Horror As Hiker Drinks From Stream, Then Sees What's Lurking in the Water

A hiker realized too late what had been sitting in the steam they were drinking from while on vacation in Iceland. Detroit native Lainey was traveling around the European country when she and her partner decided to drink from a freshwater stream they came across. However, it was only after they drank the water that they noticed the skull of an animal sitting in the stream. "[We were] grossed out but we quickly had to come to terms that we just drank from the water going downstream," Lainey told Newsweek.

Lainey posted a video of the occurrence to Instagram, where it has received 6.8 million views since being shared on August 29. "Drink the water in Iceland they said..." she wrote in the text overlay of the short clip. "'It's the purest water in the world!'," she added. "Not realizing there is a dead sheep 10 feet upstream of the water we just drank from." The video showed Lainey's partner getting up from the stream he had just drank from before the camera pans over to show the dead animal, just yards away. "Lesson learned... always look upstream," she wrote in the caption of the video. As explained by Visit North Iceland, Icelandic water has "a low chemical content compared to that of other countries."

Iceland, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, has become a hugely popular destination for tourists from around the globe who go to the country to see its active volcanoes and other unique geographical features. The U.S. was the main contributor to tourism in Iceland in 2022. That year, nearly 460,000 tourists from the U.S. arrived to Iceland. People took to the comments section of Lainey's viral video to share their thoughts and reactions to what had happened. "Only drink from the top of a mountain," said @cathycammarata. Meanwhile, @wondrej joked: "Someone didn't watch enough Bear Grills episodes." "Never drink water at altitudes that have cattle or large concentrations of wild animals. Unless you want to drink poopy water," said @vincepru, to which Lainey replied: "Good to know for the future." @cas_mae_binkley shared: "I went on a hike in Ireland an the tour guide was an older fella, and he said the exact same thing! He said 'you can drink the water. It's super fresh. Just don't drink too much. There could be a dead sheep up there." "Bear Grylls in my childhood taught me exactly to not drink from a stream as there are dead animals along the water." Has a dream vacation turned into a nightmare? Whether it's a missed flight or lost luggage, we want to hear about your travel disasters. Let us know via life@newsweek.com, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.