Flushing in Iceland is weird

How to Flush
The very last day, only an hour before we got on the plane to return to Minnesota I snapped this picture while at the Blue Lagoon resort (which was awesome by the way). All the bathrooms in Iceland are odd, simply because of the toilets flushing system.
In the picture above, do you see the shiny rectangle? That is the flusher. You press in the panel and it flushes. While this one only has one panel, most have two. One for going number 1, and one for going number 2. This is not labeled, and the first time both Kelsey and myself ran across this in the guesthouse we were both slightly baffled. We could not find a flusher level anywhere.

Less Water
I stood there and checked all over before realizing i needed to press the rectangle. The toilets also consume a lot less water and therefore there is no american swooshing noise. Simply some trickling of water and that is the end of it. I would compare the toilets to a better designed airplane toilet as far as how it opperates. Personally, I began to relaly enjoy the system and think America should use less water in their toilets as well.

Egg Water
One other IMPORTANT note is the hot water. DO NOT DRINK IT. I made this mistake in the bathroom of the first bus stop, and my water tasted like eggs. All the hot water in iceland is heated by geothermal energy from lava flows under the surface, therefore sulfer is in the hot water. The sulfer tastes exactly like eggs, this is also how the geysers smell both in Iceland and in Yellowstone National Park in America. Geothermal heating is how almost all water is heated in Iceland. The hot water tastes terrible and smells bad too. It works great for washing your hands though, becuase the smell does not linger and saved the country tons of energy. If you want hot tea or anything using hot water, use cold and microwave it.

My other websites

I currently run a number of blogs and websites:

William Hessian Art
The artworks, art projects and art videos of Minneapolis artist William Hessian. Featuring miniature art treasure hunts, bearded bunnies, creature illustrations and short art videos.

Bearded Bunny Art Blog
An art blog featuring art & artists based in Minneapolis. Featuring art battles, miniature art hunts, art videos, and features brand new bearded bunny illustrations.

Zombie Robot Frosting
Immortality, health and technology. Reviewing health products, natural energy drinks, root beer, researching immortality, life extension, solar panels, green energy, anti corporations and politics.

Blog Blog Cherry
A blog written to chronicle my blogging experiences. Listing blog strategies, what works and doesn't work and shows actual figures of how much money I make blogging each month.

Billy and the Old Man
Custom automotive airbrushing in Minnetonka, Minnesota. We turn your ideas into a reality. Motorcycles, helmets and more.

Lava Tour (exact price)

Reykjavik Excursions offer many great tours, of which we took three. The lava tour was a Icelandic Horseback Trip, and it was great.

Cost for two tickets
IKR (icelandic kroner cost): 11.800
US (american dollar): $143.16

Averaging about $71.50 per person



We took a bus from Reykjavik, which actually picked us, and others, up at their hotel or guesthouse doors and took us to Ishetar, approximately 25 minutes away. Here there was a stable with 20-30 horses (see past blogs for more pictures of this trip). The leader was a younger girl in her 20s who was very knowledgable and seemed to really love her job, and another helper who was also very helpful.

They give you the cool blue jump suits (you can see me wearing one above) which helps not only with looking cool, but also keeping us warm. The wind is very brisk, even with large coats and multiple layers, so it was nice to get another thick layer. This trip was great for new riders, like myself, as the horses are mild tempered, calm ever, and short and stubby. I really liked my horse, but forgot his name as it was unpronounceably icelandic.

The actual ride was a little more than 90 minutes and we spent the time trotting through lava fields with a group of 12-15 people. We got to dismount once in the middle to let the horses graze and learn a little about the landscape and the horses from the guide. Kelsey and myself had a good time afterwards mingling with all the horses in the stables before they shooed us away and into the little cafe. We thought about adding the meal to our trip, which was an additional 10 US dollar. We were glad we just brought snacks when we found out the meal was a very curious soup and fish. Although, I bet the fish was very tasty. It was also out of our very limited budget to toss in an expensive meal.

The most notable parts of the ride where the stubby and long haired horses personalities. The most exciting part of the ride was when we cross a very shallow stream and one horse did not want to get wet and actually began jumping through the water scaring the bejeezus out of the inexperienced rider. The most relaxing part of the ride was when I figured out I need to use my leg muscles to straddle the horse tighter and stop letting my butt take such abuse, I was sore.... bad form. The most stylish was Kelsey and me looking at ourselves in our attractive full body blue uniforms with helmets and random gloves. The most challenging part of the trip was after I saw the first time rider a head of me riding one handed to take a picture while riding; this inspired me to do the same thing and I'm glad I did as I took some really neat pictures while on horseback even though it was difficult and I thought I was going to drop my camera.

The Lava Tour is listed on Iceland Today's top ten trips in Iceland and amazingly we took trips #1, #2, and #3 on the list. The Lava Tour was listed as number 3, and while I would probably agree with its placement, Kelsey and myself still agreed it may have been the most enjoyable and fun tour of the Iceland Trip. Keep in mind we only visited Iceland for 4 days and three nights. So our time was very limited.

Check back soon for another post. If you have any further questions about this tour feel free to ask.