Today we drove along the south coast, which transforms from peaceful farmhouses flanked by misty waterfalls to miles of flat desolate wasteland, populated only by moss and volcanic rubble.
Our highlight of the day and, probably, for the trip was the iceberg lagoon, Jokulsarlon. It is a sheltered, peaceful lagoon surrounded by black sand and filled with icebergs. The blue is completely natural; I made sure to look this up when I got back because it is totally surreal.
The icebergs are blue instead of white because they are broken off from old glaciers, rather than formed from water meeting cold local weather. Because the ice has been packed under tons of pressure over long stretches of time, there are no bubbles to cause internal reflections, which would show as white. Instead, light passes all the way through with the longer wavelengths, like red and yellow, being absorbed. That's how we get this crazy Gatorade blue.
We were there between tour busses and the place was dead quiet except for the activity in the lagoon. You hear the icebergs clock gently against each other, with big and small pieces occasionally breaking off and splashing into the water.
You can pick up the pieces that float ashore; they are glass-clear in smaller pieces, completely smooth, and they taste like fancy water.
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