Sunday

Ugh, starting too early to make our 7:30 pickup time, we rose at 6 and soon got dressed in many layers (but I forgot to put on my boots, and Deborah forgot her iPods for long bus rides), swallowed a quick hotel breakfast, and then waited not too long at Bus Stop 1. We were taken to the Bus Hostel and then sorted onto a large bus for the 15-hour tour. It was often two hours between breaks. My colon (shortened by 25cm from cancer treatment) was not kind to me, but no serious accidents happened.

The first stop was a waterfall (their names now all run together). There was a long walk to an overlook, but our guide warned us that the stairs were slippery and the view was not great — we skipped the steps. The steps also, I read, are the start of the trek into the glaciers and not a particularly safe one (there were dire warnings on being adequately prepared and not to do this in winter).

The place was busy, and the view was better from a distance as there was no access to the falls itself, just the area downriver or from the trek lookout.

We spent hours looking out the windows on the bus, with me saying ‘sheep’ when I saw sheep, which was often. Deborah joined in after a while, and we added horses and rocks occasionally. There a lots of sheep and many horses with some cows here and there.

 

We stopped at a massive glacier and a bridge that had been destroyed, meant to withstand the sudden gush of water when an ice lake collapses.

Yes, don’t take the SUV for a test run in Iceland. It is not OK. Your total coverage does not cover that.

The boat crew had a piece of ice for us to take pictures with.

Hours later, after buying sandwiches at the Vik Quick-mark like store for lunch, we arrived at the Iceberg Lagoon, and it was spectacular. Our driver had arranged for a tour in a truck/boat (for an extra cost), we call them Duck Tours, that was slightly delayed, but we got off soon enough. Deborah and I, getting warm from the sun, took off our coats, and that made us a bit cold. The cold rain made that worse. I retrieved the coats and we were better.

The ice was everywhere, and though the glacier looks close, it is ten km away.

We thought this was most telling. It is more like a list of all the things tourists have done wrong.

We returned, after another two-hour drive back over the same places (“Sheep! Horse!”). Vik, it was again, and this time we tried to use the sit-down place, but we waited fifteen minutes for our soup. We did not finish our fries, and my soup was not warm (I suspect it had been waiting for most of the time, too). We were rushed.

The next waterfalls had stairs that led behind the falls, but this led to a rock fall filled with questionable footing. We decided not to forgo that experience. The falls are as large as the others, and they created their own blasting wind, soaking us. It was great!

We then napped some on the bus and watched the animals (“Sheep!” “Cow!” “Horse”). We passed by the American School Bus Cafe but did not stop. We looked it up and wished we had a chance to see it. It is an American school Bus that got shipped here. Crazy! See the link Deborah found.

We returned around 11 to our hotel, and soon we were asleep. Monday has no plans or buses.

Thanks for reading.