Pyrenees : Part 18 - Day 8 Morning : Grottes de Betharram

Day 8 (Morning) of Pyrenees Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8.

Route: Tour of Grottes de Bettharam

Must-Incur Costs :

1) Grottes de Bettharam - EUR13.50

The Story

080915: The night before, Prof Sweet Tooth has parked by the river, which was about 500m away from the entrance of Grottes de Bettharam. Grottes = Cave. As Prof Sweet Tooth has a deep interest in caves, we decided to give this place a visit. There are many caves along Pyrenees route, and we chose this because we get to sit in a boat and a train. That intrigued me. As we were very close by, we could wake up 30 minutes before the opening hours. It opens at 9am. We had time to cook vegetable soup and a cup of ginger tea. Hot food on a cold morning. 

The Betharram Caves are the most beautiful in Europe and certainly the most curious to see: they deliver to visitors, by their variety the key to the formation of caves almost all dead or in full operation. The caves stretches 2.8 kilometers with an impressive vertical drop of 80 m. The underground route of the river is 3.5 km. Visitors enter the mountains through a natural orifice: the top has large rooms with rich concretions. The gulf connects this floor to that of the river. The lower part follows a natural fault, witnessed the work of water. The visitor leaves with an artificial tunnel dug from 1913-1924. (Source from Grottes de Betharram)

There is a huge shaded carpark in the Grottes. Upon arrival, the office in charge told us the bus will depart at 10.30am. A bus was going to pick us up to go to the entrance which is where we will buy the tickets. It was just a short drive, though. The exit of the cave was at the place we parked the car. While we waited for the bus, I walked inside the waiting area and saw a miniature model of the cave which describes how the journey was going to be. 

 

This is the place where the bus took us - the entrance to the cave. Our tour guide was Benedict who spoke 3 languages during the guide. It was really tiring, I could see, when he has to speak the same verse in 3 languages. French (because that was the biggest crowd in the group), Spanish (a small family) and finally English (us). Benedict has not met a Malaysian or Swedish before because he asked us how does one say 'Mind Your Head' in Malay Language and Swedish. He keeps a small notebook where he writes 'Mind Your Head' in many languages. That phrase is very useful if you are in cave. I told Benedict that I chose to come here because it was stated in the web that this is the most beautiful cave in Europe. He disagreed on that and said that there are many others. He must be a cave fan too to be able to make comparisons and I was surprised he mentioned that considering he worked there. He recommended me to visit a cave in Vietnam because I am from Asia.

 

To go inside the cave, one must pass through this door. Honestly, I was very surprised to see a door. I have visited some caves in Malaysia (Gua Tempurung, Gua Kandu, Gua Sanding, Gua Batu Maloi, Gua Mulu), and the entrance is the cave opening. The cave is spacious as we entered. There is a clear and proper pathway for people to walk on. There were lights switched on periodically to showcase the shadows that the stones cast because some of these shadows have names. There is also a route for those in a wheelchair while we walked using the staircase. Overall, we spent 1.5 hours in the cave. Enjoy the photos in the cave!  

These are the names of the early explorers. They wrote their names using carbon.

This stalactite and stalagmite is still actively growing, although at a very slow rate. Water could be seen dropping down. One day, both of them will meet and be joined.

After the walk, we reached the boat. The boat is mechanically operated and it moves on tracks underneath the water. It was a very short boat ride. Maybe 500metres. Or shorter.

After the boat ride, it was the train ride towards the exit.

The train exited at the souvenir shop. Expensive stuff as usual. I have spent enough on the tickets. Conclusion on the cave - worth a visit to see how caves are in Europe. It is safe. I did not need to use any ropes or wear a helmet or a safety harness. It is very different from Malaysia.

Next - Lourdes.