I lay immersed with hot steaming water flowing over my body – crystal clear water which had probably fallen as rain hundreds of thousands of years ago ( perhaps longer but will need to check my facts on this one 🙂 and was suspended in a glacier – now in a melting river flowing under the frozen ice; heated by a lava flow which we were told by the Ranger was its first birthday today of its new flow.

I am privileged to be in Iceland.

Some find a spiritual connection through a pilgrimage to Sacred places such as the headwaters of the Ganges ..and here I find myself in my own – yet unplanned pilgrimage of sorts; as I lay with hot surges of heated glacial water gently caressing my body…with the full moon hanging behind the misty clouds and steam being carried in the icy highland wind.

We have been in Iceland for a few days now..and today it the first day I have been feeling a lot better after an nasty virus flattened me and prolonged our stay in London.

Even though I haven’t been that well, I very quickly began to realise there was something very special about the landscape here in Iceland. This is a remarkable country. I can feel something here which I cant quite put my finger on. Old yet young at the same time. Perhaps in time I will be able to identify it more clearly. The landscape and geology is unique and quite extraordinary. Lava fields. Snow capped mountains. Arctic plants. Rocky outcrops. Raging streams. Waterfalls. Boggy marshes. Cloudy, misty days. …. Wind. ..and when the wind stops… silence.

It was around 9.30pm as we lay in the hot water of the steaming glacial stream. All other tourists had gone and we were alone. It was quiet and serene. The steam blew gently past my face; and the water flowed in the opposite direction across my body. I let the stream carry me for a bit whilst I floated. I said a prayer of thanks and of gratitude.

When dry, I reflected on the different structure of rock surrounding this area which indicated the timeline of volcanic activity – from lava excreted billions of years ago, to lava just one year ago…and I felt something quite privileged and special that I was able to experience my own ritual… of marking a new cycle of exploration of a new journey for me.

I don’t have the capacity to charge my laptop to process photos but as soon as I do..I will post some images of this beautiful geologically dynamic country.