763 meters below the earth...

It was a great day today. Today, we went to the Cullinan Diamond Mine to do an underground tour. We were thinking of doing this for many days, and we finally came here today. I was a bit nervous initially about going deep down a live, working mine, and that too to a depth of 763 meters (~2,503 feet). I was not 100% confident about the safety of this tour, but after our guide informed us that there had been only three fatal accidents at this mine since 1903, I felt more assured. After a brief walk on the surface, the guide took us down via the industrial lift, and when we reached down and he opened the gate, I was both delighted and surprised to see this:

It looked like caves, like tunnels, and it felt deep. It took some time for this feeling to get down that we're thousands of feet below the earth's surface, and if something happens, there's probably no rescue.

We stayed there for over 2 hours (mostly walking from one place to the other), watching machines, the ore, the equipment, the workers, etc., accompanied by a super-experienced guide with decades of first-hand experience in coal, diamond, gold, and platinum mining.

It was a nice and memorable experience, good learning, and I'm glad that I went.

Me in the 'Level 763' safety suit, 763 meters deep down