Round the World in 150 days!: Day 3 & 4

More fun from the other planet called Iceland! We ventured out of the city yesterday and today to discover that the Iceland landscape can easily be compared to that of the planet Mars. Miles and miles of moss covered rock land with some man-made rock sculptures called "cairns" that can be seen every couple of miles or so along the road. Wednesday we went hiking up a mountain called Esja located about 25 minutes from Reykjavik. Hiking Mt. Esja was rainy and windy, and Ines was put to the test (part of the training for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!). She made it about 45 minutes before we turned it around and found a coffeehouse to dry off. The training will continue!

We met some travelers last night, Joan and Stephan from Yorkshire, England, who had us laughing so hard we forgot to eat dinner. We learned about "The Raccoons" and why the English think raccoons are friendly cuddly animals (look it up on youtube, it's apparently one of their main impressions of America). They learned that Americans can be friendly and fun (we hope!).

Today was Korey's first spa experience....caution, the photos of Korey in the spa may be disturbing to some viewers... But we had a great day in the hot thermal springs of the Blue Lagoon. Big thanks to the SLC College Girls for the wonderful birthday upgrade to the "Luxury Package" which included champagne, a private changing room, exclusive access to the best Blue Lagoon Pools, and a lovely Icelandic concierge that replaced Korey's robe as it kept disappearing from the common room! What a special treat.

Things we learned the last few days 1) Ines will need formal hiking training to be ready for Mt. Kilimanjaro, 2) Ines, cell phones, and Blue Lagoon water do not mix (Korey's phone being the victim, we think it will be okay), and next time Korey will remember to bring the waterproof GoPro!