The Blue Lagoon

A common practice when leaving Iceland is to hit the Blue Lagoon as it is somewhat en route to Keflavik airport. I booked a bus to take me there for a few hours before catching a plane to England. The terrain towards Keflavik looked better in the sunlight (as opposed to the early morning overcast glow I experienced on arriving to this wonderful country) but it’s definitely a tough terrain with young, sharp volcanic rock mostly covered in moss. We could see the steamy plume of the Blue Lagoon from miles away. A power plant nearby supplies both electricity and hot water for a large portion of the nearby population, but it is a bit of an eyesore for one of the biggest hot tubs in the world. I felt a little trepidatious about leaving my bags in the bus as there weren’t many bags in the back yet the bus was full. Wasn’t everyone going to the airport? Would this same bus just hang around for a few hours? Well, yes, I had nothing to worry about.

I walked around a little outside the resort, checking out some lovely blue pools of warm water amongst the moss covered lava rock. Time to tub. Inside, I presented my ticket and received a plastic bracelet that had some electronic device in it that was used to lock and unlock your locker. It was a pretty cool system. You just picked any locker, put your stuff in it, closed the door and then a central panel would beep while flashing your locker number. As if you were Dr. Coy in Star Trek trying to get a medical reading, you held your bracelet up until you got the all clear signal and heard your locker lock. To open, you simply held your bracelet against the central panel again and voila, access to your personal belongings was granted.

There were numerous signs on what and what not to do. One odd one was that you were to shower sans bathing suit before going into the lagoon. I get the showering bit, but didn’t see what removing the trunks did...oh well, when in Rome. I ventured out to the lagoon but had to return to my locker almost immediately as it was too bright outside to not warrant wearing sunglasses. Once back in the hot pool, I waded my way around with my toes stepping in a fine silt resting on smooth rock. At times, patches of hotter water would pass by, at first I liked them, later I avoided. Sitting at the far end of the pool, I realized that hot tubs can be a bit boring when you’re by yourself and not allowed a beer! A woman from Wales struck up a small conversation with me and she was a civilian police worker who supposedly has had her voice on a few episodes of a British show I believe called “Traffic Cop”. After she waded by, I began to talk with another gentleman who had been sitting nearby. John was in his 60s and from northern England. He was a very interesting fellow to chat with as he was into traveling (he had just returned from Toronto and was going on an Alaskan cruise in a month’s time) and was also working on a masters degree...in German humanities in German! I applaud people who keep exercising their grey matter throughout their lives, one way to keep young. We chatted for half an hour or so and it made the whole lagoon experience much more fun. Thanks John!

I later caught an uneventful flight to England and was picked up by my cousin Sid and his girlfriend Sonia. We ended up staying up quite late, catching up and imbibing a few bevies. Let the next stage begin!







Leaving Iceland: