So, on Gunnar the Toyota Yaris:
First of all, automatics aren't so much driven in Iceland. In fact, as I learned when I arrived at Hertz, they don't rent them at all. That's a problem, because I don't drive stick (well, I do
now...) God bless Seth L. for trying to teach me for about an hour a couple of years ago. His lessons were very useful as I pissed off innumerable Reykjavik drivers by stalling at stoplights, and nearly killed myself a few times. But I got the hang of it eventually. I can even start in reverse now! Sort of.
The other big adventure with the car came on a gravel road to Thorsmork national forest, where I overestimated the Yaris's ground clearance and ended up completely stuck in some gravelly mud. I had to hike out about 15K to the nearest farm, and ask the farmer, who spoke no English, to help. Using a combination of hand signs and his 14-year-old son's first-year high school English, we were able to communicate about the situation, and he offered to tow me out with his tractor. What a sweet guy. I rode along with the son in a very sketchy, rickety box on the back of the tractor out to where my car was stuck, and the farmer had it out in no time. They were incredibly generous, friendly people--it took an hour out of their busy farm day to complete the whole operation.
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