The next day we made our way to see something not usually seen by the masses. It's a mineralogy office that's been buried and forgotten. It actually gets cleaner in there, unlike the rest of the catas.
Each step represented one metre or foot of depth from the surface. There would have been a description of the mineral and a sample of it, per step.
The rest of the day we did some toursit stuff, the bones and things like that, and then made our way South to meet Rug and his friend.
Much alcohol later we're stumbling around trying to find somewhere to sleep. Instead of sleeping in the rat infested hovel we slept in last time, we found a lovely little room, complete with hammock points and benches and tables. It was like comparing the Formule1 to a Hilton.
We slept and some had to be nursed back to health.
The next day we were placed for a quick exit, but not without trying to get under the reservoir. Myself and others had been tipped off months ago and checked a number of times but never managed to find the way.
After we tried three of the four possible ways in, we were on our way to the last option when we met a friendly cataphile who pointed us in the same direction.
However, we'd been misled by what are now quite clearly pictures from a permission visit to the level above, unless we missed something, which is likely. It wasn't as good as we had expected !
Plaque and spiral stairwell...
Close up of plaque...
At the top of the stairs, a domed ceiling...
and just past that the fattest PIR you ever did see.
There was some quite new cabling in there...
One of the many road signs down there...
Me and jobs getting the trophy shots in...
Then we left and tried to get a hotel. Fail. There was nothing below 200 Euros, so a few phone calls later we got sorted with some of our French friends. We met up that evening for a beer and meal and generally chilled out until we split the next day.
A good trip, thanks to all involved, especially Teknicien, Virgil, Rug and the mystery cataphile.
Each step represented one metre or foot of depth from the surface. There would have been a description of the mineral and a sample of it, per step.
The rest of the day we did some toursit stuff, the bones and things like that, and then made our way South to meet Rug and his friend.
Much alcohol later we're stumbling around trying to find somewhere to sleep. Instead of sleeping in the rat infested hovel we slept in last time, we found a lovely little room, complete with hammock points and benches and tables. It was like comparing the Formule1 to a Hilton.
We slept and some had to be nursed back to health.
The next day we were placed for a quick exit, but not without trying to get under the reservoir. Myself and others had been tipped off months ago and checked a number of times but never managed to find the way.
After we tried three of the four possible ways in, we were on our way to the last option when we met a friendly cataphile who pointed us in the same direction.
However, we'd been misled by what are now quite clearly pictures from a permission visit to the level above, unless we missed something, which is likely. It wasn't as good as we had expected !
Plaque and spiral stairwell...
Close up of plaque...
At the top of the stairs, a domed ceiling...
and just past that the fattest PIR you ever did see.
There was some quite new cabling in there...
One of the many road signs down there...
Me and jobs getting the trophy shots in...
Then we left and tried to get a hotel. Fail. There was nothing below 200 Euros, so a few phone calls later we got sorted with some of our French friends. We met up that evening for a beer and meal and generally chilled out until we split the next day.
A good trip, thanks to all involved, especially Teknicien, Virgil, Rug and the mystery cataphile.
