The Mammoth Caves

365 miles of underground caves! Well, that definitely qualifies as ‘mammoth’. Initially used as an adjective for this huge natural wonder in central Kentucky has now become the name for the same. It is a natural formation of sandstone and limestone cut through by the water flowing underground to the Green River. It has seven layers of caves created during different time periods. At some places, the dimensions are pretty big. You could build a large hall out of it. And at places, you can barely walk straight. The dimensions differ due to different duration and speed of water flow.

The caves were used by the Native Americans to collect gypsum, which is still abundant in the caves. Mummified Native American bodies were found in the caves. Though these mummies were not as elaborate as the Egyptian ones and the bodies were rather preserved by the caves’ natural conditions. The caves were a prime source for nitrates in the nineteenth and early twentieth century before it turned mostly into a tourist attraction later on. Stephen Bishop, an African-American slave and a guide to the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, is credited to have made extensive maps of the cave, and named many of the cave's features.

However, I must say that the caves are rather featureless. Unless you are an archeologist or some other professional of that sort, you won’t find too much difference in different sections of the caves. There is underground life in the caves such as eyeless fishes and spiders. But they are insignificant. You have to be really watchful to get your eyes on them. The only part of the caves which has any sort of formation is the frozen niagra. It has beautiful arrangements of stalactites.

As for the guided cave tours, consider your physical condition. They might be strenuous if you are not fit because they often involve long walks. However, if you are fit, take the 6 hour wild cave tour (where you are supposed to have real expedition experience) and the frozen niagra tour. There is no point taking all the tours because, as I said earlier, the caves are not very different from one point to the other.

The national park also has some beautiful trails through the forest on the surface. You can also do some kayaking on the river. The camping grounds are decent and pretty cheap ($20/person/night). There is also a Mammoth Hotel with accommodation available. This was my first camping experience. It was pretty good. A tent, a temporary bed, some food, a few friends, man-made restrooms in the vicinity - it all made a perfect camping prospect. Getting the fire on (I mean the real fire, the camp fire) was a different story. It took us quite some effort to get a good fire. Remember, putting up a fire is not easy. We had to try so hard with our gas lighters, kerosene, dry woods bought from the near-by store, magnesium flares and a coal starter from walmart, I wonder how the early humans ever managed it.

The Road to the Park

Gypsum on the walls


I told you - it's big

Frozen Niagra

Stalactite Formation

Fatman's Misery

A trail

The Green River

The Deer in the dark

Down the winding caves

The tent and the camper

Along the trail

Typical Cave Wall

The Guide with a lamp used by early explorers

The Wine Story

This is a short pictorial life-cycle of the grapes that finally make their way to our tastebuds via wine bottles.

The cradle – grape vines where they grow

Choice of the fittest – the grapes are hand picked for quality products (the man in the pic is the wine-maker)

Extorting the essence – the chosen grapes are crushed to relieve the juice within

Preparing for the preparation – the juice is kept at precise temperature for a precise duration before they are ready to be transferred to the barrels

Way to perfection – Most of their lifetime is spent in the barrels. They are kept there for years. The winemaker checks the quality from time to time till they are ready.

Expensive captives – Bottled wines. Beware of the cost.

The final frontier – Served to a rejoicing crowd

Santa Barbara - the small pretty town

The first day, we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. It took us around an hour for the meal. When we came out, to our utter surprise, the street outside, which happens to be the lifeline of the town, had been converted to a fruit market. That is Santa Barbara. A very relaxed town at the coast line of California. I have never been to such a small, beautiful and relaxed town as this one. The downtown has no building above two stories, rather too small for a person from Chicago. However it has a wide variety of restaurants and other stalls to keep you engaged. It has a lot of green. People can be seen loitering all around or just sitting on the benches. For a moment, I had to recheck if it was actually a weekday. Nobody showed any sign of a rush.

The co-existence of the hills and the ocean makes it a very scenic place. The pier offers a good view of the city. I went to the Goleta beach too which is closer to the university campus. However, the only disappointment was that the water wasn’t clean. I had to drop my plan of bathing in the sea. I had been to the university beach on the last day just before leaving. The water was clearer there but then I didn’t have the time to enjoy it. Our trip to the vineyard for the dinner on Thursday was a very noble experience. The hilly road by the side of the ocean and through the country side was awesome. We went through a Dutch town and farms of horses and ostriches to finally arrive at the winery. The dinner with fine wine and adequate supplements was perfect.

The University of Santa Barbara campus was very attractive too. The very well-defined campus is surrounded by the natural beauties all around. The campus itself is very green. The dearth of students in the summer made it all the more silent and serene. The over-all get-up of the campus, the trees, the abundance of bikes, entrance of the student halls, the buildings reminded me of the KGP campus. It was so unlike UIC.

The note will be incomplete without a mention of the airport. It is again so small. It is made out of a building which wasn’t meant to be an airport. These days I am so used to the big airports, I was actually confused there. It was easier to figure my way out in the LA airport then in Santa Barbara. And, the planes that flew between LA and SB, are pretty small. The American Eagle flights carry hardly forty people. It initially feels a bit uncomfortable travelling in these old style planes, but then the views from the top help you get rid of the worries and enjoy the journey.

Downtown

A view of the Goleta beach

New Day Dawns

The Vineyard

University Campus - silent and serene

The small plane

Belafonte - Paalkir Gaan

I was listening to the so-called ‘banana song’ of Harry Belafonte. It is an adapted version of the traditional Jamaican song sung by the night-shift dock workers who load bananas on ships. They sing it at dawn when their work is almost done and they are eager to go home. The song is well sung no doubt. However, the reason I make this post is different. That song reminded me of ‘paalkir gaan’; the slower ending part of it, where the palanquin bearers are exhausted at the end of the day. The ‘heiyan-hei-re-hei-aha’ from the Bengali song resonates with ‘daylight come and me wan' go home’ of the Day-O lyrics.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com///p/x/64brI7OHQt.As1NMvHdW/ (Link to the Bengali song)

Indiana Dunes

Good trips are always decided impromptu. Too much planning just leads to procrastination and never culminates. This was proved once again today as we had a very enjoyable trip to the Indian Dunes. Albeit a bit cold, it was a bright sunny day. Arnab and I were positive that we must go somewhere. 11am we started planning (that is when we woke up) and by 1 o’ clock four of us (including Bhujo and Swarnava) were off to Indiana. It was a drive of about an hour through I-90E/US-20. The place was amazing. Being just the beginning of the season, the crowd was thin. We had the beach to ourselves. It was refreshing to watch the waves break on the shore with the Chicago skyline evident on the horizon. The blend of colors of the water, the sky and the sand-dunes was fabulous. We braved the freezing water to take a quick bath. Though it lasted barely a few minutes as the skin was getting numb (the temperature was in forties), the fun was worth it. Besides, it was impossible to ignore the tempting waves. A walk down the 1.2 mile trail, climbing some sand dunes, cracking a lot of jokes (lame ones too), a fine 14’’ stuffed pizza in Michigan city and it was a perfect one-day-outing.

Proof that it was a perfect day for outing

Chicago skyline at the horizon

The trail through the green

The Blend of colors - the camera (or the owner) wasn't good enough to capture the real beauty though

The wooden trail through sand

We go off-route and up on a sand hill

The Nature again