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We have a leisurely breakfast and it is nice to see some familiar faces, some of whom are leaving today.
We have a little time before our excursion to the glacier so we have a little troll into town, most of the shops are shut however but it passes the time.
We are collected from the hotel at 11.30, there are 3 other people on the trip. It takes 2 hours to get to our destination and we really miss Kristberg telling us all about the landscape we are passing through and the small coach is not a patch on our 4wd vehicle we've been used to.
We make a quick stop at Deildartunguhver Thermal Spring which is Europe's most powerful hot spring. It provides 180 l/sec of 100°C hot water.
We continue to Langjökull (Icelandic for "long glacier") which is the second largest ice cap in Iceland (953 km2), after Vatnajökull.
As we approach the glacier, the road once again turns to gravel but this time our bones are shaken and we cling on with white knuckles as we skid and bump along.
At the foot of the glacier our driver tells us the power steering has gone on the bus, a hole in the hydraulic oil pipe has drained it. Fortunately, there are people on hand who are kind enough to fix it which saves Gray Line sending a new bus out. However, I digress, I wasn't really concerned about the missing hydraulic oil only about the journey ahead on deep snow.
It wasn't long before we watched in awe as a huge 15 ton, former nuclear missile launcher belonging to NATO and purchased from England came trundling down the glacier. The massive wheels had strange pipes connected which allows the driver to increase/decrease the pressure as required. They are inflated at the bottom of the glacier allowing it to drive over the rough ground and slushy snow. As we gain altitude and the snow becomes firmer, they are deflated to half a bar! This allows the vehicle to almost float over the surface of the glacier.
This journey I find quite scary as thoughts of all the things that could go wrong spin round in my head. I can't help wondering whether this might be a step too far in thinking that we can master Mother Nature for the sake of tourism. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the entrance to the tunnels at which point we are 1260 metres above sea level, the glacier top is just under 1400.
The guide on the vehicle tells us a little bit about what is going to happen and I'm sure I hear the word 'crampons' mentioned! Visions of us mountaineering up a glacier pop into my head and I am wondering what I have let myself in for.
We leave the vehicle and find ourselves in beautiful crisp white snow. It's hard to see where the snow ends and the sky begins. Our group of 10 follow the guide down a narrow entrance into the tunnel. It makes me think of when Carter entered Tutankhamun's tomb but this was snow. A little way in and we lose the light from the entrance and realise how dark it is. I began to wonder when the guide would turn his torch on, then the magic happened, LED lights suddenly illuminated the tunnel. We are shown the layers in the snow, including the black line of dust that marks the end of one year's snow and the beginning of the next. We are taken into a little annexe where we are provided with crampons to wear over our shoes. They do not have the huge metal spikes of my imagination but they do give the confidence to walk without slipping.
The LED lights spring into life in the walls and floor as we are taken through the tunnels and caves that took 14 months to excavate and was only opened earlier this year. At first we are surrounded by snow which muffles the sound of voices but this soon turns to ice which echoes as we go deeper into the glacier. We are now 35 metres below the top of the ice cap. In one cavern, we are surrounded by the sounds of constantly dripping water but we don't see any of it as it is in the walls of the tunnel. We are shown gulleys through which water was travelling before the excavations and which emptied out as a result, little ponds as well as the deep crevasses which open up as the ice travels over the contours of the hidden landscape of the mountain then close again as the landscape levels out once more.
This was an incredible experience to which mere words cannot do justice. In 10 years time, the whole project will have moved and twisted and will look entirely different.
On our return to Reykjavic, we enjoy dinner in the same restaurant we visited when this adventure began.
We have a little time before our excursion to the glacier so we have a little troll into town, most of the shops are shut however but it passes the time.
We are collected from the hotel at 11.30, there are 3 other people on the trip. It takes 2 hours to get to our destination and we really miss Kristberg telling us all about the landscape we are passing through and the small coach is not a patch on our 4wd vehicle we've been used to.
We make a quick stop at Deildartunguhver Thermal Spring which is Europe's most powerful hot spring. It provides 180 l/sec of 100°C hot water.
We continue to Langjökull (Icelandic for "long glacier") which is the second largest ice cap in Iceland (953 km2), after Vatnajökull.
As we approach the glacier, the road once again turns to gravel but this time our bones are shaken and we cling on with white knuckles as we skid and bump along.
At the foot of the glacier our driver tells us the power steering has gone on the bus, a hole in the hydraulic oil pipe has drained it. Fortunately, there are people on hand who are kind enough to fix it which saves Gray Line sending a new bus out. However, I digress, I wasn't really concerned about the missing hydraulic oil only about the journey ahead on deep snow.
It wasn't long before we watched in awe as a huge 15 ton, former nuclear missile launcher belonging to NATO and purchased from England came trundling down the glacier. The massive wheels had strange pipes connected which allows the driver to increase/decrease the pressure as required. They are inflated at the bottom of the glacier allowing it to drive over the rough ground and slushy snow. As we gain altitude and the snow becomes firmer, they are deflated to half a bar! This allows the vehicle to almost float over the surface of the glacier.
This journey I find quite scary as thoughts of all the things that could go wrong spin round in my head. I can't help wondering whether this might be a step too far in thinking that we can master Mother Nature for the sake of tourism. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the entrance to the tunnels at which point we are 1260 metres above sea level, the glacier top is just under 1400.
The guide on the vehicle tells us a little bit about what is going to happen and I'm sure I hear the word 'crampons' mentioned! Visions of us mountaineering up a glacier pop into my head and I am wondering what I have let myself in for.
We leave the vehicle and find ourselves in beautiful crisp white snow. It's hard to see where the snow ends and the sky begins. Our group of 10 follow the guide down a narrow entrance into the tunnel. It makes me think of when Carter entered Tutankhamun's tomb but this was snow. A little way in and we lose the light from the entrance and realise how dark it is. I began to wonder when the guide would turn his torch on, then the magic happened, LED lights suddenly illuminated the tunnel. We are shown the layers in the snow, including the black line of dust that marks the end of one year's snow and the beginning of the next. We are taken into a little annexe where we are provided with crampons to wear over our shoes. They do not have the huge metal spikes of my imagination but they do give the confidence to walk without slipping.
The LED lights spring into life in the walls and floor as we are taken through the tunnels and caves that took 14 months to excavate and was only opened earlier this year. At first we are surrounded by snow which muffles the sound of voices but this soon turns to ice which echoes as we go deeper into the glacier. We are now 35 metres below the top of the ice cap. In one cavern, we are surrounded by the sounds of constantly dripping water but we don't see any of it as it is in the walls of the tunnel. We are shown gulleys through which water was travelling before the excavations and which emptied out as a result, little ponds as well as the deep crevasses which open up as the ice travels over the contours of the hidden landscape of the mountain then close again as the landscape levels out once more.
This was an incredible experience to which mere words cannot do justice. In 10 years time, the whole project will have moved and twisted and will look entirely different.
On our return to Reykjavic, we enjoy dinner in the same restaurant we visited when this adventure began.
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