Demanovska, Cave of Liberty

Demanovska cave system.
Made a grave mistake photographically today in the caves. I've been using the exposure compensation dial a bit too liberally and forgetting what it actually does. It's just its so conveniently placed on the X100S, more so than the ISO button. Which makes it much more attractive to use when in a location where you're taking photos sneakily because you're supposed to pay €10 otherwise for the privilege of photograph. Silly Slovakia. Anyway, instead of boosting the ISO, I maximized exposure compensation. See, that doesn't actually do any good in dark situations, as all that's gonna happen is what does get exposed will be slightly brighter. It won't actually allow you to catch any more detail in the underexposed bits. So what's black remains black regardless of exposure compensation. In other words, your photos are worse than a Rembrandt painting in the end. The contrast is there to stay. Another photography rant...

A strange way to start the day, at a Slovakian spa having a thermal bath in a 35.5 degree pool, followed by 20 minutes of relaxation wrapped in a big blanket. But hell, why not? It certainly relaxes your body to no end. I can see why so many people flock to spas for health reasons, but life must get pretty boring in these towns after a day or two... Good thing we only stayed for the morning then, bouncing back on the road towards eastern slovakia, into the Tatras mountain range.

Our main goal: visiting two caves, both part of the huge Demanovska cavern megasystem, buried in the Low Tatras range. We started off with a cave system previously inhabited by bears, with ice forming near the bottom. That was only a warm up though. The second cave visit was intense! Despite not understanding a word of what the guides were saying, there was no need to explain the amazing rock formations and endless (literally) tunnels through which we were heading. On and on, deeper and deeper, in caves and huge domes covered in thousands of stalactites falling from the roof. The rock varied from pure white to a deep iron red, depending on the minerals in the water flows. Some of the formations looked like giant mushrooms, what with the draped curtains of stalactites. The system was dug by underground rivers, and in some places its still flowing. In the stagnant ponds, bizarre formations have grown to look like lotus flowers on the surface of the water. Amazing stuff really.
Anyway, after what seemed like an endless trip into the mountain, we finally resurfaced. Back on the road to find a hotel in a little hole of a town, by a railway! Hey, we did what we could, the road we were planning on taking through the Tatras mountains was closed.

Oh and on the road we also stopped by two cool sights. The first, an impressive hrad on a hilltop (Oravsky). The second, a beautiful old protestant church made entirely out of wood, no steel nails (Lestiny).

peace