Advertisement
Published: August 1st 2011
Edit Blog Post
Our mission today was to visit the famous salt mine at Wieliczka near Krakow, which has a long history going back to at least medieval times. With the continuing rain and cool temperatures, a visit to the mine seemed like a good plan, a belief shared by many others already queued and waiting under umbrellas to buy tickets. Luckily we were able to quickly join an English speaking tour and enter the mine before we got too soaked.
Information we were given made it clear that the tour could last up to three hours and would begin with a descent of 350 steps to a depth of around 60 metres, then finally take us down to 130 metres before the end of the visit. We decided this was well within our capability, especially as we were promised an elevator ride back to the surface when it was over.
The mine was amazing. The first climb down to 60 metres below ground was made on sturdy wooden staircases going down and round, down and round, until the beginnings of motion sickness may not have all been imagined. Our efficient and knowledgeable guide then led us through passageways where many beautiful sculptures in
salt traced the story of the development of the mine as well as its operation. More steps and ramps often opened into huge caverns, in particular a church with wonderful salt carvings of religious scenes and even a copy of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Everything was of salt from the chandeliers to the floor tiles, wall carvings, altar and pulpit. The church is sometimes used for services, with the congregation descending by elevator rather than step by step.
We finally reached the depth of 130 metres, as far down as we were to go, although the mine has chambers down to 300 metres below ground. At this point we entered a great cavern where cafes and souvenir shops were operating just as though they were above ground. What it would be like to come to work each day so far below daylight and even rain is hard to imagine.
Now we were given instructions about how to reach the point where we would exit the mine by elevator. Suddenly the trappings of touring seemed to vanish as we waited to be allowed through the door to where we would take our final steps to the elevator. A guide hurried us
along a cooler damp looking passage with many pipes and wires attached to the walls until we arrived at the embarkation point. The elevator was the cage used to transport miners and equipment up and down the mine shaft! This was serious stuff with not a hard hat in sight. A small sign in English warned against leaning out of the cage as it ascends – as if we would! Two cages were in use, one above the other, with just a few people at a time able to fit inside each one. Suddenly it was our turn and we were in the little cage: the doors clanged shut and the bell was rung, then we were going up through the wet brick shaft and swinging a little as we went. How brave we were and how good it was to see the light from above and to hear the bell that signalled our arrival back from the depths.
The rest of our day was to be the relatively short drive on to Katovice for the night. It should have been a piece of cake after our trip down the mine, but the need to navigate a series of road works, closed roads, and roads that take you to faraway places with strange sounding names, none of which are where you need to be, made what should have been a 90 minute trip around twice as long. And have we mentioned the ruts...! Still, Poland is trying to deal with the roads, it just takes time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.323s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 13; qc: 51; dbt: 0.1288s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb