New Mexico

The main chamber of the caverns, known as the Big Room, is about the size of 114 American football fields. Among the many stalagmites, stalactites, columns, pools, draperies etc., the places that remain in you memory are the Giant and Twin Domes, Lion's Tail, Rock of Ages, Frozen Waterfall and the Painted Grotto. All these spots can be covered in the self-guided, one-and-a-half-hour long, Big Room tour. The Big Room itself is 750 ft under the ground and if you want a better way to reach there other than using a lift, try the natural entrance route. This route is an hour-long, self-guided downhill hike taking you through fallen rocks and some more spectacular formations -- the pick of them being the Whale's Mouth. You will start descending into a mammoth opening on the ground deep into a cave, which becomes progressively larger.

The natural entrance route to the Carlsbad Caverns

Apart from these two self guided tours, there is also a two-hour-long 'Kings Palace' guided tour. The tour is a must for all those who are interested in finding out about the history of the place (both human and geological), and for those who want to 'be a blind man' for a couple of minutes because during that tour the guide shuts of the light so that you can 'see' the total darkness. The people out there claim that this is the darkest spot in the universe! Well, all I can say is that I felt sorry for blind people. If all that they see in their lives is what I saw in those two minutes, I know exactly where my vote is going for the most important sense organ competition.

The best time to visit the Caverns is during the months of August and September, because apart from spending a strenuous day inside one of the darkest holes on the earth, you also get to see a unique 'bat flight' demonstration. Thousands of Mexican free-tail bats, which make this cavern as their summer resort, leave for dinner at dusk. If you make sure that you are present at the amphitheatre in front of the natural entrance at that time, you can see a huge continuous spiral of bats flying out of the cave, out into the clouds, in search of dinner. My only piece of advice is: keep your mouth shut when you look up to see the bats fly over your head.

If you have the time, I strongly advice you to spend one extra day at the caverns and take one of the 'challenging' tours. These tours are about two to four hours long and include climbing 100 ft in total darkness and crawling through rat holes and crevices. If you ask me, of all the tours offered, the one you should never miss is the 'Slaughter Canyon' tour. It is only about 2.5 hrs long, and does not require you to crawl through small openings. More importantly, it does not require a two or three months advance booking, and it is also most rewarding as far as the sights that await you at the end of the journey. But this tour requires you to climb half a mile up a mountain, carry your own water, and spend two-and-a-half hours inside a dark cave with the only light source being the torch light, that you hurriedly bought at the gift shop. In some parts of the trip, you will have to pull yourself up some slippery rocks with ropes. You would say it is all worth it when you see the Great Wall (a formation which looks like a miniature version of the Great Wall of China), the Clansman (a formation which looks like a skeleton -- one which appeared in the King Solomon's Mine movie), and the Christmas Tree (a formation which looks, well, like a Christmas tree).

A formation called the Clansman found in the Slaughter Canyon caves

For the people who were impressed with the Lurey Caverns in Virginia, I have to say just one thing: Lurey at best is a poor man's Carlsbad. In case, my travelogue doesn't appeal to you, or feels like a figment of my overactive imagination, well, I am not the first one to be smitten by this place. Jim White, then a 16-year-old cowboy, took about 16 more years to convince another human being that this place was worth visiting! I think I should also add that if the photographs are any indication, the Carlsbad Caverns is a poor man's Lecheguilla. It is a pity that the Lecheguilla caverns, one of the recent discoveries in this area, is open only to researchers and not to general public.

My final piece of advice if you are planning to go to Carlsbad is this: take a very powerful flash for your camera.