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I had to get up incredibly early because I'd booked a tour to the south part of the island at a glacier called Solheimajokull, about two hours away from Reykjavik by bus. We would be doing some trekking through this ancient frozen ice and some ice climbing as well. I got picked up at my hostel and then to the main bus station. From there we set out with our guide Oscar and four others who would be making up the group. As I expected, we were greeted with beautiful scenery along the way. We stopped near the glacier to pick up some supplies and once there Oscar pulled out all the equipment we would be using and we walked towards the towering mounds of snow and ice. Being that it was already May and the temperature was warming up a lot of snow had melted and ash was often present along the snow. Once near the enough to the snow, we placed our crampons on our shoes and then trekked into the ice field. Multiple crevices peppered the landscape and Oscar showed us one that was about 70 metres deep, by throwing in some ice into it and listening to
the long fall and crash. He explained many interesting details about the glacier in general along the trek.
We approached an ice wall and Oscar began to set up some ropes and anchors to prepare for some ice climbing. The route would only be about 25 feet and I was a little disappointed because the previous year I had done some amazing ice climbing but I told myself that at least I would be climbing here in Iceland. We each took turns taking pictures and climbing the route. It was quite easy and only took me a few short minutes to complete but fun nonetheless. After we had all climbed a bit, we continued on with the trek and found some fresh water to drink and a little ice cave to travel through. The wind was constant and I was happy I had lugged around my heavy jacket the whole trip just for this day. We finished our trek and returned to the bus.
We made another stop at the nearby Skogafoss waterfall, and I climbed all the way up the stairs to see it from the top. The powerful rushing water was beautiful. I took some snaps
and we then returned to the bus for the journey "home". That night I met up with some of the AI guys and Chris and we went to find a place serving authentic Icelandic food. We found such a place near the center of town, and it would be my most expensive meal of the trip at 24$ lol. I got my first taste of whale in the form of a burger. It tasted a bit like a raw steak but more rubbery with a hint of fishiness. It was good but I doubt I'd go out of my way to have some again. I was still hungry after the meal and went to a close hotdog stand for more "authentic" food. We then went to Bar 11 as it was happy hour and the place soon became packed. Chris and myself met this young Icelandic dude, who was hilarious because he was so full of himself, but smoked us on a joint. We then drank some more and Chris was really messed up. We left to head back to the hostel and stopped to get a full pizza on the way back. If that wasn't enough, once back at
the hostel, Chris prepared some couscous and rice that he had stored in the hostel kitchen. We feasted quite well!
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