Just a little side note here, before we begin….ahem…there are (at least) TWO different locations in the country of Iceland with the name “Blue Lagoon.” So go ahead and make sure you are following the directions on their website instead of following your GPS to the closest Blue Lagoon….alrighty, now that we got that out of the way, we can begin. An hour and a half past our designated time slot, we arrived at the (correct) Blue Lagoon to spend our morning bathing in the warm, sulphur-y water.
Of course I didn’t hesitate to shower, considering this would be my first one in four days. Best. Shower. Of. My. Life. I also kind of loved, if I’m being totally honest, how open everyone was (besides the obvious Americans, of course) about being naked in front of each other (it was a women’s only bathroom, just to clarify). A cluster of like, 3 women a bit older than me were just standing around another woman, as she showered, chatting and having a normal, every day conversation, while they were all stark naked. It was like, Hey, bodies are bodies. I’ve got one, you’ve got one, whatever. It just wasn’t a big deal. The whole experience just made me more secure in my own body! Seeing all these other women, of all ages and sizes, not bothering to hide themselves, their scars and folds and stretch marks and big breasts and small breasts, and saggy bums and firm bums – it was like, girl power! Positive body image! Women are heroes and miraculous and you should flaunt it! In a non-awkward way!
I love traveling.
Anyway, moving on. The Blue Lagoon.
I couldn’t convince Adam to join me in a mud mask, but some people were going crazy over it. They have huge tubs with little dippers in them and I saw people with it all over their bald heads, rubbing it into their armpits and chests, handing some over to a spouse to rub down their backs. It was hilarious, and we loved just sitting and people watching for a few hours.
After I completely took advantage of the free shower, and spent at least a half hour washing my hair out, we begrudgingly said good bye to the Blue Lagoon. Our sadness didn’t last long, though, because next up was the BIG REVEAL. I had been telling Adam about a super secret surprise I had waiting for him in Iceland and he still had no idea what it could be. I gave him directions to our next location, and off we went. Once again, directions/maps/GPS failed us and we ended up knocking on the door of the Coast Guard saying, “HI! We’re here for our HELICOPTER TOUR!!” all excited and cheerful.
“Um….how did you get in here?”
“We buzzed! And they let us in!” I said, still chipper.
“Yeah. Right. Okay, this is the coast guard, so no helicopter tours here. What’s the name of the company you’re flying with?”
“Uhhh…..”
——
“Um…Oh! Nor! Nor something! Yeah, it’s definitely Nor something.”
The guy laughed and shook his head. “Nordurflug? Yeah, here’s where you want to go.” He chuckled again and gave us directions. I still don’t know how we ended up at the coast guard, but at least it wasn’t far and now Adam knew his surprise!! Clearly, he was excited.
But really, he was. The tour was delayed a bit because of rain, so the company gave us vouchers to eat at a nearby restaurant while we waited. An hour later, we were on our way.
Apparently I’m dying of giddiness and Adam is keeping his cool. Pretty typical.
We stayed local on the tour, flying above the city and then landing on a small nearby mountain. There was another couple on the tour with us, and them and the pilot and us all chatted for about 20 minutes. We asked him questions about Iceland, and the pride in his voice was obvious. I loved hearing about his excitement for the sudden boom in the tourism industry, the fact that global warming would “never be Iceland’s fault!” thanks to their geothermal energy, and the late-night partying in Rekyjavik.
After our helicopter landed, it was time to start thinking about where we wanted to spend the night. We knew we didn’t want to stay in the city, and Adam also knew how badly I had wanted to see the Western Fjords. So, we just started driving! We had no idea where we were going. I made Adam make a quick stop on the side of the freeway (probably very illegal and also annoying…I’m sorry! I was one of those people). But I couldn’t pass up this scene!
As we kept driving, we ended up going through a huge, underwater tunnel and we kept saying, “I can’t believe there’s not a toll for this! There definitely would have been a toll for a tunnel this big in the States!” ….Turns out, there was a toll. Waiting for us. At the end of the tunnel. And we had no Icelandic cash on us, and the toll didn’t take cards. So we are still expecting a bill to arrive in the mail for that one.
We definitely got in a huge fight at some point during this portion of the roadtrip. I can’t even remember what the fight had started over, besides just being stressed about it getting dark and not finding a spot to camp. But it was such a picture perfect fight, like something straight out of the movie. I was cramped over a wrinkly map, the car smelled like old food and random jars were flying all around in the back. We just ran through a toll we were supposed to pay. We were hangry in every sense of the word, and we still didn’t know where we were sleeping that night. At one point, I finally just yelled, “Would you just STOP?!?” and Adam swung that wide ol’ van around on a tiny dirt road, slammed on the breaks, and yanked that key to turn the car off. We sat staring out into a gorgeous bay, a long windy road ahead of us, curving into the first bend of the very beginnings of the fjords, and the busy city (and hidden toll) behind us. “It will take an hour to get around that bend,” Adam said, knowing I wanted – craved – to go further, always further. “And it’s already almost sunset.” he added, but he was already starting up the car. Already going forward. Already taking my hand again, as we ventured on.
I remember taking this picture below. I remember, distinctly, saying out loud: “I can’t believe this is coming through my lens right now,” over and over again. I can’t believe I witness this beauty.
This is where we ended up staying for the night – in a little parking lot with a – what else? – Point of Interest sign. It ended up being my absolute favorite camping spot from the whole trip. I think maybe one car passed us the whole night, and even then, we were tucked behind the little valley down behind where Adam is standing, so they couldn’t see us unless they took that side road up to the Point of Interest sign. We stayed outside, watching the sun set behind the water. As the darkness fell and the stars came out, so did little twinkling lights in houses across the bay.
“What do you think they’re doing in there, right now?” I asked Adam. In their quiet, little fishing town on this piece of perfect heaven.
“They’re doing what we would be doing after dinner. Getting their kids ready for bed. Fighting over the dishes. Putting their feet up after a long day of work.”
“But do they know?” I asked again. The question I’d been asking this whole trip. Do Icelanders know how lucky they are?
Do any of us?
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