Lift Back to the Surface from the Wieliczka Salt Mine
This is probably the first time I have ever been inside a mine. I don’t know if I have been deep into the earth as this either. Fortunately, the mine is climate controlled so it wasn’t warm or cold. We were over a hundred meters below the surface and that is just the tourist route. I wasn’t sure how deep the tunnels actually go, but I do know that the tourist route is only a tiny fraction of the entire length of the mine tunnels. It is truly astounding to see how large this place actually is. It probably is even more mindblowing to realize how much salt there is in the mine.
Mine Car at the Wieliczka Salt Mine
The mine stopped operating only in 2006. That made it the longest operating salt mine in history. It probably made more sense to earn from tourism rather than mining salt. Indeed, some of the miners now help with operating the mine for tourism purposes. We were being lead to the exit, and I was already fearing the climb back up. It appeared to be a never ending flight of stairs to go all the way down to the mine from the surface. I wasn’t looking forward to the climb back up. Fortunately, they thought about that. There was a modern elevator which can fit a large number of visitors to bring them back to the surface. It was a relief for me since I don’t think I would be able to finish the climb.
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