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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Alugu Caves

The Alugu Caves, (Alufu Dong) is situated 165km from Kunming, in Luxi County in Southeastern Yunnan. It is a network of karst caves made up of 18 magnificent chambers and a surreal underground river. The caves were actually part of the ocean beds during  prehistoric times. Seismic action caused the caves to be pushed upwards to dry land. These limestone caves had provided shelter to the Alu tribesmen during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.


Today, the huge caves are a major tourist attraction in Yunnan. More interestingly, it is a source of inspiration to poets, as the rock formations of stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars and karst grottoes play on the imagination of poets and visitors alike. These landforms have been given imaginative names. There were of course dragons, celestial immortals and other shapes with mythological references. The underground river is called Yusun River. The still,dark waters there are populated by a species of fish the locals call 'Blind Fish'.


These photographs below are accompanied by my own attempts at  haiku , inspired by my magical, mystical journey in the Alugu caves.






































Caverns echo loud
Immortals' celestial tales
Thrilling, tragic, tense!

Elixirs of Life,
legends and myths abiding
in spectral rivers.

Battling dragons' fire
Tales of  victories sublime
Fantasies live on...






Click on the link to savour more haiku.
Sensational Haiku Wednesday
http://youknowthatblog.com

2 comments:

  1. Rosie those are amazing! Surreal pictures. I think caves are strange surreal places anyway and your pictures really emphasize that. I love them.

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  2. @ Sallie - Thank you for visiting my new blog. Glad you like my pictures.This cave is fantastic. I had visited another one similar to this in Guilin, China. Fascinating.
    Rosie

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