Two weeks ago or so, we had some friends from Germany visiting us. It was half business half pleasure, so they had one day for themselves and we wanted to take them to a nice place they have never been before. There's a salt mine we had our eye on, because we've been there, it's a wonderful place and unique as well as it has an adventure park inside the mine, but this is not their only offer. Its main purpose is to serve as treatment facility for respiratory illnesses and it's a very famous one.
Salt mining began in 1762 and today the mining is still active, plus a famous cheese company is storing their cheese in one part of the mine, because it is the best way to mature cheese.
The last time I visited the salt mine was in April 2018. I had a post about it back then, but I'm going to post some photos for you to see what I'm talking about.
This is a dedicated area for praying.
It is huge, welcomes everyone regardless of religion and I suppose there are ecumenical gatherings held regularly.
This is where the fun begins. You can enjoy the adventure park. You pay the fee (which is not cheap, but totally worth it), get the necessary equipment along, take part in a short orientation session to learn what you can and what you can't do and you're good to go.
All you need is your courage :)
To understand better what this place means for tens of thousands, imagine families with kids coming here for two weeks, or three, to spend every day from morning till late afternoon, so the kids and adults can benefit from the salty air, which is beneficial for respiratory system. If you have experience with kids, you know how difficult it is to keep them occupied and avoid boredom, while they are forced to spend the whole day underground in 16C temperature, without sun. I can guarantee you, this place is paradise for them.
Has a dining area, where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on the time of day.
This is the place we wanted to visit, but a week before our visit, we got news that the mine got flooded.
This is a short video about the status of the mine at some point. This video was uploaded on the 9th of May.
It is a huge loss, as all the bookings have been canceled, which means booking to the mine, accommodation, spa and restaurants.
Initially it was estimated that after the rain stops, they can fix the problem and reopen the mine, but at this point that is out of the question, things got worse and today the whole mine was evacuated as there's danger or crumbling.
This month the amount of rain we got in my country exceeded every expectations. It's been 30 years when last we got this much rain.
There's a creek close to the mine and it turns out, 2m of the bed of the creek is like Swiss cheese and that has caused this flooding. Authorities knew about this, but it seems like it was never a priority, till now, when the problem is so bit the whole mine is in danger and not only.
The bigger problem is, they whole region's livelihood is based on tourism and the mine is the main tourist attraction. The rest there's there, hotels and restaurants are nothing special to stand alone and attract tourists. Most of them are closed already as there's no way they can make ends meet.
At the time of writing, it is still raining, I am getting flood alert every day. I'm not in any danger and will never be where I live, but other regions are in deep ... trouble, including this place. Chances for the mine to be reopened during the summer are slim to none and if things get worse, that means lights out for the majority of the businesses in the region.
Financially Ruined In A Blink Of An Eye
I keep thinking how could things get to this point? This has been a know issue. Fixing it would have meant spending some funds and maybe halting visits to the mine, but in a week or two it could have been fixed. Yet no one has been bothered in doing the right thing.
Imagine those businesses relying on tourists visiting the mine. Imagine those investments they have made and the debts they may owe to banks. All those dreams and plans shattered in a week or so. They say don't put all your eggs in one basket (unwritten rule in finance), so let's see if those businesses have eggs in other baskets as well, or this was the only one. I feel sorry for them honestly. It's not their fault, but they are paying the price.
There was a similar case in Poland, at the Wieliczka salt mine as far as I know, but it's possible the damage was of smaller proportion. Wieliczka salt mine is a wonderful place, more beautiful than the salt mine in my post.
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