Cave of Curiosities

A boat ride through Penn's Cave reveals natural creations sculpted drip-by-drip for over 30 million years

- By RIDDHI DOSHI

Underneath the earth's belly, a boat ride inside a 30-million-year-old all-water cavern, Penn's Cave, reveals nature's most spellbinding work of art and design. Dating back millions of years, the stalagmites, stalactites and the wall patterns here evolve every day, with every drop of water that enters through the peak of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania, US.

Just a few minutes inside the cave's mouth, the chaos disappears. It's calm inside the belly of the earth. You see hundreds of hanging stalactites-dripping water droplets in slow motion for millions of years. Each hanging cone is different in shape and size. A few are stuck together; some appear conjoined, while some stand in solitude. Almost like custom-fitted. It's an art gallery like no other.