Now, this is what I was sort of expecting to see – white fluffy salt deposits (like you see on the banks of Dead Sea). These is actually water that has dripped and then evaporated in a cave. Somewhat like the stalactites and stalagmites that we learnt in our geography class in seventh or eighth grade.
Frankly, I was not sure what I was going to see once in the mine. I can visualize what the walls of a coal mine might look like but could not quite visualize a salt mine. In my mind, you get salt by evaporating ocean water.
I understand this particular part of the world was under water some 14 million years back. When the ocean evaporated, it left all the salt in the ground.
This is how it looks. You might mistake it to be granite or some kind of rock from inside. Till you try tasting a bit of it. (Yes, I did!!). It is much cooler to touch. Apparently, that is how miners would recognize salt deposits while digging. They would check how cool it was to touch. I guess going around licking after every swing of the pick axe would have been impractical and perhaps dangerous.
We were informed that wood was always used inside the mine instead of metal since metal would corrode from the effect of salt. Plus, I suspect wood was cheaper in this part of the country.
Everything around us was salt rock like this. Even the floor – which looked like marbled floors you see at home was salt.
This is in a town called Wieliczka outside Krakow. Just because I know how to spell it, does not mean I know how to pronounce it. After about a half an hour wait, we got to go into the mine.
We will go down some 135 m (400 feet+ or about 40 floors) using 800 steps. And that is only one third of the mine depth. The other two thirds are not open to tourists. There is a walk for about 2.5 miles through intricate labyrinths in the mine. I am glad we have an English speaking guide to make sure we do not get lost.
Fortunately, an elevator is there to take us up eventually.
In Polish, I think, attending to details is referred to as “crossing your ‘l’s and hooking your ‘c’s”. Also if you are ever stuck trying to remember the spelling of a Polish word, you can put in a “w”. More likely than not you will be right. And if you ever get to a “c”, without fear or favor, put down a “z” immediately.
