Pórlákshöfn is known as surfers paradise in Iceland. So still part of our new plan was to find out if it was possible to rent some surfboards and get some guidance on the water for a reasonable price. At the reception of the campsite they were not really familiar with the surfschool. Then we went to the information centre of Pórlákshöfn, but it was closed. So we went to Reykjavik to find more information about surfing Iceland, and make the bookings for our new plan. We convinced ourselves to book 2 or 3 activities, because all the things we did up to now didn't cost any money, exception of the bird watching on the Faroe Islands, health centre at Mývatn and going up the tower of the Hallgrímchurch in Reykjavik. But it was nothing compared with other travels we made. We also knew Iceland would be expensive and we were really spoiled up to now. Especially if you know what people pay to go 12 hours driving in the highlands by touringcar. And we didn't reach our spending limit by far. So we booked the volcano trip and the glacier hike. The surfing was off the map. It was way too expensive. The price was the same as the volcano trip, and believe me it's expensive. The volcano trip could be done the same day. We were happy we still had a nice activity for this day. Our pick up was in Reykjavik, so we stayed at the city centre some more and we already we found out there was a black market where the souvenirs seemed to be a little cheaper (souvenirs in Iceland are also way too expensive). So we went buying some souvenirs and then the highlight of our day. Well I can say the highlight of our trip. We were going to travel to the centre of the earth by descending 120 meters in a volcano, þríhnúkagígur (don't ask me to pronounce). This is very special because normally a volcano fills up with lava or the walls collapse after an eruption, but this volcano is a remarkable one. When the lava drained out of it, the walls kept standing. It's the only possibility to go in a volcano in the world. First we had to walk to the volcano like 45 minutes. It was raining but we got some nice investigator rain jackets. Almost at the top of the crater there was the base camp and we got a nice hot beverage and the guide did explain some things about the equipment and the volcano itself. Then we went to the crater, there was an elevator hanging above. It wasn't something for people that are afraid of hights. When the elevator went down it had to go through the bottleneck first, it was very narrow. There were like wheels on the side of the elevator to kinda roll in the crater. We walls of the crater were beautiful, the shapes and colours and it was so exciting. Down in the crater it was even more astonishing. They placed big lights on the bottom of the crater that revealed all the colours on the walls created by the different minerals like iron and sulfur. There was also something like a marked trail to walk around the volcano. After 20 minutes it was time to head back, but we got a special treatment because we were the last group of the day and they switched off all the lights. It was completely dark and we only did see the light from the top, 120 meters above us. It was frightening in some way, because it was really dark and with only the light from above it felt a bit like trapped. But they feeling was really shallow, because we knew there were some other people, guides and even an elevator. And the feeling to be very lucky to witness this, raised above all the others. When we were above we got some Icelandic meatsoup and warmed up for the walk back. When we were back at Reykjavik we decided to go to the east again.

Geschreven door CorineDijkhuis