BLUE LAGOON

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We docked at 5:00 pm and by six thirty I was off for a swim in the Blue Lagoon with three busloads of my closest friends. The ride took us through a moonscape of lava fields. Although the nearest volcano has not erupted in three hundred years, the only vegetation to be seen is a think layer of moss. This delicate plant protects against erosion but when the winter winds howl, it can be swept away in seconds.
I got my first glimpse of the rift where the North American Plate is moving west and the Euro-Asian plate is moving east leaving a jagged fault line clearly visible. Off in the distance, volcanic mountains and cinder cones provide a rugged backdrop.

The Blue Lagoon is a huge complex. Our guide remembers when it was just a wonderful place to relax but now there is a hotel and spa and an admittance fee and a towel fee, a restaurant and souvenir shop, etc. Everything is very efficient and up to date technically. We were given a wristband. That admitted us through the turnstile, locked our locker and allowed us to charge drinks or whatever in the lagoon. I showered, struggled into my bathing suit and entered the wonderful warm, blue white water.
I can’t describe the wonderful feeling. The water temperature ranged from warm to hot. The complex is huge and ever with three busloads from the ship and the locals and other tourists there was plenty of room. The bottom was sort of sandy and easy on the feet. There were pots of silica mud around and folks would spread it on their skin. It was fine grained and white and soon we all looked like actors in a Kabuki opera. Some places were deeper than others but none was over my head. It is a natural phenomenon and not a pool. Donna and I gravitated to the hot spots and explored some nooks. The little taste I got was salty.
The water is a combination of seawater, ground water and the discharge from a thermal power plant. It is supposed to have healing powers especially for skin problems. Our time there was over too quickly. The weather has cleared a bit. The fog is gone and we even saw a bit of the colors of sunset if not the sun itself. It was 10:00 pm and still light,
When I got back to the ship the telephone system was down so I went to the front desk to order a snack. My All American hamburger was so well done that the rims were hard and crispy. Still, I ate what I could, the coleslaw was good and they gave me lots of chips.

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