We are in the central chamber of a stone age tomb, a vault of crudely cut megalith blocks above us and outside that, a great mound of earth covered in grass. The guide turns off the tourist friendly electric lights and the chamber goes completely dark except for some dim light spilling in through the passageway. She turns on the light simulating the equinox sun and a golden ray shoots along the floor, filling the passage with brilliant golden light and grows in luminescence until it culminates in a thin point on a spot precisely calculated by ancient astronomers. Though … Read the rest
I have entered the fomentation room (I don’t even know what that means) which is a large hall with a low ceiling, where people dressed in loose-fitting shorts and t-shirt, the men in all white and the women in red and orange, are lying or sitting on thin bamboo mats spaced out on the floor. This is supposed to be some kind of spa, but as far as spa experiences go, sitting on a bamboo mat is fairly underwhelming. Then I discover it, there is a series of doors along one wall, with signs on them saying things like “Jade … Read the rest
The air gets chillier as the small, open train takes us through a tunnel of rough rocks into the underground. The tunnel opens up onto a new world full of limestone formations, stalactites hanging from the ceiling, stalagmites growing up from the ground, free standing pillars and curtains clinging to the wall. Some are lit up by strategically placed lamps while others lay in shadow, creating a captivating play of light. Some times the train winds through narrow passages that then open up into large caverns. The landscape is fascinating for an inexperienced spelunker like me, just too bad there … Read the rest
The cavern we are in gets larger up ahead, the vaulted, stalactite clad ceiling lit up by a soft orange glow, expands outward then opens up on a black void. A string of lights like a band of diamonds stretches out into the darkness, shedding light on a vast canyon beyond. The floor drops off steeply to the river down below and the ceiling disappears overhead. There is a rushing of water from the river and the air feels cooler. A silent, ” bloody hell” rises up in me at the sight of the canyon which is awesome in the … Read the rest
To my left, green mountains with bare Rocky cliffs, a blue sky up above and a slope down towards azure blue sea. In front of me a thin band of asphalt bending of to the right. I slow down and savor the moment of being on a motorized two wheeler once again, my girlfriend behind me and the wind on my face. Then I lean into the curve and twist my right hand, the scooter shoots forward and zooms through the bend while a fizzy feeling of speed bubbles up within me.… Read the rest
I walk down the utterly dark tunnel, my flashlight the only source of illumination. The tunnel is long and narrow and vaulted overhead. The white paint on the walls has deteriorated over the years and a bunch of rusty metal clamps are all that remains of the previous lighting system. As I come closer to the end I can sense a faint glow somewhere, when I reach it, it turns out to be a crossroads. I go to the left because it’s shorter and there is light in that direction. It leads to a small open space within a low … Read the rest
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