11/6/24
Tues: Got up at 7am and had canned peaches included in our buffet breakfast
yay! The weather was nice this morning. We checked out at 8.30am and 30 minutes
later, he found N1 Petrol to refill18.51 litres of petrol for 6000 ISK.
It
was about a 40 minutes’ drive to Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO world
heritage site. There were a few carparks to park at and I chose the one I
thought nearest to the Thingvellir National Park Visitor Centre. The platform
outside was filled with tourists.
It’s
a walk between two tectonic plates, where the North American and the Eurasian tectonic
plates meet. We came to a pond of sorts where women were drowned in the past as
punishment. Then, we walked up to Öxarárfoss to admire the waterfall.The
rock under water in between the fissures had blue and green hues… pretty but eerie
at the same time. *lol many people threw coins in* After about two hours,
we walked back to the starting point and bought sandwiches for our drive next.
I
liked the smoked salmon and egg salad bread better than the chicken masala wrap
and the former was cheaper (1090 ISK), albeit they costed 2480 ISK, $24.42 in
total. It took us another 45 minutes to reach the meeting point for “Inside The
Volcano” Tour at Thrihnukagigur at 12.15pm. *There were many groups
embarking on this tour at different timings.*
There
were about 20 people in my group I think, and together with three guides, we
walked for 45 minutes to the base camp near Þríhnúkagígur volcano. On the way,
we saw deep caves with ice and snow on the ground. From afar, one could see “the
three peaks”. We were going to the magma chamber of the one on the right, which
last erupted 4500 years ago. The middle one last erupted 5000 years ago and the
left “oldest” one erupted 50,000 years ago in Ice Age. I guess that makes it an
“extinct” volcano whilst the other two are still dormant ones.
Our
guide explained the history of how Þríhnúkagígur was first climbed by a local
in 1974 and his friends before it was opened to tourists two years later after
National Geographic came to film it in 2010.
Once
we got to the base camp, other guides showed us how to wear the harnesses. After
six of us reached the top of Þríhnúkagígur volcano where the lift was located,
we were told that we will descend 120m down, but the base was actually another
10 to 15km deeper… wow. Our guide in the lift is an experienced mountaineer and
said he’d been doing this “chauffeuring service” 10 times a day probably lol. *I
am afraid of heights, but there were parts where it was dark and I cannot see
much while descending and ascending, so it was okay haha.*
It
was a six minutes' ride down and it's cold in there like your refrigerator,
about four to five degrees Celsius. We had about half an hour to spend in there
and it was an eye-opener down in the volcano. Can’t really imagine I’d be
standing in the middle of where the eruptions happened. The different colours on
the rocks are chemicals like sulphur, iron oxide and calcium and black is
basalt, the original form of how it should be.
See
that long dark patch on top there? It was the part where the lava “exploded”
upwards. It was not easy navigating up and down the rocks as they were messy,
cold and slippery. There’s one corner where we could see another opening
sideways downwards into a narrow but deeper point in the volcano.
Potato
said the tour was the highlight of our Iceland trip. *”Highlight” to me too because
it was the most expensive package (about S$1000 for two pax) in the trip lol.*
Snapped
a picture of the older mountain when we came up to the top again. Also saw a helicopter
landing while we walked back to base camp. We were served lamb soup and it was
so delicious I had half a bowl more lol!
Took
the long walk back to the meeting point and left the place by 4.30pm. PotaTOHs
checked into Skuggi Hotel at 5pm first before we went to Sky Lagoon half an
hour later.
We
bought the “Seven steps ritual” package. The sunset’s beautiful, water temperature’s
just nice and there was a bar in the middle of the pool. The first step was “Laug”,
to slow down and relax in the pool, which we did. But never did we think we’d “regret”
a bit from the second step, “Kuldi”, which was to cool down with the cold plunge
that will stimulate the immune system, decrease blood flow in body and tighten
the skin.
It
was very cold in the six to eight degrees Celcius pool! *They recommend for
people to stay for 30 seconds and I could not stay no more than five and Potato
could not even stand three seconds in there haha.*Third
step of the “ritual” was “Ylur”, to relax in this steamed sauna room at 80 to 90
degrees Celsius for five to 10 minutes to open pores, remove toxins and cleanse
the skin. The view was awesome though. *did not dare take my phone in there so I took a shot from outside*After
“Suld”, being in the cold fog-mist at -5 degrees Celsius to rejuvenate the skin,
we had to bua some salt that had almond oil and sesame seed oil onto our body.
That was “Mykt”, to exfoliate the skin. Stepped into a 46 degrees Celcius steam
room again for “Gufa” where the nutrients are absorbed into the body. It then
ended with a gentle refreshing shower at 40 degrees Celcius.
We
went back to the main pool and went under the man-made waterfall for some
"head massage" haha. The sunset was quite pretty. Left Sky Lagoon
after showering at 7.45pm and saw their nice restaurant and lounge area.
We
walked Reykjavik city area again after so many days and it was cold when the
wind blew! Ended up at Fish Company for a one-hour dinner at 8.15pm. Their
starter was very nice! The bread and butter went so well with the nuts! Amuse
Bouche… fresh prawns!
Their
yuzu sour cocktail (2990 ISK) was not bad. It had yuzu sake, yuzu juice, egg
and simple syrup in it. We shared the fish sashimi platter (6490 ISK) because
Potato wanted to. There was lobster tempura maki and soft shell crab, salmon
and tuna, truffle mayonnaise but the fried sushi tasted better. The salmon was okay
but the tuna nigiri was so-so. It cannot be compared to an authentic one in
Japan, but they were okay for us. Dinner was more expensive tonight, amounting to
16370 ISK (S$159.34).
Stayed
in our hotel for a while before we decided to catch the sunset at 11.55pm at
our last night in Iceland. Sadly, the skies became overcast and filled with
clouds when we drove out at 11.30pm towards the coastline. *Sort of knew
it’d be like this but we tried!* Still, finally some signs of a
“darker-looking” sky haha.
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