Werfen Ice Caves

Surbhi and I went to the Ice Caves in Werfen, Austria, which were glorious. It felt like The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia were rolled into one- when you walk into dark caves with the naked flames of ancient kerosene lamps to guide you and rickety wooden steps to walk on, you feel as far removed from modernity as possible. The stalactites and stalagmites formed gorgeous ice sculptures, which made me think of the White Witch's castle. To think, this cave has been there for the last 50 million years! It took our breath away- not just because it was so beautiful, but also because we climbed up a thousand steep steps (some with an incline of 45 degrees) in sub-zero temperature.

However, the physical exertion was worth it- the glittering walls of ice, especially when illuminated by the light of a magnesium flare, were stunning. I was in awe. I was reminded of how the forces of nature are inexorable- mainly because of the wooden staircases. The reason why they build staircases of wood is that new ice grows on the staircases, rendering them useless soon enough and requiring construction of new staircases every 10-15 years. The staircases we walked on were Fourth Generation staircases, and I was amazed to see Third Generation staircases enclosed in a hard wall of ice. This cave only gets better with age, as it accumulates more ice. It was fascinating to see the history of all the winters the land of Austria had seen writ in the stratified layers of ice. The Ice Caves are a beautiful example of how Nature can withstand the test of time, evolve and grow, and overcome Man's attempts to tame her.

While the ice caves are impressive, the view from the mountain on which the ice caves are situated is no less spectacular. It was a crisp, cold day and the sun shone so brightly that we felt the need to divest ourselves of all the warm clothes we had worn while in the cave. The walk down the mountain was lovely- we were 1045 m above sea level, and we made our way down while listening to our favourite songs. It all felt rather magical.

View from the mountain on which the ice caves are situated

Majestic and charming

Entrance to the ice caves (can you spot Surbhi in the photo?)

Whilst making our way down

On our way down, I fulfilled a lifelong ambition of singing The Hills Are Alive (from the movie Sound of Music) in Austria. Video Credit: Surbhi Anand (also it was her idea that we shoot it here- I was thinking of shooting it in Salzburg, which is the city in which Sound of Music was shot, but guess what? The Hills Are Alive wasn't originally shot in Salzburg :P)

What we saw once we reached the bottom

Going to Werfen Ice Caves with Surbhi is one of the happiest memories I have till date. I'm pretty sure that in the unlikely scenario I encounter a Dementor, this is the memory I will use to cast a Patronus charm. Always.