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Ballica Cave
[See more on this subject by visiting the pages
selected for you by Anita Donohoe: http://turkradio.us/k/ballica/ ] x0x Ballica Cave By FIRAT ULGUR Ballica Cave is a subterranean monument that draws its guests ever deeper. At the same time, it is symbolic of the victory won by curiosity over fear. I still remember the look of astonishment on the face of a friend, years ago, when he complained of a fear of darkness and I asked him, "Why don't you try going inside caves?" In a voice full of anxiety he answered, "What business do I have in those horrible caves? That's where vampire bats suck your blood!" I realized then that my friend wasn't afraid of the dark alone. I thought of this friend once more in the `Magnificent Gallery' of Ballica Cave, as beneath the stalactites which had taken millennia to form I gazed at the extraordinary natural `architecture' of the ceiling. And I thought, "If he's ever been through Tokat and had the courage to enter Ballica Cave, there won't be a trace left of that fear of the dark!" Who knows, perhaps Caesar's famous words, supposedly uttered in Tokat's county of Zile--"I came, I saw, I conquered"--were changed by my friend on exiting the cave to "I came, I saw, and I was not afraid." Indeed, this mysterious labyrinth has a dreamlike effect that not only expunges fear, but at the same time takes away the feeling of reality as it distances you from the earth. Ballica Cave seems to be an enchanted staircase buried underground, one that goes on forever. But let's start with the first step, that is, with how one can reach this geological wonder. YOU MUST LEAVE THE ROAD The cave is in Tokat's county of Pazar, which starting in the 12th century provided lodgings for the caravans travelling from Anatolia to the Black Sea. As evening fell on the earth, the weary camels would slump down to rest in the courtyard of the Mahperi Hatun Caravanserai. This town was the last stop before climbing the Ziganas, while the witnesses to the journey were the mountains and a river, the Yesilirmak. This river runs quietly beside you as you drive along the Tokat-Turhal highway, yielding no slightest clue as to what lies in the past or underground. It knows how to open a path for itself by patiently wearing away the rocks, but most certainly it has heard the praises of the cave sung by the subterranean rivers. Lulled by the calm image of the earth in the shadow of the willows that bend down to the water, you may miss the yellow `Ballica' sign at the 23rd kilometer, or see it and fail to turn, in which case you will live on unaware of a masterpiece of nature. But if you leave the road--and isn't it the first article of the true traveller's constitution that "To see extraordinary beauty one must leave the road"?--you will reach Ballica in the county of Pazar and think to yourself, "What's a cave doing so high up?" Indeed, at 40 meters above the valley bed of Inderesi Creek, the cave lies 1,085 meters above sea level. When you first enter the mouth of the cave you will feel nothing special, for it starts with a small gallery. But as you attempt to accustom yourself to the humidity and reach the `Hall of Pools,' you will begin to realize that you are walking through an underground monument. In this section the absolute humidity is low while the temperature is higher than elsewhere in the cave, something which has caused the stalactites to peel in scales. The hall is two to three meters high, and the lamps which have been embedded in the darkness begin to illuminate sights which engender a mixture of shuddering and wonder. It is a fact that in Ballica, as in all splendid caves, mystery, fear--I apologize to my friend!--and beauty join hands. Fear is felt first, but it turns to mystery, which then is quickly replaced by awe. A SUBTERRANEAN RAINBOW After the `Hall of Pools' you are greeted by a forest of stalactites and stalagmites. In a wild variety of colors from red to milky white, these formations are ranged on the floor and ceiling in the layers of yellow of limonite, and the blues and greens of copper-based azurite and malachite. As if escorted by a subterranean rainbow, you move on to the north galleries. One of these is the Fossil Hall, where at the moment thousands of bats hibernate, hanging upside-down from the ceiling. In this hall an unusual underground geography is created by spaghetti-like stalactites, cave roses and cave needles, stalagmite pools full of water. The Hall of Great Stalactites and Stalagmites, on the other hand, is home to mushroom rocks. Here 20-meter-deep wells, like dark mouths, lead to the lower levels of the cave, where a new voyage from gallery to gallery awaits you, toward the Hall of Collapse and the Magnificent Gallery. AS FREUD MIGHT HAVE SEEN IT From the mouth of the cave to its end there is an altitude difference of 94 meters. In the Magnificent Gallery, carbonate-rich water dripping from the ceiling collects in puddles before turning into stalactites and stalagmites, thus creating horizontal formations. When light is shed on them they look like spotted, honey-colored marble, and are set off by structures that resemble faces and hands to give you the feeling that you are doing a jigsaw puzzle in stone. The Hall of Columns, meanwhile, is the `youngest' part of the cave, with a floor that boasts stalagmites reminiscent of flags and curtains, while the stalactites that look like bulbs and massive pillars are not to be scoffed at. If the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, had been to Ballica Cave, I don't know whether he would have enjoyed the Tokat kebab and cokelek cheese, but I am certain that he would have described the cave as "a fine subterranean womb." For in his works he said that those who dream they are in caves "wish to return to the mother's womb." Let's leave the psychoanalysts to decide whether he was right as we wind up with one final thought: A while after emerging from a visit to Ballica Cave, don't be surprised if you are gripped by the desire to go back in again. This is the triumph of curiosity over fear, and the starting point for that effort to understand the universe which we call science. -------------------------------------- |
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