We woke up in Reykjavik feeling mostly refreshed after a long sleep. The Reykjavik Lights Hotel restaurant breakfast consisted of cheeses, meats, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, clementines, a pastry, cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal. I remember because I ate about 80% of the items available. My mom traveled with the Hertz employee to go get our small, silver rental car. When she returned, we started heading southwest, back in the original direction of the Keflavik International Airport that we flew in on. An interesting Iceland traffic laws note: they have the typical red, yellow, and green traffic lights and regulations, but they also include a brief period of red and yellow lights together just after the red light. We asked people at the hotel, and the general idea we got was that it is a "get in gear" signal.The Blue Lagoon
We passed by the city of Vogar, and turned south to get to the Blue Lagoon. After driving through exotic scenery of lava fields and cracked land forms, we reached our destination after less than an hour drive time from Reykjavik. The Blue Lagoon is arguably the largest tourist hot-spot in Iceland. It was originally (and accidentally) formed in 1976 by Svartsengi, a nearby geothermal power plant. How the assumed "spill" went from having a ground cover of black lava rock to white silica mud is unclear to me, but people began swimming in the newly formed lagoon, and they claimed that the water and silica mud/algae combination miraculously improved their skin condition (especially those suffering from psoriasis). Since then, the lagoon became an official public bathing facility in 1992, and it has transformed into a booming attraction for tourists. Not only this, but the lagoon is also a famous subject for research studies (http://www.bluelagoon.com/about-us/research-and-development/), boasting 10+ publications--some concerning dermatology, but others delving into the new microorganisms produced by the lagoon (60% of all microorganisms in the lagoon are native to the lagoon).
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| The Blue Lagoon, with a view of the swimming and non-swimming areas, and the geothermal plant in the background. |
With large tourism comes steep prices. The basic package was 35 euros/person (~$45/person) in the off-season. If you wanted to upgrade, in which you got a towel, bathrobe, free drink, free mask, and free small container of anti-aging cream and moisturizing lotion (the "Comfort" Package), the price escalated to 60 euros/person (~$83/person), which is what we went with. The prices could further climb with add-ons (i.e. massage in the lagoon).
There was also a prep-process for going in the lagoon. It was necessary to shower beforehand, and, if you had long hair, it was recommended to use their "silicon & algae conditioner" before and after going in the lagoon (probably because the water was 2/3 salt water). We were also informed that the lagoon was sanitary since water was recycled every 40 hours. My mom and I got in the warm, sulphur-smelling water quickly since we were dealing with mid-30 degree F rain, and we covered our faces with the white silica mud.
We took advantage of our free drinks from the Lagoon Bar, and each got an interesting berry smoothie. After soaking in the waters for a bit, we got out and each grabbed a vegetarian sushi lunch from the Blue Lagoon facility. We further explored the non-swimming areas of the Blue Lagoon, and the surrounding rock formations before getting back in the car for a longer drive.
We soon passed the city of Grindavik--population 3,000. Grindavik is known primarily as a fishing town, but boasts the Blue Lagoon since it is very close. We began our trek eastbound along the coast (and took a longer route in hopes of a more scenic drive). We briefly stopped at a beach called Hafio Blaa, which had fine, black sand with mountains in the background. We drove further and stopped at another part of the coastline that was entirely black from a previous volcano eruption named the great Pjorsarhraun. The eruption occurred in 6700 B.C., and it covered ~376 square miles with 6 cubic miles of lava, and was the greatest lava flow on Earth since the end of the last Ice Age!
We drove past the city of Selfoss and got on route 1 for the rest of the journey. Once we passed the city of Hella, the scenery transitioned unexpectedly to beautiful, grassy hills and mountains with nicer weather.
Selfalandsfoss
We stopped at a waterfall called Selfalandsfoss, which was less than 40 km from our final destination (Vik). The sun seemed to come out just for us, and we got some breathtaking views and fabulous photos, with a rainbow included.
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| Selfalandsfoss (southern Iceland on Route 1) with a rainbow |
We continued our drive toward Vik without stopping (even though it was very tempting!) since we were pushing our time-limit of getting to the hotel before 6 PM--the time when our rooms could be rebooked. Also a note: Iceland has few radio stations, and most of which are entirely random (a mix of American and Icelandic music, ranging from Usher to music from the dawn of music recordings on the same station). Also, the music is 90% mellow tunes, so bring an AUX cord if you come here and rent a car.
We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Dyrholaey, at 5:20 PM after what I would approximate to be 200 - 240 km of driving for the day. The hotel we stayed on was up a switchback gravel road on the top of a grassy hill. The hotel was owned by a farmer, who had farm and hotel facilities on the same property. Our room wouldn't have likely been given away, as we were the only customers in the entire hotel that night. We arranged our breakfast with the receptionist for 7:30 AM the next day (she made it clear that she would only be there at 7:30 if we were there at 7:30), and then she gave us a dinner and more site-seeing recommendations around the city of Vik.
We stopped at dinner in Vik at Strondin Bistro and Bar, where my mom and I both got steak pitas. I also got an Icelandic orange soda called Appelsin, which was supposed to have the orange flavor with a hint of lime. It tasted just like Sunkist to me.
Reynisfjara Beach
We then backtracked to one of the recommended spots called Reynisfjara beach. It is the southernmost beach in Iceland, and has black sand and remarkable columnar basalt walls and caves. It is also a hot-spot for socializing Puffins, but, unfortunately, they did not socialize with us.
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| Rectangular column basalt walls on Reynisfjara beach. |
There are also patches of smooth, black rocks that cover the beach. My mom and I scavenged for the perfect "worry stones" while we made our way to and from the caves. We both ended up getting too attached to the smooth stones--I left mine, but later adopted the one my mom had picked up for my dad.
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| From the inside of one of the caves made from the column-shaped stones |
Dyrholaey
We backtracked a little further past our hotel to the second recommended destination: Dyrholaey. Dyrholaey is a 120-m high rock formation extending into the sea with a large hole through it resulting from sea erosion; as a result of the unique formation, Dyrholaey was named with the translation "door-hill-island" in mind, since ships can literally pass through the giant hole. The area is a nature reserve (since 1987), with an extensive number of bird species (including Puffins, which we sadly did not see again), and has an old light house (1910) looming at the top of the hill near the extending rock cliff. Mom and I hiked around a bit at the beach at the base of the hill were Dyrholaey resides, and then we started to climb the hill to get to the lighthouse and Dyrholaey until we realized that the sun was starting to sink. We went back to the car and drove up to the lighthouse, and then hiked out to view the cliffs.
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| Dyrholaey |
Finally, the sun was setting and we were exhausted from our day (keep in mind, it is around 9 or 9:30 PM). We drove back to our hotel, and just before bed, we tried unsuccessfully to catch any sign of the northern lights. It is towards the late side of seeing the lights (lights generally seen Sept. - April), but I'm sure we will still check every night we are here.
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