Volcanoes Melt Me Down

When I was putting together our grand trip, I kept asking my dad if he wanted to do something like horseback riding or whale watching. He never seemed too enthusiastic, being as these are quite touristy things to do, until I randomly passed along an article I read about the Inside the Volcano tour. He immediately said yes. We looked at the price, which is about $300/person, and he still adamantly said yes (slightly to my dismay, since $300 is a huge chunk of money for my au pair wage). This is one of the only places in the world you can go inside an intact volcano (most of them collapse on themselves after they erupt), so it's truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, at least that's what I kept telling myself when I looked at my bank account.

Things didn't start off very well the morning of our tour when we boarded the wrong shuttle (based on the confirmation from the driver when I showed him our tickets). We arrived at exactly not our destination around the time our real shuttle would have been leaving for exactly our real destination. Luckily the nice customer service guy made some phone calls, and without explaining what happened, told us to wait outside for our real shuttle. I was a little skeptical. In the 5-10 minutes we waited for the shuttle, I was probably weaving a great tapestry of profanities in my head that rivaled that of the dad from A Christmas Story thinking we missed out on such a cool trip and lost our money. Oh ye of little faith, we were soon greeted with a big smile from our driver with a "You must be Katherine!".

After a short shuttle ride, a 3km hike through lovely but ankle-breaking lava fields and mud (they warn you on their website about wearing good shoes, and they aren't lying; my Timberlands were gold!), we finally arrived at the base camp.

A lava tube cave on the way to base camp.

Lava field.

Dad being intercontinental (standing across where the Eurasian and North American plates meet).

As I was waiting for my dad, who had stopped to take pictures, I heard one of the guides say they had a baby arctic fox living under the station. What!? I had looked into a arctic fox sighting tour in the Westfjords, but even then there wasn't a guarantee we'd see them, and yet here I was being told there was a BABY one in the area? What are they called? Foxlings? Doesn't matter, must shoot. I went inside the station to change my lens and by the time I came out my fellow group-members were holding said fox. It was so ridiculously cute I couldn't even handle it... aaaaaand this was the point the cost of the trip became worth every penny, and we hadn't even gotten into the volcano yet.

They took the first group in while I feverishly tried to snap shots of the the curious and busy fox (baby foxes are "kits" by the way), which proved to be surprisingly hard, but eventually I too had to leave my little friend and make my way to the entrance of Thrihnukagigur. We crossed the plank and boarded the lift which slowly began our decent into the belly of the beast. Immediately you start seeing otherworldly textures and colors that seem to become more potent the deeper you go. Daring to look down causes an exhilarating vertigo sensation until eventually it's looking back up to the tiny hold you entered in that makes you dizzy.

Standing in the magma chamber is transcendent. The orchestra of colors and patterns on the mammoth walls around you are a poetic reminder of your smallness in this vast universe. It was all so overwhelmingly beautiful I had to remind myself to take photos instead of standing there with my jaw dropped (and I completely forgot to listen to one of my all time favorite songs, "Volcano" by Damien Rice). You lose yourself there, and the half hour you have in the chamber feel like half a minute. Lucky for me, a women in my group who came down after me said she'd trade with someone who wanted to stay longer, and I full on volunteered as tribute faster than Katniss Everdeen.

Ok, let's be honest here. It looks like a bajinga.

Perhaps it's because my soul feeds on beautiful and unique imagery and spaces, and maybe it wouldn't be worth it to someone who isn't as visually stimulated as I am, but this place was special. I will never forget the feeling of pure awe I got when I was in there. Definitely a highlight of my life.

I also need to give a shout out to every guide I came in contact with during our tour. They were all extremely nice and helpful, and not in the cheesy way tour guides are paid to be, but in a genuine and infectious way that makes you want to hang out with them in real life. Constantly being that awesome to group after group of annoying tourists is impressive. Good on them.