I did not ever in a million years think that my adventure in Ukraine would involve freaking CAVE DIVING, but guys, I went spelunking last week!
Yes, spelunking. In a REAL cave. Filled with crystals and bats.
The city of Khmelnytskyi (my site) organized a little day trip for its three newest Peace Corps Volunteers. We all met at city hall briiiight and early, and then were whisked away for a guided tour of Atlantida, a three-level cave in the southern part of the Khmelnytska oblast.
The cave entrance itself is situated a little bit away from the village of Zavallya, and tours are handled through the Khmelnytskyi Speleo Club “Atlantida.” Because a lot of hardcore cave enthusiasts end up at Atlantida — from all over the world, actually! — the entrance of the cave had a little clubhouse per say that was constructed next to it. It had a room filled with bunk beds, a little briefing room, a lounge, a kitchen and a separate outhouse facility.
The walls of the lounge were covered in maps and photos. All the visitors got to mark off on a global map where they were from. I’m excited to say that I was the very first Michigander to explore Ukraine’s crystal caves!
We were instructed to change out of our street clothes and into a set of provided jumpsuits, rubber boots, gloves and headlamps.
It was pretty cold outside and I had NO idea what to expect, so I’d arrived layered up in my Uniqlo HeatTech gear, my Patagonia Nano Puff and my hiking pants.
However, we were told to strip down basically to our t-shirts because apparently, the caves are always really warm due to their humidity and insulation. So, I ditched everything except my thin Uniqlo turtleneck. I was perfectly comfortable the whole time, weirdly enough.
The tour itself was really cool! Andriy found us an English-speaking tour guide (I wish I remembered his name!) who took us on a several-hour-long tour of the caves.
I don’t have too many photos because I was smart enough to not bring my iPhone with me. Eh, it takes potato-quality photos anyway, and you can surely find some better pictures using the modern-day Google machine.
Most of the photos I do have were taken by Andriy and our tour guide. At least it’s something!
I’m just gonna say, sometimes, the lack of government oversight rocks (pun intended). I got to shimmy through tight openings, slither on my stomach through tunnels and at one point, used my back and my legs to horizontally scoot myself across an opening with a two-story fall directly below me.
…Again, don’t tell Peace Corps Safety and Security. Sorry, Viktor!
The caves were wild. There were literal rooms where every single inch was just covered in crystals.
Andriy was cool enough to hook us up with some swag! We all got drinking cups and sweet branded t-shirts.
Afterward, Andriy and his crew were nice enough to treat us to a home-cooked picnic dinner. Our drivers (the guys who had taxied us from Khmelnytskyi City Hall to the caves) had gone out fishing that day, so they made us fish soup, mashed potatoes, bread, salo and other Ukrainian foods.
There were other cave divers there that had gone spelunking with a different tour group. They were from Romania and Poland, and — since luckily, they spoke English — it was really cool to talk to them about how they heard about the crystal caves, and what prompted them to come visit Ukraine to tour them.
Overall, the day was definitely WAY cool! I never ever saw myself going on an all-day cave spelunking adventure in Ukraine, but the best way to get the most out of your Peace Corps service is by saying “yes” to anything and everything!
Finally, if you ever find yourself in Ukraine and you’re interested in going at any point, the cave tours are actually managed through a Facebook group.
This post was originally published Jan. 13, 2021. Its timestamp has been updated to better reflect the timeline of my Peace Corps service.
