Ice and glaciers and lagoons, oh my!

Turns out, Höfn is the first big service town after contouring all the fjords, and the last before heading into the vast emptiness of the glacial run-off fields, or Sandars, so everyone driving the Ring Road stops here to rest and refuel. This means that the one campground in the center of town is happening place at ALL hours. Late into the night, we could hear campers talking loudly, banging pots and pans around in the kitchen area, setting up tents much more noisily than seems physically possible. Somewhere around 2 am, a group of Russians got into an argument, and THAT lasted an extra hour - and then the sun came up. So when we sluggishly rolled out of the tent, both Mario and I were EXHAUSTED, and DIRTY, as the campground offers over 400 spaces to camp, but only TWO showers.

There was only on way to fix this problem - we headed for the Höfn aquatic center. Every town in Iceland has one, and because of the ample amount of geothermal energy, all the pools are heated! Here, we were able to enjoy the relaxing benefits of hot tubs, a heated lap pool, waterslides(!), and plenty of shower and changing rooms with heated floors. On this quiet weekday morning, only a handful of locals were on site, reaping the benefits of the warm waters, so we joined them, soaking away the horrible night, steam rising into the air around us as a light drizzle fell. And the long hot shower afterwards couldn't have felt more refreshing or invigorating. We left an hour later, completely relaxed and ready to begin our day again.

Now we are heading along the south side of Iceland, known for the tongues of the Vatnajökull glacier, and the resulting run-off plains, or Sandars. It's a long, flat drive, not as visually intriguing as the fjords, but the reward is the glacier lagoons hidden at the end of each tongue. Large chunks of ice break off the glacier, and can sometimes float(or sit) in a lagoon for up to 5 years before becoming small enough to follow the evacuation river out to sea, where they eventually melt into nothingness. The most famous of these lagoons is Jökulsarlon - surrounded by outfitters providing Zodiac tours, amphibious boat rides, this is the lagoon all the tourists come to, with its big parking lots, on-site cafe and food trucks. It's awesome seeing such large glacial icebergs bobbing about, but the REAL fun is on the other side of the highway, where the same chunks of ice head out to sea, get stuck in the rising tide, and end up beached on the back sand. Imagine the clearest chunks of ice, some the most brilliant blue or the brightest white, the sand pitch black - then throw in striking beams of sunlight. It's magical. We could even pick up pieces of the bergs on the beach, breaking off chunks to taste. That's ice that has been frozen for thousands of years - try putting that into your scotch!(We saw someone in a campervan who did!)

Next stop, smaller and lesser-known Fjallsarlon. With brand-new facilities and walking tracks, this place is trying to draw some of the attention away from its more popular neighbor, but for the moment, it is a hidden gem of a place. The lagoon show for us was more impressive, with one particularly impressive chunk looking like a broken ring and garnering all the attention and photos, especially when the sun hit it just the right way. Obviously glacier lagoons experiences are different for everyone because they are ever-changing, but for our moment in time, it was an awesome show.

During these lagoon visits, we crafted ANOTHER script, this time for an online Japanese Anime short, where our hero, a run-of-the-mill ordinary guy, approaches people with there heads down in their devices. He first round-house kicks the phone from their hands, then open-fist punches them in the forehead. When they finally look up, dumb-founded, he yells much too loudly, as any good Japanese Anime character would, "LIVE IN THE MOMENT!", the cellphone flying into the sun overhead, where it disappears with a gleam.

From here we opted to chart a course for Skatafell, the main base camp for exploration of the Vatnajökull glacier and surrounding area. Many expeditions depart from here, as do a bunch of hiking trails. Plus, there is a great visitor's information centre and camping complex, which made it the perfect place to stay. And upon seeing the campground amenities(including the
BEST.BATHROOMS.EVER.), we opted to stay not for one night, but two.