Two travellers who spoke very limited English were evicted from a private backyard in a Reykjavík suburb yesterday. The men expressed surprise when residents asked them to leave and pretended not to understand that they had to clean up the trash they left behind.
Caused concern and fear
A local man, Heimir Jónsson, who lives in a house next to a busy rest stop on the Ring Road in the Reykjavík suburb of Árbær told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he believes the men had pitched their tent shortly after midnight on Sunday Then they woke up around noon the next day, calmly exited their tent and sat down to eat protein bars and flatkökur. Flatökur are an Icelandic flatbread popular among campers.
Heimir told Morgunblaðið that an elderly woman who lives in the flat next to his had been deadly afraid of the men. She had no idea who the men were, and was afraid they might be local hobos, drug addicts or criminal drifters. Which was the case, of course: Camping in people's backyards has nothing to do with hiking or adventure. It is criminal behavior, plain and simple.
Seemed friendly
Heimir approached the men to explain to them that they had to take down their tent and leave immediately, unless they wanted him to call the police. He told Morgunblaðið that the men seemed pleasant enough, but appeared surprised that they weren't welcomed with open arms by the people whose backyard they were trespassing in. According to Heimir they didn't speak very good English, but instead attempted to communicate in French.
They didn't speak very good English, and I tried to explain to them they had to take the trash they had left with them, but they seemed to have trouble understanding me.
Heimir told Morgunblaðið that the men were on foot, and that they were probably hitchhiking. The rest stop by the Ring Road next to his house is a popular spot among hitchhikers. He told Morgunblaðið that while hitchhikers are most common in summer there are hitchhikers at all times of the year, even at the end of February.
A bus stop and a gas station and rest stop on the Ring Road next to Heimir's house is one of the busiest stops for travellers heading out of Reykjavík.
Staggering disrespect and rudeness
This story left us at Iceland Insider at a loss of words. While language problems might serve as an excuse in some situations this is clearly not one: There is no place anywhere in the world where it is legal to camping in other people's backyards. The two idiots Heimir discovered in his backyard would not have camped out in a backyard back home in France.
We sometimes hear that Icelanders must accept the good with the bad when it comes to tourism: That it's somehow disingenuous to complain over misbehaving tourists when we are at the same time encouraging people to come to Iceland and enjoy what the country has to offer. We disagree, of course.
Read more: From the editor: Is there an angry backlash against tourism in Iceland?
It is perfectly reasonable to expect foreign travellers to make all kinds of mistakes and errors: Anyone who has visited a foreign country knows that it's easy to make mistakes. But some things should go without saying. Trespassing on private property and pitching a tent in someone's backyard is one of those. It is also a stunningly disrespectful abuse of the hospitality of the people whose country you are visiting.
All studies show that Icelanders are overwhelmingly positive towards tourism and foreign visitors, and anyone who has visited Iceland will tell you that Icelanders accept foreign visitors with open arms. One major reason for that is that the overwhelming majority of foreign visitors are courteous and polite, and treat the country and their hosts with respect. Unfortunately there are always some rotten apples. The two trespassing Frenchmen for example.
Read more: 64% of Icelanders positive toward foreign travellers, just 10.5% hold negative views
Icelanders are more than happy to share their beautiful country with foreign visitors. But buying an airline ticket to Iceland does not come with free and unlimited access to people's homes and backyards, nor does it grant permission to abuse the hospitability of the locals.
We sincerely hope that the two men did not intend to cause alarm or affront, and that they felt enough shame to learn a lesson. Hopefully they will camp at designated campsites for the remainder of their stay in Iceland, rather than people's backyards.
Two travellers who spoke very limited English were evicted from a private backyard in a Reykjavík suburb yesterday. The men expressed surprise when residents asked them to leave and pretended not to understand that they had to clean up the trash they left behind.
Caused concern and fear
A local man, Heimir Jónsson, who lives in a house next to a busy rest stop on the Ring Road in the Reykjavík suburb of Árbær told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he believes the men had pitched their tent shortly after midnight on Sunday Then they woke up around noon the next day, calmly exited their tent and sat down to eat protein bars and flatkökur. Flatökur are an Icelandic flatbread popular among campers.
Heimir told Morgunblaðið that an elderly woman who lives in the flat next to his had been deadly afraid of the men. She had no idea who the men were, and was afraid they might be local hobos, drug addicts or criminal drifters. Which was the case, of course: Camping in people's backyards has nothing to do with hiking or adventure. It is criminal behavior, plain and simple.
Seemed friendly
Heimir approached the men to explain to them that they had to take down their tent and leave immediately, unless they wanted him to call the police. He told Morgunblaðið that the men seemed pleasant enough, but appeared surprised that they weren't welcomed with open arms by the people whose backyard they were trespassing in. According to Heimir they didn't speak very good English, but instead attempted to communicate in French.
They didn't speak very good English, and I tried to explain to them they had to take the trash they had left with them, but they seemed to have trouble understanding me.
Heimir told Morgunblaðið that the men were on foot, and that they were probably hitchhiking. The rest stop by the Ring Road next to his house is a popular spot among hitchhikers. He told Morgunblaðið that while hitchhikers are most common in summer there are hitchhikers at all times of the year, even at the end of February.
A bus stop and a gas station and rest stop on the Ring Road next to Heimir's house is one of the busiest stops for travellers heading out of Reykjavík.
Staggering disrespect and rudeness
This story left us at Iceland Insider at a loss of words. While language problems might serve as an excuse in some situations this is clearly not one: There is no place anywhere in the world where it is legal to camping in other people's backyards. The two idiots Heimir discovered in his backyard would not have camped out in a backyard back home in France.
We sometimes hear that Icelanders must accept the good with the bad when it comes to tourism: That it's somehow disingenuous to complain over misbehaving tourists when we are at the same time encouraging people to come to Iceland and enjoy what the country has to offer. We disagree, of course.
Read more: From the editor: Is there an angry backlash against tourism in Iceland?
It is perfectly reasonable to expect foreign travellers to make all kinds of mistakes and errors: Anyone who has visited a foreign country knows that it's easy to make mistakes. But some things should go without saying. Trespassing on private property and pitching a tent in someone's backyard is one of those. It is also a stunningly disrespectful abuse of the hospitality of the people whose country you are visiting.
All studies show that Icelanders are overwhelmingly positive towards tourism and foreign visitors, and anyone who has visited Iceland will tell you that Icelanders accept foreign visitors with open arms. One major reason for that is that the overwhelming majority of foreign visitors are courteous and polite, and treat the country and their hosts with respect. Unfortunately there are always some rotten apples. The two trespassing Frenchmen for example.
Read more: 64% of Icelanders positive toward foreign travellers, just 10.5% hold negative views
Icelanders are more than happy to share their beautiful country with foreign visitors. But buying an airline ticket to Iceland does not come with free and unlimited access to people's homes and backyards, nor does it grant permission to abuse the hospitability of the locals.
We sincerely hope that the two men did not intend to cause alarm or affront, and that they felt enough shame to learn a lesson. Hopefully they will camp at designated campsites for the remainder of their stay in Iceland, rather than people's backyards.
