Sit back and enjoy as we visit Iceland's twin Natural wonders.
Blue Lagoon
Unless arriving by boat, most visitors to Iceland touch down at Keflavik, 70 km (43 mi) southwest of the capital Reykjavik. Keflavik perches right at the tip of the Reykanes Peninsula, a rugged, rocky finfer of land that curls upwards, as if beckoning visitors to its shores. Form the air the lunar-like landscape appears dark and moody, but set right in this heart of darkness shines a sapphire gem – the Blue Lagoon.
Privately owned, the site has been tastefully developed into a luxury spa, a giant geothermal hot tub, where visitors can soak away their cares in a uniquely Icelandic way. The milky blue waters are suffused with silica and other minerals, which together are claimed to benefit the skin in numerous ways. In the particular the water are said to be particularly efficacious for sufferers of psoriasis, and attached to the spa is a clinic where various treatments are available.
In addition to a relaxing wallow in the shallow lagoon, guest can enjoy a sauna, which overlooks the lagoon, a cosy steam bath that is carved into a lava cave, or stand beneath a Blue Lagoon waterfall for an energising aqua message. And once dry and refreshed you have the option for visiting the cafe, restaurant or give shop, from where you can take some of the Blue Lagoon’s mineral magic away with you.
Vatnajökull
One of the most eye-catching features of almost any map of Iceland is the huge white mass covering the southeast of the country. This is Vatnajökull. Covering more than eight per cent of the country, and measuring 8,100 sq km (3,100 sq mi), it is not simply the largest glacier in Iceland, it is the largest in Europe. With an average thickness of 400 m (1,300 ft) – but in places extending to 1,000 m (3,200 ft) – Vatnajökull contains a mind-boggling 3300 cu km (791 cu mi) of ice.
Beneath the glacier’s uniformly white surface lies an undulating plateau of valleys and gorges, and like most of Iceland it’s an area of high volcanic activity. Beneath the ice the Grimsvotn lakes sit above a huge magma chamber that erupted as recently as 2004, sending up plumes of ash and sulphur dioxide that were detected as far away as Norway.
When eruptions occur beneath the glacier they can actually lift the ice like a fluffy white blanket, allowing huge quantities of water to rapidly escape. The ensuring floods that followed an eruption in 1996 actually washed away part of Iceland’s ring road. And because of the potentially devastating consequences of such glacial ‘runs’, Vatnajökull is monitored very closely. It has also been receiving more attention of late as, scientists have been examining it for signs of global warming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL_guvraaWMVatnajökull lies within the Skaftafell National Park and every year thousands of visitors come to hike, ski, sled and skiddo over it’s surface. Nearby are the equally enticing Jokulsarlon Lagoon with its flotillas of icebergs, and Oraefajokull, at 2,110 m (7,000 ft), Iceland’s highest mountain.
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