We are on the bus near City Hall in downtown Reykjavík heading out of town in search of the Northern Lights. We are both so excited!

We can see the moon, and it is more full than we hoped for, but we’ll take a clear sky. It was raining most of today and now it isn’t.

The bus ride is two-parts. 1) City Bus to bus terminal and 2) bus terminal to the middle of nowhere.

Before boarding the first bus, the driver calmly read names off his list and we boarded. This stop was the pickup point for several tours, so every time a bus pulled up, the crowd moved forward.

Once we arrived at the bus terminal, there was a mad rush to the ticket counter to get entry tickets printed. We take note of this as tomorrow morning we will do another tour with likely the same process.

We found two seats together and sat. The tour guide, Claudia, is quite funny. She advises us to remove our coats and all clothes if we prefer, so that we will be warm once we out clothing and coats back on – because it is very cold outside. The trip is an hour in length, so hold on!

Claudia claims the driver just came out of the bar but is the best driver. She is quite the jokester! She says she will talk all the way to the Northern Lights but on the way back will be silent. We shall see!

Some of the things she said were:

⁃ Flotation devices can be found under your seats

⁃ Don’t walk away with strangers, it can be scary

⁃ Don’t walk far from the bus because it is very dark.

⁃ In case you come back to where the bus was parked and it’s gone… just wait in the parking lot and another bus #5 will be back tomorrow night

⁃ Please do not use flashlight or flash feature when taking photos. We will have to call the police to report a disturbance.

En route to the middle of nowhere the bus drove through a tunnel under the fijord which was cool. The tunnel was a narrow two lane road and Claudia kept saying she hoped the bus wouldn’t break down. I’m quite sure there were some people on the bus who didn’t appreciate her humor. We did.

We finally arrive at our destination, step out of the bus and wait and wait and wait. The moon popped out from behind the clouds, a snow-covered mountain slowly emerged into our sight. However the Northern slights were a “no show”.

It was freezing out (see photos below). We were at the viewing site for almost 2 hours and with the exception of 20 minutes or so, we braved the outdoors. The majority of people on our bus spent more time in the bus than out. We figured we can thaw on the way back to our hotel!

We can try again at no additional cost, so we might, tomorrow night.

I managed a few grainy photos of the sky and the mountain. It will have to do for tonight.

⁃