Although I might seem like I have a flawless personality I must admit that I have one or two (or 6749362819) irrational fears. The most monumental fears of them all are; fear of heights, fear of the dark, and fear of old age poverty.
So what does my scaredy-cat qualities has to do with this article of the La Zipaquira salt cathedral?
Well folks, lemme tell you somfin’ about la Zipaquira salt cathedral; it is located inside of a working salt mine, 200 meters below the ground, carved deep within a mountain, and miners lost their lives toiling underground to build this salt mine and cathedral. You have to go through this long, dark salt mine tunnel before reaching the cathedral. The cathedral itself was originally used as a place for praying before the miners start their day. If you look closely at the wall, the floor, even the ceiling, you can see clearly the prints of excavator axes sculpting through the tunnel. This site literally made of sweat, tears, and lives of Colombian hardworking miners. There are even monuments of remembrance for those who have fallen in the building of this site. It does sound like a place that would give you goosebumps, doesn’t it?
There are only one major tunnel path leading right to the cathedral that you can take but you can see smaller paths leading out into the darkness of the earth (these paths are closed for public). The entrance of each of these smaller paths allows you to see how far into the nothingness the path leads to, which is kind of freaky. I just couldn’t help myself but gazing at it and unconsciously expecting an alien would pop out of nowhere. It felt a random alien occurrence somewhat fitting in this environment.