We had an amazing opportunity to explore an Icelandic glacier and see it from the inside with its hidden beautiful ice. The eerie world inside the heart of Langjökull Glacier has 2500 years of ice sculpted by nature. In places we were as deep as 40 metres under the surface of the glacier.
The ice tunnel and the caves are located high on Europe‘s second largest glacier, Langjökull. A monster truck, a converted military surplus cruise missile launcher, was waiting transport us up to the entrance of the glacier tunnel, situated at 1200m above sea level. We also visited many beautiful sites on the way such as lava fields and hot springs.
At a number of places within the glacier, we saw interesting information about the glacier, glacial exploration and research, and of course global warming. The led lighted walls inside the tunnels are sheer-carved and we found interior chambers and had the chance to explore within the ice cave, and see the multi-purpose cave room which is available for weddings, parties, meetings and events. Chambers have been used as churches and Asatru temples. Music recitals have also been given inside the chambers.
Our glaciologist/climate change scientist guide gave us an informative but depressing update on the latest climate change research. He said the tunnels here would slowly move towards the base camp 5 km away taking 300 years to do so. But that would never happen because the glacier will have totally melted within 100 years because of climate change. Additionally sea levels may now rise 3 metres not 1 metre in well under a century.
Experiencing this man-made ice cave truly was an unforgettable experience.
