped us off at the Old Harbour where we went to The Sea Baron to try the lobster soup that Stefan raved about. Still pretty hungry, we went back to Iceland’s best hot dog stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. We had it before Stefan introduced it to us and this time we went back for more! The hot dog, made out of lamb and pork with various toppings and condiments is simply the best hot dog we have ever tasted.
Our original plan for the afternoon was supposed to be whale watching but we were ‘all-toured-out’ and decided to take it easy for the remaining day. We took a long walk back to apartment and visited the local swimming pool, Sundhöllin that Siguron recommended. Much of the swimming pools were located indoors with the exception of some outdoor hot tubs and all the water is geothermal-heated! As we later learnt, this was the oldest swimming pool in Iceland and there are other spanking new ones further from town that are fully outdoors and complete with slides, saunas and hot tubs. The Blue Lagoon is touristy and rather overpriced so these pools are a nice alternative and in fact frequently visited by the locals.
absolute honesty 