The Blue Lagoon

I'm feel like I'm really negative about this trip when actually I feel a little more philosophical. There are lots of fun and unique places to visit in the world and you never know until you experience them if they are experiences you really enjoy or rather experiences where you say, "that was interesting but I will move on to something else." That is how I feel about Iceland.

The Blue Lagoon is a man made facility. They say there is scientific research that says the silica in the Lagoon has healing powers. When we drove up to the Lagoon the first thing we was was the power plant which has three smoke stacks emitting smoke or more likely steam in three different colors. The Lagoon is blue and milky. I felt like we were swimming in a pool at the base of three mile Island. I felt like we were in a scene from the Simpson's. The water was warm and sometimes hot and went from warm to hot very fast. It was dark so it was hard to tell where you were going. There was so much steam. I was carrying Sean and the water got HOT. Sean started screaming and I was holding him up out of the water trying to figure out how to get out of the HOT. Don was yelling go right, Sean was screaming that he was burning. We went right and got to a cooler spot pretty quickly. It was scary though.
People cover themselves in this silica from pots. I referred to it as sludge or waster from the power plant. It is supposed to be an exfoliate and good for you skin. It smells like sulfur. When I googled silica OSHA treats it as a toxic waste and requires employers to provide face mask and protective gear to employees working with it.

 Masked in silica or sludge or toxic waste, depends on what website you read.

 Kids have to wear water wings because the water is so cloudy you would never find them if they went under.

 The walk through lava rocks to the resort.

 In a cave. It was hard to get a picture because the camera lens clouded up. I've still got silica on my face. 

The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis.^[1] The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 37–39 °C (98–102 °F). The Blue Lagoon also operates a research and development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water.

The lagoon is a man-made lagoon which is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi and is renewed every two days. Superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. After going through the turbines, the steam and hot water passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal water heating system. Then the water is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in.
Iceland has a strict code of hygiene and guests are required to shower before and after bathing.
The Blue Lagoon is situated close to the world's first renewable methanol plant, which uses Carbon Recycling International's carbon dioxide to methanol fuel process.

History

In 1976 a pool formed at the site from the waste water of the geothermal power plant that had just been built there. In 1981 people started bathing in it after the discovery of its healing powers for psoriasis. In 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was established and the bathing facility was opened for the public.

Interesting tourist stop!