The Blue Lagoon

This post is picture-free.

The late afternoon was a trip to the Blue Lagoon. If you don't know what what this is, it's probably Iceland's most promoted tourist trap attraction. It's a gigantic geothermal pool filled with naturally heated salt water from deep underground located about 45 minutes from Reykjavik and 15 minutes from the airport. Many visitors go there either on their way into town from the airport or on their way to the airport to head home. We elected to make a special trip there. First a shuttle picked us up at our hotel and took us (and others) to the bus terminal. Then we rode the bus to the Blue Lagoon. Then we walked a couple of hundred yards in the cold wind to the entrance pavilion.

Once in the pavilion, there were three lines: regular tickets, group sales and premium tickets. We had purchased the premium tickets, which included a towel, robe, flip flops, two different mud masks and a free drink at the in-pool bar. It also had the shortest line, by far. We collected our color-coded wrist bands and split up into the men's and women's locker & shower room. They insist you shower thoroughly before entering the lagoon, and you really want to shower afterwards because of all the minerals on your body and in your hair.

You then proceed to the pool entrance area, where 500 people hang their identical towels and robes on 200 hooks, and put their identical flip flops in a special spot on the floor that they'll remember an hour or two later when they get out of the lagoon.

The water in the lagoon is salt water, heavy with silica, and about 100 degrees. And there's a fair degree of variability, with hot and cold spots. Your head, however, is in a gusty breeze with an air temperature around 50F. So your head, and arms or upper body if you expose them, get chilled quickly. Everyone is floating around, laughing and generally having a good time. With our premium tickets, we each got a free drink. I was feeling a little queasy, so Sally had two - a glass of the finest red wine, and some kind of smoothie.

I was amazed by the number of people who brought their phones into the lagoon to take pictures. I understand wanting to memorialize this unique event, but the chance of having your phone working afterwards seems slim. This is part of the reason we have no pictures - I wasn't going to risk a camera or phone.

I'm perplexed by the attractiveness of this thing. I get hot tubs, although they're not my thing. I get the cool factor of a geothermal-powered, giant hot tub. I even get free drinks. What I don't get is riding three hours on busses and shuttles, standing in line to get in, showering with a couple of dozen of your new found friends, eating over-priced and mediocre food (we didn't) and paying an exhorbitant amount of money for the privilege.

I also confess I don't get mud masks, but that could be me.

The other reason I have no pictures is that the queasiness escalated quite severely and rapidly. After about 45 minutes in the hot water, I was sitting on the floor in a WC in the locker room giving back lunch. And breakfast. The ride back on the bus was similarly eventful. Even Sally didn't want to sit near me on what was our 44th Anniversary. What kind of a wife is that?

Suffice it to say, the ride was horrible. By the time we reached the hotel, I was shaking from chills and went right into bed.

Fortunately, by morning I felt better enough - 70%? - that I could pull myself together and we headed out into the country to see the natural wonders of Iceland.

 

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans