080904 - Unban Eploration （1）

Human enviroments can be a lot like mazes. Both above and below ground, cities, especially very old ones, are home to interesting structures. Tunnels, sewers and old buildings wait just begging to be explored! While some of these are still in use, many others now lay neglected and forgotten. Urban explorers find, visit and sometimes document the unseen places around us. As urban exploration (UE) has grown in popularity, it has captured the popular imagination. Often misunderstood, UE has developed into a whole subculture, complete with web pages, newsletters, books and movies. Many major cities even have informal groups that meet or use the internet to share their adventures. Since UE has varying levels of intensity, it is open to a diverse group of people. The Cave Clan, an Australian group, is open to anyone older than 18 and has a memebership that ranges from tradespeople to government employees. The group provides a meeting place for like-minded people and encourages them to participate as much, or as little, as they are comfortable with. This might entail crawling through storm drains or may simply invole poking around old houses.