Probably you may have heard about the colorful cave underneath the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia lies you have ever laid your eyes upon. The walls of abandoned salt mine are covered with psychedelic patterns, caused by the natural layers of carnallite, a mineral used in the production of plant fertilizers, and is most often yellow to white or reddish, but can sometimes be blue or even entirely colorless. A little portion of the carnallite mines remain in use, but many of the passageways are now closed and off-limits to the public without a special government permit.
These gorgeous pictures were taken by photographer Mikhail Mishainik, who spent more than 20 hours exploring the dimly lit labyrinth and has stayed overnight on at least three occasions. The mines are massive and stretch several kilometers in width and length, a single tunnel can be more than four miles long. It is extremely hard to describe how it feels being so far down, you lose all track of time and the air was very dry, you always feel thirsty,” said Mikhail Mishainik to The Daily Mail.
The air is filled with small particles of salt and if we didn’t have our torches switched on it would be pitch black. It is easy to get lost as many of the passageways look the same; we navigate our way around very carefully. Many people know about the mines but it is very difficult to access them if you don’t have an official permit.
We take our safety very seriously but of course, there are always dangers. There is a chance of a gas leak from chemicals such as methane, hydrogen sulfide carbon dioxide as well the jeopardy of a landslide. The danger element is part of the fun and it’s an exceptional feeling being somewhere very few people have seen.
