caves - i should log off

Photo: Ladders in the river

August 30, 2011 By Jillian

Sumidero Canyon is a narrow gorge in Chiapas, Mexico. Formed around the same time as Arizona’s Grand Canyon, Sumidero is home to the Grijalva River and like the Grand Canyon is the center of a national park.

A popular tourist attraction, Sumidero canyon is best experienced via boat since caves and grottoes dot the inside of the canyon walls. This cave, known as Cueva de Colores has been decorated with various religious items, candles and flowers. In the dry season, the ladder sits on a small sandbar and locals come to pay their respects and make offerings. Cueva de Colores is only one of these caves along the route. The park also has look outs and hiking trails, if the water isn’t your thing. Definitely stay out of the water. In addition to various fish, there is also a significant population of American crocodiles.

The scenery is absolutely breath taking though. Chiapas is still densely vegetated, so despite many years of difficult political situations, the area still holds many natural wonders.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Mexico holidays have a little something for everyone. Chiapas is a bit more off the beaten path, but there are still plenty of creature comforts to be had. Sumidero Canyon is not too far from the famed Mayan ruins of Palenque, and make a great stop from San Cristobal de Las Casas, another popular site in Chiapas. The area is most popular with Mexican tourists, but each year more and more foreigners come through. It’s become a popular destination for rock climbers, spelunking, rappelling and mountain biking. Like anywhere else in the world, you should thoroughly check your equipment before you go!

Photo: Buddha in Datong

June 28, 2011 By Jillian

It was surprising to see Buddha in China. Well, to see so much Buddha shall we say. We thought most of China’s cultural and religious art had been destroyed by the cultural revolution, but instead we found a good bit still existed, especially in far flung areas like Dunhuang in Western China. Of course the sites were damaged and looted, but as this statue from Datong shows, there was still plenty in tact to see.

There are three major movements of Buddhist art, each with it’s own distinct style: Southern (Theravada countries), Eastern (China) and Northern (Indo-Tibetan). This statue is of the Eastern style, but in Dunhuang we were able to see distinct examples of all three- an interesting historical and anthropological perspective.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Datong is about 4-5 hours by fast train from Beijing. Besides the caves, Datong is also home to the hanging monestary, a cool side trip into the countryside. Both can be done in one day, we negotiated a fare from the city to the monastery– the taxi drivers at the caves wanted ridiculous fares! The other types of Buddhist art, Southern and Northern, can be seen for celebrations of Sri Lanka holidays or on display in northern India/Western Tibet.

Photo: Petra’s Caves

June 27, 2011 By Jillian

There are few ceilings as beautiful in the world as inside the caves of Petra. Even Michelangelo’s work in my opinion doesn’t compare to the soft movement of the sandstone caves in Petra. The incredible tones of red, orange and white are characteristic of Nubian Sandstone, which is common throughout North Africa and Arabia.

Carved out by hand, the caves served as tombs for the Nabataeans. Some entrances remain intricately carved with architectural detail, while others have had their architectural splendor worn away over time. We found the caves and colors to be magnificent at sunset and the last of the day’s light bounced off the rocks giving the site a warm orange glow.

“It seems no work of Man’s creative hand,
by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;
But from the rock as if by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,
that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;
But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,
which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,
match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time. “- John William Burgon (1845)

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: We spent two days exploring Petra and probably could have spent longer. Purchase the two day pass, the upcharge is nominal and you’ll appreciate having the extra time, especially if it’s crowded on your first day. We loved exploring inside the carved out caves, they were a nice and shady place to rest, although some of them are still used by local bedouin (trust me, you’ll know which ones!). We love caves because they tend to be unique. Those in Petra were hand carved from the sandstone, but around the world there are caves man made and natural, made from all different types of rock. Even if you’re looking for something less adventurous like a beach vacation or taking all inclusive resort style holidays to Mauritius or another island, there are bound to be caves nearby worth a look!

You can read more IF YOU GO tips on Petra on our original post <here>.

Photo of the Day: Cappadocia Caves

January 20, 2011 By Jillian

The lava rock of Cappadocia is extremely soft. Over the centuries people have lived, worshipped and hidden in these caves. Some are even decorated inside!

Special thanks to Flickr user Ocean a c h e for marking this photo as a favorite.

To see a few of our favorite photos from Turkey click here.

Our PHOTO PAGE has links to all of our collections on Flickr. Be sure to mark some of your own favorites so that we can include them on this column. We’ll be highlighting a different photo every day.

Remember, you have until the end of January to mark your favorites and be entered in our photo contest!

Photo of the Day: She monkey

January 13, 2011 By Jillian

A monkey at the zoo is cute. In Costa Rica maybe they play with you, but they’re pretty small and rather used to humans. The monkeys in Mumbai were different. Like everyone else in India they were fighting for their space to survive and so they had taken over the Kanheri Caves at Sanjay Ghandi National Park. As you can see they required quite a fee to pass through their area. Distracted by her previous booty she took nothing from us. Later, waiting for the bus, the three of us and three Indian men were quickly moved off a bench by a different angry she monkey. My tip for you- watch out!

Many thanks to flickr user Itinerantlondoner for marking this as one of his favorite photos!

Visit our flickr page to explore our photos and mark some of your own favorites. We’ll be highlighting a different photo every day. Remember you have until the end of the month to mark your favorites and be entered in our photo contest!

Photo: Ladders in the river

Photo: Buddha in Datong

Photo: Petra’s Caves

Photo of the Day: Cappadocia Caves

Photo of the Day: She monkey

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