The sleepy town of Isajafour (which I now realize I always spell a bit differently; naming an Icelandic town when translated to English is a bit like spelling out Hanukah) receives several massive, multi-thousand filled cruise ships a week. There is simply nowhere for all these tourists to go so they mostly wander the streets in a kind of daze. We made like the locals and drove a few minutes and one tunnel (this one had two lanes) away to the next town where we hit up the local pool.

Local pool customs are pretty rigid. Shoes off by the reception area. Then a naked and more public than you wish shower in the locker room before heading outside where there will likely be more pools than lounge chairs. Among those pools will be one filled with ice water. Seated there may be an older Icelandic man who will appear content despite his choice of bathing in the worst pool possible. Sometimes he may motion to his friends who will ignore him.

Another rule is no photos. Which makes sense considering all the naked Icelandic children running around. Children here look after younger siblings who look after toddler siblings in a kind of nesting guardianship. It has a real 1950s feel with children allowed to roam and do things like squirt water in my eyes while I’m trying to soak up the sun. Sometimes the pools also have random niceties. Yesterday there was free coffee which people sipped at while soaking in steaming water.

After the pool we headed into town to grab a couple beers at the only brewery in the Westfjords. There we saw our guide from yesterday (a Brit) who was talking to a Canadian and a woman from Honduras. Those three plus the incredibly nice Canadian working at the campground hint at a large international community of folks studying and working year round in Isajafoir. They likely come for the lifestyle, high wages and cheap graduate tuition (about $2000 a year). Many will stay in Iceland for as long as they can. For us though it is time to ship off. Three nights in this beautiful campground with amazing weather (super sunny, low wind and reasonable temps although very cold overnight) have done us good. If we don’t leave today we may end up looking for jobs here tomorrow.