Iceland Day Four

When we planned this tripped waaaay back in December of 2020 we had no way of knowing that there would soon be a seismic event. Yes friends, we have an active volcano here!

Unfortunately, the lava stopped emerging just a few weeks before we arrived. Womp, Womp. The above photo is from the interwebs. No matter. We still took an excursion to the valleys of Geldingadalur to check out the smoking remains of the event.

En route to the Volcano site, our driver pulled over by a couple scenic spots where we could snap some pictures. Despite the steely skies, the vistas were just gorgeous.

Our next stop included a trip to a lil’ lavatory which was located at a hot springs. This was far stinkier than the Geyser park that we visited previously. This smelled like hardboiled eggs and toots.

We arrived at the volcano site. I guess I expected it to be more like the other parks we visited with a cafe and visitor center. Not so.

I’m not a hiker in the least. When we arrived here I could see tiny figures aaaall the way at the top of this mountain. I thought “Hey, look at those go getters! We’re surely not going to climb this beast!” You can put this in the “times that I was totally wrong” column.

Fast forward to the top of the mountain. Sorry I didn’t take any picks of the ascension. I was too busy trying not to fall to my death.

Now we get to have a close up look at the steaming lava field. It may not look that dangerous, but just under this crust is 2000 degree lava. Our guide keep stressing this point due to the fact that some other tourists still insisted on walking on the lava, despite the various leaders shouting as much.

Here’s a badly filmed video I took. Sorry, I don’t know how to use my camera properly after all these years.

With lunch on board, it was time to roll on. I haven’t really gone on about the weather being poor. Honestly, the gloomy skies over the volcano seemed appropriate. However, this is where things took a turn for the worse. It started to rain sideways. Despite the deluge, we pulled over to explore this stunning, rocky cliff face.

This spot also has a Hollywood connection. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a very cute film Starring Will Ferrell. The story is based in Iceland and this is the exact spot where the opening “number” was filmed.

We made one more “pull over” stop before reaching our final destination. I’m not sure where it was because it was so ridiculously rainy and windy that I turned right back around and waited on the bus.

The big finale for this excursion is the The Blue Lagoon. This is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland and is listed on National Geographic’s 25 wonders of the world!

The Blue Lagoon is basically a “Spa-zilla”. Its history dates back to 1976 when it was formed next to a geothermal power plant, Svartsengi. It was created by wastewater from drilling for steam and hot water. Wait, what? It’s gonna be fine, trust me.

The drilled water is full of dissolved minerals mixed with seawater and is therefore not suitable for direct use to warm up homes (the minerals would damage the pipes). Instead, the water heats freshwater, which is pumped to nearby urban areas.

After this, the seawater is released into this nearby lava field. Lava is porous, so water usually sinks into it. However, this water is loaded with silica that separates as it cools down. The silica forms a muddy layer over the lava which stops the water from seeping through and Viola! We’ve created the Blue Lagoon.

You’re probably thinking yeah, Blah blah blah, let’s see this Lagoon already! Well, remember how the weather was total crapola? Yeah…

I know, you’re probably feeling super bad for us but do not! The temperature of the Blue Lagoon is a consistent 102 F, so despite it being cold, raw and sleeting sideways, we did have an amazing soak. I just couldn’t take any pictures for your enjoyment.

Lucky for all of us, my friend Keela visited the Lagoon a couple months before we did, so I nabbed one of her pictures from her FaceBook page.

Now you feel worse for me, don’t you… Honestly, it really was amazing. Rain and all.

Our bones were thoroughly soaked. We assembled onto our bus and were escorted back to our home base. As you can imagine we were pretty well knackered at this point. We plunked down at this adorable, American-style hamburger stand for some grub.

That was a heck of an adventure. Let’s get a good night’s sleep for our last day in Reykjavik! We’re gonna make the most of it!