Belum Caves – Pleasant Surprises

Stalagmites and stalactites, sound familiar? I too had read about them in school. Limestone formations that rise from the ground and drop from the ceiling. Then after 9 years I heard about them existing in this place called Belum Caves near Ananthpur in A.P. My curiosity got the better of me, I so badly wanted to go there that I even agreed to attend a far-off relatives wedding in order to see this place (I just hope that no one remotely concerned with the wedding reads this). It was a bit intimidating to be entering a cave, the darkness and the unknown gets to you at times. The whole place was so beautiful and so well maintained that it brought a smile out on everyone's face (My parents weren’t all that interested as they had seen a better one in the US). The cave is so well lighted; some places even have fresh air ducts which give a reprieve from the low oxygen levels in the cave. At a depth of 120ft we found a fresh water source, named as “Patala Ganga” (as is done to most places in India, they had to find a religious reason here too :) ). It is beautiful to see the different formations; we even found a formation which created music when tapped against!! We visited a part of the cave where the oxygen level was so low that we could just feel ourselves tiring out just by standing there (my mom felt like we were on a volcano!) It is definitely a Must-See place.