Iceland Day 2

I woke up that morning and felt so surreal because I was in Iceland. Not very many times, I feel so excited about a place, but it just felt so cool that I was in Iceland. I grew up in a tropical country, never thought that Iceland would be a place to visit.

After breakfast, we were picked up by a big bus to go to Blue Lagoon. At first I felt it was kinda cheesy but the review was good and while I'm in Iceland, why not? Blue Lagoon is a natural hot spring pool, which was man made but it still felt pretty natural.

Entrance to the Blue Lagoon

The front of the spa

This is not the pool we got in. Just the front of the spa.

I love how blue the water is.

The spa was very nice and modern. after checking in, we all get a wrist band with a magnetic strip. It's used to lock the locker and if we purchase a photo or drink, they just scan the wrist band and we pay at the check out. I knew that we had to bring our own towel. If not, it's an extra charge. I also read that you need to put conditioner on your hair (and leave it on) before jumping into the pool. The mineral is so concentrated, so if you don't put conditioner on, your hair will be so coarse and very hard to comb for several days after.

We got there around 9.30AM, pretty clear so there were not too many people, which was nice. Lauren had a water proof pouch for her iPhone, so it came handy when taking pictures there.

After 45 minutes, we were done. I couldn't stay too long in a hot tub. Being in a cold air from shoulder and up, it actually helped. Otherwise, I had to get out after 15 minutes.

Going back to Reykjavik. Feeling relax.

We got back around 3PM and had a quick lunch at Subway. Subway and Quizno's are everywhere. I also saw KFC and Taco Bell. Not a single Starbuck's. I was quite surprised by that.

Around 4PM, we got picked up for the dog sledding. There was only one dog sledding company in Iceland. Luckily we had plenty of snow from the night before, so for sure we would sled in snow, otherwise dry land, which would be very weird, if you think about it.  The dog sled place was in the middle of nowhere. There were 2 other people that got picked up after us. After driving for about an hour, we pulled over to a side of the road, and switch to a Jeep from a minivan. The road that we were in was not paved. After 10 minutes, we saw the dogs. They were hauling and barking in excitement. The wind was so strong... The strongest wind that I ever experienced. It made the cold air felt much colder. I put my hood and wool hat on. The Aviator glasses that I just bought came very handy.

 

Each sled was pulled by 6 dogs since it was only two of us, three including the musher. Her name is Michelle. She was really chatty, which was great. In the beginning I sat and Lauren stood besides Michelle. Since it was so cold and windy, I couldn't talk loud enough to Michelle because my hood also covered part of my mouth. The good thing was Lauren kept asking questions, and when she wasn't, Michelle just talked about the dogs and her experience. 

We didn't go fast. We stopped quite a bit because the sled in front of us stopped. The wind was crazy. The dogs were cute but not so cute, when we were pooping while running. Quite a multi-tasker.

With the lead dogs

From the sled

Managed to get a selfie

The dogs that were with us were Greenland Huskies. They were not fast but really strong. They loved to burrow, dig a hole to sleep at night. Even though it was really cold. My Super Dry wind proof jacket was perfect. I didn't feel cold at all. I wore snowboard pants that shield me from the cold. My toes were frozen as usual even with winter boots and super thick socks. Overall it was a really good experience.

On the way back to town, we ended up talking about Iceland hotdogs with the driver. Apparently they're super proud of their hotdogs and claimed it's the best even though they never tried other hotdogs. He was kind enough to pull over to a famous hotdog stand. We of course had to try. They put sweet mustard, remoulade, ketchup, chopped white onion and crispy onion.

The famous hotdog stand in Reykjavik.

Apparently President Clinton also had the hotdog, Iceland loved that! Except he didn't do it right, he only put mustard. I think the hotdog with all the fixings was good.