When I was in high school and junior high, I had a lot of opportunities to travel across the U.S. I went everywhere from Salt Lake City to Cocoa Beach, but probably my favorite and definitely one of the most beautiful places that I ever visited was Carlsbad Caverns. I went there with my parents when I was about 12 or 13, and it was an amazing experience. Very few pictures do the utter scale of the caves justice. Huge caverns are like the one pictured below are littered across the main sections, and when you walk into one, it feels like having an entire football stadium inverted and planted on top of you. That being said, the most amazing thing I saw, when I was there, was nothing.
We went down into one of side caves so far that the light from the surface couldn't reach us, and everyone turned off their flashlights. It was the first time I ever experienced true, pitch black. I almost couldn't tell if my eyes where open or closed. And, after a while, my eyes starting seeing weird colors to make up for the darkness, like when you look into a bright light for too long. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. If you ever visit Carlsbad, I couldn't recommend the experience more.
Oh, I was so excited when I saw this, Bill! I loved Carlsbad Caverns when I was a kid: I have not been in a long time, but my mother was born in New Mexico, and we used to do a lot of drives back and forth between Arizona and Texas. There are some pretty amazing caves in India too; you might even want to explore something like that for a topic! Elephanta Caves and Ellora Caves, plus More Rock-Cute Temples
ReplyDeleteWhoops: that would be rock-cut temples... because they are definitely more beautiful than cute, ha ha.
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