Salt of the Earth Underground in Zipaquirá

Zip-ah-what? I played tourist for a day and visited the salt cathedral of Zipaquira. There’s no spelunking or crawling along on one’s knees. This place is a walk in the dark, more like doing a pilgrimage (like in Jerusalem on the via dolorosa) underground. The one-mile walk leads you through tunnels which lead to the stations of the cross. The goal is the large church at the bottom. At each station, there is a cross carved from salt and some kneeling posts. At some of the stops, there is piped music playing “Ave maria” which adds to the atmosphere.

As an experience, the salt cathedral is well organized and our English-speaking guide was both pleasant and audible (he wore a microphone). All the guides wear yellow hardhats so catching a glimpse of them in the mines adds to the experience.

At various photogenic locations along the way, the staff will take photos of you which you can then buy at the end of the tour. The end of the tour, at 180 meters below ground, has a host of trinket and jewelry shops, plus cafes. For those of us not moved religiously, the whole thing is a bit like a ride at an amusement park. Apparently, the Catedral de Sal is one of the “must see” things to do before dying. That seems like a bit of advertising exaggeration. The original salt cathedral was carved by the original salt miners seeking salvation in the salt. But, they were not engineers and therefore the original cathedral is too unstable for visitors. Hence this modern version.

It is possible to take the train, very slowly, from Bogota, and I imagine that is an experience worth trying.

I also think it is better to try to get away from the crowds. Alone in the quiet dark spaces, all the better to imagine meeting that knight from Raiders of the Lost Ark, guarding the holy grail. Maybe the grail is made of salt?