After a night in a quaint guest house, we hit the ground running in the Southern side of Iceland. The grand plan was a glacial hike, but first we returned to the glacial lagoon (some of the group booked a boat tour); then we went to another glacial lagoon where you can also see the glacial ice clearer. Then we headed to the glacier to hike – I was nervous as heck I wouldn’t be fit enough but it was A OK. Not too much of a climb (or at least gentle enough!). Then we raced the wind storm back, and won (I think!?) to Reykjavik. Of course, it was something like 8.30pm when I checked into my new hostel, but it’s bright so it’s hard to notice the time! I need food. A shower. A load of washing. And… Instead I’m charging devices and uploading photos.
I wasn’t actually cold at all – between wind proof pants with leggings underneath, and a 11 year old Land’s End jacket rated to 35C, I was toasty warm, so much so, I unzipped on my way down when there was no wind or rain 🙂 It was a long drive back to the capital, but we have wifi on all the minibuses (and I have a charging block – looks like a stone… the ones I’ve seen all over Iceland!). The bus trip home was filled with spotify music, uploading to Facebook and chatting online. It was quite lovely – given it was blustery and rainy a large portion of the drive home.
Love the ice (again). Yeah, the glaciers I’ve seen here in Canada are also sooty looking from dust and dirt, but maybe to a lesser degree than the volcanic ash! You must be happy with your boots for this trip.
I would have suspected dust and dirt, but this is SO far from a (small) city, it seemed not that plausible.
The work boots I’ve taken have been wonderful – they are well worn in (no blisteres!), and nice thick soles so no feeling the cold ground through them (and nice thick socks). They weren’t good enough for the crampons/hiking due to the pressure so they loaned me proper hiking boots. Which I’m sure I was meant to pay for, but like a few things, I slinked away and no one followed up. It feels slack, but then, reusable items and hire fees have me a little… uncomfortable? Like, sure there’s a cost to supply, but is the hire fee truly reflective of the number of uses?