Eastern europe day 5

After approximately 2 hours of free and easy time, we gathered, made our way to the bus and it was off on a 40 min drive to the Salt Mine. It's got a proper name but i don't have it with me now and I don't want to hazard a guess. :-) the Salt Mine is very, very cool. Everything, well almost everything, is made from salt. Some of the dioramas aren't made from salt and doors and support are made from wood. But many of the carvings and sculptures are craved from salt. We had to climb down many flights of steps in a vertical stairwell. If i remember correctly, our singaporean guide said it was 300m down. It wasn't too bad, much easier than the many steps we had to climb down at the malinghe xiagu in guizhou china. The steps are made of wood and they are even and dry, so v easy to go down. Still, it would trying for older folks and those with knee and ankle problems. The high light of the mine is the large underground hall which i think serves as a place of worship. The walls of salt are adorn with religous themed carvings and the sides of the hall are lined with sculptures of the Virgin Mary and the saints, i think. There is a beautiful altar carved from salt and a sculpture of the Pope, John Paul the 2nd i think, stands at the back of the hall. Even the chanderliers were made mostly from bits of salt, where the crystal usually is, these had bits of salt. It was really quite an amazing place. We had to walk quite a bit more after we visited the hall but thankfully the way back up was not via the steps but a quite and very cool ride up using the miners' lift. After this was a good hearty meal in a restaurant nearby and a good night's sleep at the hotel.