Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.11.2015, Síða 28

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Flúðir is a sleepy village of around 400
people, just over an hour's drive from
Reykjavík. After turning off the well-
beaten path of the southbound Route
1 at the town of Selfoss, it's a 45km
inland drive through some some sur-
prisingly verdant farmland, with bales
of hay lying bagged for collection and
tractors chugging through the fields.
The road runs alongside broad, gleam-
ing rivers and lakes, and occasional
tiny hamlets, with the high peak of the
Eyjafjallajökull glacier looming majesti-
cally in the background.
The village first becomes visible
by the plumes of steam rising from its
multitudinous geothermal hotspots,
then from the yellow glow of the green-
houses that can produce vegetables
year-round due to this advantageous
heat source. It’s a low-key, quiet,
spread-out kind of place, with plenty of
space between the industrial-looking
plots and peaceful residential streets, a
gas station, a modern Icelandair hotel,
and an unexpected Ethiopian food joint,
all surrounded by distant, picturesque,
craggy mountains.
Tucked away down a humble dirt
track by the river Mjóitangi, which
flows through the town centre, lies a
relatively new and increasingly famous
attraction. Known to locals as Gamla
Laugin (“The Old Pool”), it was re-
branded as “The Secret Lagoon” two
summers ago by a local called Björn
“Bjössi” Kjartansson, who renovated
the antique swimming place and re-
opened it for business in 2014.
Getting lucky
Bjössi is a burly and practical man of
few words, who now spends his time
maintaining the pool and its facilities,
along with greeting guests all year-
round. “I’m from around here,” he says,
sitting in the lagoon’s lobby area. “My
parents live just 200 metres from the
pool. I bought this land in 2006, and had
the idea to open the old pool again.”
Bjössi had been away for a while,
working as a mechanic in Greenland,
before he embarked on this new ven-
ture. “I’d been saving up money,” he
says. “My uncle owned the land, then.
It was very lucky—I just had the money
right when he was selling. This building
we’re in now was a greenhouse back
then—I renovated it into these chang-
ing rooms and lobby.”
After bathers change and descend
the metal stairs from the deck into the
pool, the ground beneath their feet is
unpaved and pebble-strewn as the hot
water closes around their shoulders.
There are various boulders lurking just
under the surface that can be used to
lounge around on. The walls of the pool
are built from rough stone, and a crum-
bling shed sits abandoned on one shore,
its two empty doorways gaping like sad
eyes. Despite the renovation, it still feels
slightly wild, particularly as we visit be-
fore the doors have opened for the day.
Attainable dreams
This rugged charm gives the Secret
Lagoon a similar feel to some of Ice-
land’s unmarked natural hotpots, while
offering visitor-friendly boons like easy
access and changing facilities. And
there’s some history there, too. “It was
first used in 1891,” explains Bjössi,
“right until 1937. But then nobody used
it for 67 years. It was unused, but al-
ways full of warm water, for all those
years.”
The water trickles in from a hot
spring, which can be viewed by walking
around a new path. There’s a small gey-
ser that erupts every ten minutes, and
some bubbling cauldrons of hot water.
Steam rises over the river all over this
area of Flúðir. I wonder if the lagoon,
which has become a popular must-see
fixture on many visitors’ itineraries, has
brought some fresh air to this small,
tucked away village.
“It’s been building up,” says Bjössi.
“It was not so busy the first summer, but
there were many more people this sum-
mer.” And was there a tipping point,
where he knew it was going well? “Last
autumn, after the summer, I thought:
‘This is going to be big,’” he replies. “It’s
been my main job running the place
since we opened. I’ve met people from
all around the world. Mostly people
from Europe—Germany, France, The
Netherlands—and the US and Canada.
But we’ve had people from Africa, and
Asian people—a lot of Chinese and Jap-
anese visitors."
28 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 14 — 2015TRAVEL
How to get there: Take Route 1 south,
turning onto Route 35 at SelfossPool Renaissance
Car provided by hertz.is
Hotel provided by icelandairhotels.com
More info: www.secretlagoon.is
In Flúðir, a repurposed 124-year-old swimming
spot has become a local success story
Words John Rogers Photos Art Bicnick