Beneath the earth, there is a sea.
August 11, 2007 5:21 PM Subscribe
Before that, it served as a refrigerator, moonshine operation, meeting room, tavern, mushroom farm and saltpeter mine.
God, I would have loved to have been there when it was a tavern.
posted by yhbc at 5:29 PM on August 11, 2007
God, I would have loved to have been there when it was a tavern.
posted by yhbc at 5:29 PM on August 11, 2007
Local residents known to ask: "Have you seen my precious?" and comment that "the bright face", "how it burnses".
posted by GuyZero at 5:49 PM on August 11, 2007
posted by GuyZero at 5:49 PM on August 11, 2007
If you have some extra money, somebody, buy these really cool ecological features/locations and save them from the no-minds, eh?
posted by humannaire at 7:48 PM on August 11, 2007
posted by humannaire at 7:48 PM on August 11, 2007
The Lost Sea is very cool, but the tour guides' spiels are horrible. For some reason I found it much more difficult to take a decent picture in there than in other caves - I see other people have trouble as well.
If you have some extra money, somebody, buy these really cool ecological features/locations and save them from the no-minds, eh?
Much of this cave system is not open to the public, and the part that is allows only closely supervised tours. And who, exactly, are these sub-humans you would wish to deny the chance to see really cool geological features?
posted by frobozz at 8:21 PM on August 11, 2007
If you have some extra money, somebody, buy these really cool ecological features/locations and save them from the no-minds, eh?
Much of this cave system is not open to the public, and the part that is allows only closely supervised tours. And who, exactly, are these sub-humans you would wish to deny the chance to see really cool geological features?
posted by frobozz at 8:21 PM on August 11, 2007
Thanks for the links. I do love me some caves, though the thought of exploring by diving in acres of underwater chambers is terrifying.
Also, I am very pleased to follow a poster named "frobozz" in a thread on caves. Perhaps I will start a thread on small mailboxes.
posted by bepe at 11:00 PM on August 11, 2007
Also, I am very pleased to follow a poster named "frobozz" in a thread on caves. Perhaps I will start a thread on small mailboxes.
posted by bepe at 11:00 PM on August 11, 2007
yhbc: Before that, it served as a refrigerator, moonshine operation...
mrmarley:the fish there are blind
Coincidence??
posted by Anything at 12:40 AM on August 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
mrmarley:the fish there are blind
Coincidence??
posted by Anything at 12:40 AM on August 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
And who, exactly, are these sub-humans you would wish to deny the chance to see really cool geological features?
Morlocks.
No, sub-humans are easy on caves. Bears in caves are wonderful. Morlocks have better manners.
The problem is humans, herds of people whose entry requires defacing changes -- signs, entry roads, parking lots, roadway and parking lights, ticket offices, snack bars, vending machines, souvenirs shops, batteries of toilets and urinals, baby changing areas, You Are Here maps, picnic areas, overhead and footpath lights, sidewalks, wheelchair access, railings, trash cans, stairways, elevators, plumbing, emergency exits, fire extinguishers, ventilation shafts -- just so they can briefly waddle through snapping their gum and eating chips and pushing each other and listening to iPods and talking on cell phones (or complaining that cell phones don't work down there) and complaining that they should have stopped at McDonald's on the highway. Not the sort who should be catered to when preserving a natural wonder.
For a cave, limit the number of people allowed in to something like one or two small groups a day, reservations only, if the cave environment can take that load. Give the cave seasons to recover with no visitors at all. Make sure every visitor is trained in caving and has the right equipment, and take them in small group excursions that might require that they slither, crawl, wade, swim, climb, rappel, lie in bat shit (insane), etc.
posted by pracowity at 4:08 AM on August 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
Morlocks.
No, sub-humans are easy on caves. Bears in caves are wonderful. Morlocks have better manners.
The problem is humans, herds of people whose entry requires defacing changes -- signs, entry roads, parking lots, roadway and parking lights, ticket offices, snack bars, vending machines, souvenirs shops, batteries of toilets and urinals, baby changing areas, You Are Here maps, picnic areas, overhead and footpath lights, sidewalks, wheelchair access, railings, trash cans, stairways, elevators, plumbing, emergency exits, fire extinguishers, ventilation shafts -- just so they can briefly waddle through snapping their gum and eating chips and pushing each other and listening to iPods and talking on cell phones (or complaining that cell phones don't work down there) and complaining that they should have stopped at McDonald's on the highway. Not the sort who should be catered to when preserving a natural wonder.
For a cave, limit the number of people allowed in to something like one or two small groups a day, reservations only, if the cave environment can take that load. Give the cave seasons to recover with no visitors at all. Make sure every visitor is trained in caving and has the right equipment, and take them in small group excursions that might require that they slither, crawl, wade, swim, climb, rappel, lie in bat shit (insane), etc.
posted by pracowity at 4:08 AM on August 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
Oh yeah? Well, we've got the world's deepest underground river!
(Okay, so it's not quite as impressive. Great post, btw.)
posted by dgbellak at 6:13 AM on August 12, 2007
(Okay, so it's not quite as impressive. Great post, btw.)
posted by dgbellak at 6:13 AM on August 12, 2007
During one part of the tour, visitors experience total darkness when the guide turns off the lights.
Then a grue eats them.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:52 AM on August 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
Then a grue eats them.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:52 AM on August 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
And while you're in the area, pick up some local cheese.
posted by grabbingsand at 11:25 AM on August 12, 2007
posted by grabbingsand at 11:25 AM on August 12, 2007
And who, exactly, are these sub-humans you would wish to deny the chance to see really cool geological features?
Um, that's how I meant to say what I meant to ask. Thank you, frobozz. Worded most precisely.
posted by humannaire at 7:25 PM on August 12, 2007
Um, that's how I meant to say what I meant to ask. Thank you, frobozz. Worded most precisely.
posted by humannaire at 7:25 PM on August 12, 2007
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posted by Citizen Premier at 5:27 PM on August 11, 2007