The Wieliczka Salt Mine…

Entrance to the Wieliczka Salt Mine...

Before going down for an early breakfast, I checked my mail and website, and saw that the guy on the yellow BMW from the night before, had managed to track me down, and had left a message offering to “show me around Krakow”…

I was delighted that I was now able to put a name, in this case, Wojciech Gapinski, to the face from the night before and even happier to reply in the positive, giving him my hotel details and arranging to meet him later that evening…

The mini bus that took me and a group of English visitors to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, dropped us off there at about 10.00am, where our driver introduced us to “Lucy” our guide, who, by the end of the tour, had me convinced that she had been a prison officer in her former life…

We were escorted down 357 wooden steps to the 54^th level of the mine, all the while praying that we would not have to walk these same steps back up to the surface when the tour was over…!!

There we began a fascinating three hour tour of the mine and its myriad of tunnels, shafts and chambers… All of them carved from solid rock salt…

After 357 steps down to level 54, we walked down the tunnel to the first chamber...

Some of the walls had been lime washed to give the miners better lighting. Tourists also appreciated the effort...

The walls and ceilings are supported by thick timber beams, impregnated with the salt that has leached through to them, making them impervious to any form of rotting…

This is apparently one of the most eagerly visited tourist sites in Poland, and despite it being late in the season, thousands of visitors still flock there… I cannot imagine being part of the throng in peak season…!! As it was, I felt that we were being rushed through the mine, with hardly any time to take in our surroundings and properly appreciate the amazing sights that greeted us around every corner…

Being in a group of almost 20 individuals also has its disadvantages… If you lag behind, as I often did to take a few photos, you invariably miss the explanation the guide is giving about the next point of interest…

On a few occasions, I arrived down a narrow tunnel, just in time to hear the tail end of an explanation she was giving, and then watched as she turned on her heel and marched us on to the next place of interest, with a stern “Follow me…!!”…

I am pretty sure she would have liked to say, “Or else…!!” as well…!!

Untergestafsfuhrer "Lucy", shows us how the blocks of salt were winched up from the depth of the mine, using this ingenius system of pulleys...

Miners moved the large blocks of salt by using these sleds...

Horses were also brought down into the mine, and spent their lives in the tunnels, never seeing the light of day again...

On one occasion an Irish woman timidly asked her to explain about a chamber we had just exited… Lucy turned on her jailhouse charm by saying,

“Were you not listening…? I told you about that already…!!”

The poor Irish woman stammered an apology, and quietly retreated to the back of the group… That’s about the time I began planning for a gentle and “accidental” nudge that would send our Lucy down a steep flight of stairs and hopefully into one of the salt lakes…

Taking photographs was not without its difficulties, as the lighting down in the mine is poor at best, and with tiny flecks of unseen dust in the air being picked up by the cameras flash, quality pics are difficult to achieve…

A block of rock salt such as this one, weighed about 400 kgs, and in days of yore, was enough to buy an entire village...

"Cauliflower-like" salt crystals have grown on this wooden pillar... The crystals form on the walls and ceilings of the mine...

You could always make the journey down into the depths loaded with high tech gear, which I would not recommend…!!

If you are with a guide, she/he would be urging you on, as ours did, every step of the way…!!

And as for going down on your own…?

Well, let me give you a few details that might have you thinking twice about that sort of lark…!!

The mine has over 300 km of tunnels or galleries, over 3000 chambers of varying sizes, some tiny, other enormous enough to launch a hot air balloon in. (which was done to achieve one of those weird records which feature in the Guinness Book – the only place in the world where a hot air balloon was launched underground…!!) The mine comprises of nine levels, the deepest at over 327 metres underground. We only went as far as the 3^rd level, which is at about 130 metres below the surface…

Entrance to one of the galleries leading to the Kinga Chapel...

Yeah... No undressing for a quickie behind the curtains...!! I wonder if they meant "respectful"...??

The tourist route we followed stretches a mere 2 kilometres, and includes just 22 of the chambers, all connected by a bewildering array of tunnels and galleries, and long flights of wooden stairs… Getting lost down there would be, as my baker friend would say, “a piece of cake…!!”…

And if you happened to fall into one of the many underground salt lakes, you’d be in a bit of a pickle…!!

Rock salt from this mine was brought to the surface for almost 9 centuries, before all mining was stopped… There are still a few other open-cast salt mines in Poland which are being worked, and there, it is far cheaper to get the raw material from the ground, as it would be here at these depths…

Every chamber in the mine was carved by the miners who worked here… They left large pillars of rock salt to support the walls of the ceiling of the chambers they mined, and then adorned the walls with statues and figurines… Many of the worlds famous who visited the mine have had statues raised in their honour… People like Johann von Goethe the German philosopher and writer, Chopin the composer, Copernicus, the Polish astronomer, and of course, Pope John Paul ll, a native of the Krakow region…

The mine was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of many such sites scattered throughout Poland…

For me, the highlight of the tour was the St. Kinga’s Chapel, 101 metres underground… This, one of the largest chambers, is a fully functioning church, where services are held every Sunday morning at 8.00am… The sculptures hewn into the solid rock walls are worth a visit all on their own… Huge chandeliers hang from the rock ceiling, lighting up an area that can seat hundreds of people…

The magnificent Kinga's Chapel...

This sculpture of the Last Supper is only 17 cm deep... An amazing work of art...!!

Statue of Pope John Paul II in the vestibule of the Kinga Chapel...

We bottomed out at the 130 m mark, although I would have liked to send Lucy down to the 357 m level for a stay of not less than a few weeks...!!

After marching us through another large chamber where a large restaurant and many souvenir shops are located, we were advised that our tour was over, and to join the line of folk waiting to be hoisted to the surface…

The trip up in a small metal cage that held just 8 people, took almost a minute, shaking and rocking as it went…

Outside, rain clouds were threatening again, and by the time I was dropped off at the Kontrast Hotel, it had started to drizzle…

Preparations for a wedding reception to be held later that night were in full swing, and I sat watching the organized chaos as it unfolded before me…

There were countless opportunities for mischief, but I refrained, telling myself that to move all the little cards indicating where various people were meant to sit would be a naughty thing to do, however enormous the temptation…!!

Pretending to be part of the wedding party, and asking for a quick tour of inspection, where I would insist that the flower arrangements be exchanged for fruit baskets, was also a no-no…!!

And requesting that the bride’s mother be seated outside, near the freezing waters of the fish pond was also out of the question, although the groom might well have thanked me for that one…!!

Before going up to my room, I did however instruct the receptionist to tell the groom that he should report to me for a few bits of advice that I was certain he could do with…

Silly bugger thought I meant the bride…!! Had a hard time getting her back to the reception…!!

Apparently she thought I was a real Gypsy, and wanted her fortune told…!!

GBWT 2010