Then we walked to the main road, waiting for Bus 15 to Jökulsarlon which would leave from Skaftafell at 8.30 a.m. While we were waiting by the main road, TT tried to call to Reykjavik Excursions to inform that we were waiting for the bus in Hof and to Icelandic Moutain Guides to book the glacier walk in the afternoon. However, none of the places answered the calls. Perhaps, it was too early (just a bit after 8 a.m.). Around 8.15 a.m., TT tried again and it worked. The operator of Reykjavik Excursions said that she would try to call the driver. And the bookng for the glacier was ok (we just had to pay it before 12.30 p.m.). So, everything seemed to work as we planned...
The bus which looked rather old but full of passengers came around 8.50 a.m. The bus fare was 2800 ISK. After a while, Vatnajökull appeared to our sight...
Less than half an hour later, we arrived at Jökulsarlon where we would have 2 hour time to explore.
The glacier lagoon looked just wonderfully unreal... I have no idea how and what to describe such a scenic place like this. It was akind of experience that you can't tell. You just have to see it by yourself.
Then, instead of just walking around, we decided to take a 4-wheel boat around the lagoon (2500 ISK). It was actually rather cloudy in the early morning. However, after we were on the boat, the clouds somehow disappeared and the sky became blue. The boat drove us from the sand beach to the lagoon and float among the icebergs.
When the glacier reached the shore 50 years ago, the broken ice drifted way in the ocean waves. The icebergs at Jökulsarlon would exit until they melt down into smaller ice cubes that tumble out to sea. Jökulsarlon is considered the lowest point in Iceland, as the land beneath the ice is 200 m below the sea level.
It was such a special place that was extremely easy to access...
The man in the small boat shown in the picture below cleared the water way for the 4-wheel boat, making sure that there was no ice under the water surface.
Why are icebergs blue? The blue color is caused by the absorption of red and yellow, leaving blue. When light deeply penetrates the icebergs, the ice grains scattered the a large amount of light. If the iceberg is more icy and clear, it appears more blue.
The gray color is from sand collected in the glacier.
This was our guide who spoke like a tape recorder. Whatever questions you asked, you would get the answers repeating what she had said... In her hand (the photo below) was an ice piece from the lagoon whose age would be more than a thousand year. She divided this ice piece and let the passengers tasted the ice. Ice from glacier melts slower than normally, because the ice crystals are larger. As crystals melt from outside, large crystals expose less surface area per unit volume of ice. The lesser surface the larger crystals have, the more slowly the ice melt.
The boat tour took 40 minutes to go around the lagoon.... The weather had been nice throughout the journey.
This was the funny-looking boat with 4 wheels that took us to the lagoon. It was the smartest and perhaps the cheapest solution to have boats with wheels, instead of building a harbor...
After the boat tour, we went to grab something to eat in the cafe by the lagoon. The tiny bowl of soup costed 850 ISK. It was better than nothing; however, a larger portion or a full meal would make me happier! Then, we walked along the beach. The weather bacame cloudy that changed the ambience of the lagoon.
The boat with the subsequent group of passengers was floating in the glacier lagoon...
The company seemed to have several boats, two of which were operated around the same time.
This seemed to be an easy but successful business!
When we left the lagoon at 11.15 a.m., the rain started... Everywhere looked gloomy...
The bus stopped for 5 minutes in Freysnes to fill the tank at the gas station. We ran to the store and bought a lot of food...
Having returning to Skaftafell a bit after 12 p.m., we went to pay for the afternoon glacier walk tour. The walk was called Blue Ice Experience (3900 ISK). We would walk on ice using crampons for 2.5-3 hours. For me, walking on ice should be as short as possible! I didn't want to walk on ice, but to see the ice...
As we had time until 2 p.m. before the walk started, we went for a walk in the Skaftafell National Park. We walked along the path under the slight rain to the direction of Skaftafelljökull which around 1940 had still merged with Svinafelljökull in front of Hafrafel. The texture of the glacier looked surreal. The closer we walked, the more surreal it appeared...
We walked until the end of the path...
There are many nice little flowers everywahere along the path...
About 2 p.m., we were ready for the walk, waiting at the car park of the national park. We tried on crampons that we would use for the walk. I borrowed also a pair of gloves, because my mitten had no fingers. However, as it seemed too dirty to put my hands in, I didn't use them at all.
As our walk would start in Svinafelljökull, we had a bus (van) ride to the point. Our plastic bag of food bought from Freysnes also came with us. TT had to hide it behind a rock before the walk started. We couldn't leave it on the bus, because the driver (who was a Brit) said that he wasn't sure which bus would take us back...
The guide described how to put the crampons on and how to walk with them. He also gave us ice axes that we actually used as walking sticks as well as warning that we should walk with caution and photographing while walking wasn't allowed.
The picture below showed the spot where we started to walk with crampons.
This was our guide...
A deep cravass or a fracture in the glacier...
Ridges of ice...
Although the level of this walk was easy, to me it already reached my maximum ability... I was happy that I chose the right choice. I generally wasn't fond of walking on ice and mountains (those that someone else might call them hills)...
Except for being careful with my steps. I felt that nature is truly amazing. It could created everything and challenge everyone. And anything could happen in nature. We are so tiny compared to the vast nature.
Blue color could be seen everywhere. The reason that the glacier appears blue is the same as I had described above about icebergs.
I particularly liked crevasses because of the shapes, blue color and compositions...
We saw another group walking along the ridge. The group must be the 6 hour walk tour (which I would never consider taking). They seemed to walk with the same speed...
After approximately 3 hours, the walk ended. We cleaned our crampons which were full of mud and stones in water. TT fetched the shopping bag and informed the guide that we would like to leave the bus before it turned to the main road. The bus with the same driver (who was always late) picked us up at the same spot.
After the bus ride, we walked to Freysnes where we would hitchhike to Hof. It started to rain slightly. When we arrived in Freysnes, the rain became truly strong. Strong rain made hitchhiking almost impossible. On waiting in front of the store in Freysnes, I saw many people whom I met today, a couple in the walk tour, the tour guide, the lagoon bus driver, when TT went under the rain to hitchhike on the main road. I did ask the couple for a ride. Unfortunately, they would go only until Svinafell. After an hour, rain didn't get calmer and we were still in Freysnes. TT came back from the road as he didn't succeed with the hitchhike. Then, TT saw an old couple filling the tank and asked for a ride to Hof. Luckily, they were also going to Hof to stay overnight in Litla Hof, a farmhouse in the same village as our guesthouse. They hesitated for a while and were finally willing to give us a ride. As we chatted with the couple in the car, we knew that they are Dutch who have a Thai as their neighbor in the Netherlands...
On approaching Hof, the sky surprisingly became clear again... After 20 minutes from Freysnes, we arrived in Hof. We thanked and said good-bye to the Dutch couple.
I prepared dinner which was again noodle with ham and egg (again twin egg yolks - not anymore a surprise...), just likeyester day but of different flavor. We took shower and discussed what our plan would be for tomorrow. As we were quite sure that the weather wouldn't be nice in the south at least for a few days to come, we thought that we should perhaps return to Reykjavik tomorrow and rent a four-wheel to drive on an in-land road for a day. Having argreed on this idea, TT called to cancel the jeep and the youth hotel in Statafell, the Mulaskali hut and the cottage in Höfn. Then, another thing to find out was how to catch the Reykjavik Excursions bus to Reykjavik which would leave from Skaftafell at 8.30 a.m... Otherwise, we would have to be in Hof and wait for the Net Bus that would come from Höfn in the afternoon to return to Reykjavik. We asked the guide of the French group, unfortunately, they would go to Jökulsarlon, which was the opposite direction...
Anyway, after bad luck, good luck was awiting. In the late evening, a Spanish couple arrived at the guesthouse and stayed in the same room as us. TT chatted with them and found out that they had to be in Skaftafell at 8.30 a.m. for a galcier walk (the one which would be 4-6 hours). They were kind to take up with them. And TT offer to share them our food for breakfast. Such a good luck! This made us sleep very well...
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