Salt Mines

My husband and I visited the salt mines near Berchtesgaden while on our honeymoon in Germany in 2005. The reason we chose to do this was because he had gone there as a kid, when he lived in Germany, while his father was stationed there for the U.S. Army. This was an experience I will remember. You go into a building at the entrance to buy your tickets and suit up. After buying your ticket, the boys and girls go into different rooms to "dress out". Basically, what you wear is baggy pants, and baggy shirt, something like the style of karate outfits, but much baggier. Then you get a leather pad, which you belt around you so that it covers your rear.

Once we were all dressed up, we were ready to go. We had to wait a bit for our tour to begin because we had to wait for the trolley. The trolley is a little child size train that has a bench that you must straddle. I suppose needs for personal space vary from culture to culture, but this definitely violated my personal space. It was tolerable though, but you do have to scrunch up with all the other passengers.

So, we all cram together on this car, straddling the seat and crammed front to back But that's OK, because it's like a ride, and the little car takes off down the mine shaft, which is fun and mildly scary. I was ducking my head in moderate concern, and I'm only 5'2''. finally, we arrive at the end of our ride, at the first slide. The slides are the reason we all have leather butts. They are basically double wooden banisters that sit low to the ground. you straddle them (this time with loved ones only) pick up your feet, and take off. Remember being a child when slides were still made of metal? do you remember the dangerously tall slide, with the steep stairs, and you almost lost your stomach at the bottom? This is like that, but taller, faster, and not so hot. The pads protect you from splinters; however, you only ride 2 slides in the mines, so I largely suspect the pads are for the miners' personal amusement.

At the bottom of the slide we realize that this tour isn't in English. The conductor, who is a little intimidating with a gruff voice, is talking only in German. There are however, several wooden soldiers standing about, and one of them looks like a Buckingham palace guard, there is also a British flag over his head. with a speaker. So we go stand by it. This isn't a tourist place that a lot of Americans visit, so the only other people who speak our language are a very nice older Australian couple. So nice in fact, they tell us to come see them when we come Australia. They give us their address and everything, though I had nothing to write it down with. Every now and again through the tour, a speaker would tell us about the mining. At the bottom we rode a little boat across a little lake which was fun. You can do the same thing here in the Southern U.S. at the Lost Sea in South East Tennessee. From the lake it was on to a space violating inclined rail, with two boxes they fit everyone on the tour into. Finally, it was back onto the space violating trolley.

At the end, they gave us very small containers of the salt they make there, and of course, offered to sell us larger amounts. Having already spent our money on other souvenirs, we politely declined. Then we got on to ride back to the surface. Along the way, something went wrong, there were strange rumblings, then the sound of metal bending, then finally, Bang! an explosion, and light up ahead. Of course it was just a joke, and if it was my mine, I couldn't have resisted either. They language can sound harsh, but these people have a good sense of humor.

Even though this isn't something I would have picked out myself to do, I had a great time. I have to give it an A, but I will moderate that to an A- because when seeing a foreign country there are so many new and interesting things to do and see, and this doesn't really qulify as a must do.... but it is a good way to spend a few hours.