Along with the underground works such as Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland), Pyramids of Giza (Egypt), .. Cu Chi Tunnels were Theworldgeography newspapers voted as one of the most spectacular underground work in the world.
1. Aktun
Chen Eco Park Caves, Yucatán, Mexico
Walk by
subterranean rivers (locally called cenotes) and peer through deep,
crystal-clear water to the white floors of natural wells. Peace reigns in this
surreal world of spectacular rock formations, stalactites, stalagmites,
fossils, and fruit bats lying beneath untouched rain forest. Explore by foot or
by scuba diving.
2. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, USA
Place-names such as Grand Avenue and Frozen Niagara give a notion of what’s in
the world’s longest cave system. The oldest part was formed 10 million years
ago, 9.5 million years before Homo sapiens made an appearance.
3. The Catacombs, Rome, Italy
Walk the galleries, chambers, and churches of the necropolises beneath the Eternal City and imagine it in the early centuries of Christianity, when Rome was a dangerous place for believers and the caverns were lit by a myriad of flickering oil lamps. Don’t miss the graffiti—thousands of prayers written by anyone from popes to plumbers.
4. Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam
From Ho Chi Minh city about 70km to the west, Cu Chi Tunnels including many nooks designed just fight, just lurks, just connecting
tunnel to the other tunnel into a continuous system are calculated in a
scientific way. There are cut short, parallel segments, with the
intersection, on the stage, under the ders, winding extends over 100km.
Cu Chi Tunnel roof is made of concrete sand, have lids.
Crawl through a small trapdoor into narrow, stifling tunnels and enter an “underground village” with kitchen, dormitory, meeting room, and hospital. During the Vietnam War (1954-75) thousands of Viet Cong were based in the 125-mile (200-kilometer) network of tunnels. The “village” was never captured despite being bombed many times.
5. Underground City, Montreal, Canada
Take one of
the 120 entrances into the largest man-made underground network in the world.
About 500,000 people a day use its 20 miles (32 kilometers) of shopping malls,
hotels, banks, offices, museums, and universities; there are also metro and
train stations, a bus terminal, and an ice-hockey arena.
6. The Paris Sewers, France
Every day 42 million cubic feet (1.2 million cubic meters) of wastewater gush through this 1,300-mile (2,092-kilometer) system. See 457 feet (139 meters) of sewer at work (with attractions including a manual flusher trolley that keeps detritus on the move) and learn about waste disposal through the ages. The smell is only a tad tangy and postcards are available, according to one guide, from a “sewer-venir store.”
7. Wieliczka Salt Mine, Kraków, Poland
It all
started when salt was the medieval equivalent of today’s oil. Nine centuries of
mining have produced miles of subterranean passages and gigantic caverns to a
depth of 440 feet (134 meters). More than one million people a year visit the
UNESCO-listed site, which features lakes, chapels and statues sculpted from
salt, the world’s largest mining museum, a sanatorium for those suffering from
asthma and allergies, and concert halls with peerless acoustics.
8. Hannan’s North Mine, Kalgoorlie, Australia
Descend 100
feet (30.5 meters) in a cage elevator to tunnels dug during Australia’s
19th-century gold rush. Try your hand at panning for gold. Kalgoorlie still
produces 10 percent of the world’s gold.
9. Berlin Nuclear Bunker, Germany
Take a few minutes to adjust to the dim light of this 1971 radiation-proof
Cold War bunker. Feel the cold creep into your bones in the deathly silence.
Tiers of narrow bunk beds for 3,562 people take up most of the space. The
bunker could operate for 14 days, after which you would be cast out into the
radiation-saturated debris of Berlin after a nuclear attack. It’s a
spine-chilling experience.
10. The Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt
Descend 330
feet (101 meters) through a 3.5-foot-wide (1-meter-wide) passage into the heart
of the only wonder of the ancient world that survives to this day. Inside the
awesome inner sanctum is a sarcophagus, built of granite from Aswan, 625 miles
(1,006 kilometers) away.
About 5,000
years old and 30 times larger in area than the Empire State Building, the Great
Pyramid has been the subject of centuries of speculation about its origins, construction,
and purpose.