Inside the Volcano

Hi all!

So today was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Arguably THE best experience. It was completely amazing, hard to put into words but let me try....

So I had a bit of a lie in again. Marleen checked out and then I let her store some of her stuff in my locker! She left to see the movie I saw yesterday and I waited outside for my volcano tour. 

The pick up was a bit late but I soon made a friend out front called Carly from New York City who was waiting for the same tour. We talked literally all day and she was so nice!

We got the bus for half an hour to the start of the volcano tour. Here we were all directed into a small shed where we could use the bathroom and get ready. We then started our 50 minute trek towards the volcano base camp. It looked easy enough, but as we got outside it started to snow. Heavily! The ground was very snowy and slushy so it was quite physically draining to walk. But we trudged through and made it there. It was so hard to walk that it was easy to forget to look at your surroundings. Glaciers, mountains, snow, Reykjavik in the distance. Amazing!!

We made it to base camp and sat inside the warm room. We were split into three groups, they kept me in Carly's which was good. We were group 3 so we got to eat the lamb soup we were offered before all of the others hehehe! Just what we needed after the freezing and difficult walk. 

Soon enough it was our turn to go outside. We got harnesses and helmets and started out trek up the volcano. The volcano we climbed and descended today was called Thrihnukagigur (don't even begin to ask me to pronounce that - from here on in it shall be referred to as "the volcano"). It had three craters, one 20,000 years old, one 5,000 years old and the one we descended into which was "old" 4,500 years old. 

At 220m deep, the volcano has the deepest lava shaft in the world and is the only place in the world where the public can pay to go inside a volcano. Normally when a volcano erupts the magma stays inside the magma chamber and cools and hardens, but apparently with the volcano it is believed it drained back into the earth. It last erupted 4000 years ago! We were able to descend 120m to the main magma chamber which is about 50 x 70m. 

In 1974 Árni B. Stefánsson, a cave explorer, was the first to descend into the volcano. However due to poor light from his torch he didn't see the amazing coloured walls of the chamber and thought there wasn't anything of interest down there. In 1985 the search and rescue team of Iceland used the crater to practice repelling and noticed some colours. In 1995, Árni returned once again with a proper team and they discovered the wonder that we know today - the magma chamber full of colours! In 2012 National Geographic wanted to do a documentary on the volcano so the same type of basket that window cleaners of skyscrapers use was attached at the top and the film crew lowered down. To this day the apparatus is still there and that's how the tours go down there!

We descended down which took about six minutes, the top of the chamber was very narrow so a bit hair raising but then the chamber opened up and it literally took my breath away. I gasped! Photos can't do it justice but I've tried my very best. But if any of you ever come to Iceland, PLEASE do the 'Inside the Volcano' tour. It may have cost me $370 Aussie but I used the money my beautiful friends gave me at my going away party. It was worth every cent. Such a unique experience! How fantastic that one day I will teach science in Australia and I'll be able to tell the students I'm teaching about volcanoes that I've been INSIDE one!!

We got to the bottom and had about half an hour to explore. I just walked around in awe checking out all the colours. Every now and then a little voice in my head would think "crap - I'm in a VOLCANO!!!!". Such a strange but amazing place to be!! I asked the guide why there are all the different colours. Apparently when the volcano erupted the sides collapsed in on itself creating the "floor" we walked on today. Then the rocks 'sweated' (that's how he described it) various minerals. The red areas on the walls are from iron, the yellow from sulphur and the brown from copper. It was so quiet down there. All you could hear was water dripping and occasionally our guide singing in Icelandic! I just sat and stared and took it all in as best I could...

We ascended back to the top and all agreed it was an incredible experience unlike any other. Had some more soup and trekked back. My leggings had dried from the earlier walk (didn't have any waterproof pants because 1) I'm too poor and 2) couldn't justify having carried them for 4-5 months) but on the way back they got absolutely saturated. My coat kept my top half and my head dry though. 

There was a really annoying Canadian guy on my tour who coincidentally was on Marleen's tour yesterday. He was so ignorant that he spent 5 minutes asking me about how to get a visa for New Zealand. I kept explaining I had no idea etc etc and then eventually asked why he thought I would know. "New Zealand is part of Australia isn't it?" I just stared at him. Really?!? Everything he would talk about was very annoying and he wouldn't listen to anyone. The one question he asked me about myself was how many countries I've been to. When I replied "44" he laughed and said "no really, how many?" He then got me to list them to prove it. His mistake haha...

Got the bus back and met Marleen at reception who laughed at me because I couldn't walk properly due to being so soaked! We chilled out in my room a bit, I've been drying my clothes on the heater and now she's headed off. It was sad saying goodbye! Travelling solo is so strange. I know I've said it before this year, but you form such close friendships so quickly and before you know it you have to say 'bye, unsure if you'll ever see each other again. We talked for two minutes last Friday and were instant friends. I've had such a fab time hanging out, talking about travel and just having someone nice to be around who understand what it's like travelling by yourself for so long. Every time I hear 'Heroes' or 'Tonight Again' from Eurovision I will always think of Marleen and our crazy singing/dancing in our room haha. 

Could probably have headed back to London tmro as I've done and seen mostly everything I wanted to, but I'll just chill out and walk around tmro and see what I can see!!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox