Since Marlon and I started our Iceland trip with a hot soak, it seemed only appropriate to end it with another one. For our last hurrah in Iceland, we splurged on a trip to the famous Blue Lagoon. Being just 20 minutes from the airport made it the perfect thing to do before catching our flight home.
What most travelers say about the Blue Lagoon is that it’s a) touristy, but also that it’s b) something you must do anyway. I would agree. For €40 per head just to soak in the geothermal pools, it’s not cheap. (Treatments at its award-winning medical spa go up to €160 per head. Ouch.)
However, the genius of the Blue Lagoon is that floating around in 37-39℃ water relaxes you and wipes your memory clean in record time; pretty soon you forget about what you paid for and you can hardly work up enough willpower to get stressed about… how much was it again?
If you go in on the basic package like we did—a soak, a locker and a towel—there’s still plenty to keep you occupied. For starters, finding a corner of the pool with just the right temperature and not so many people will take some doing. We spent quite a bit of time swimming away from people with very loud voices (hulaan n’yo kung saang bansa sila galing) to maximize the whole relaxation experience. There’s also a waterfall, steam bath and sauna if you want to change things up a bit.
Since your body is submerged in therapeutic waters, your face should enjoy a bit of therapy too. This is the reason for the boxes of silica mud distributed around the pool. Just scoop some up and slather it on your face for some natural deep cleansing and exfoliation.
After about 10-15 minutes, the mud hardens and cracks. Then you know it’s time to wash it off.
After showering and dressing, we had lunch at the Blue Lagoon’s Lava Restaurant, which serves a la carte meals and a light seafood and sushi buffet.
Then it was a quick visit to the view deck for some pictures. I was surprised to find a Blue Lagoon employee stationed at the view deck, whose sole duty seemed to be to make pleasant conversation with guests and take their pictures. How thoughtful!
All in all, we spent about three hours at the Blue Lagoon—just enough time to turn us into legless blobs very relaxed travelers who practically drifted into the plane. Definitely a great way to end a fantastic trip!
