A letter from HELL

I'm guessing you are a bit taken aback by my post title, which is quite understandable.
I was surprised, too, when I hear of a town called Hell in the Cayman Islands!


Here's an interesting write-up from Wikipedia:

Hell, Grand Cayman is a group of short, black, limestone formations in the northwest Grand Cayman town of West Bay. It is roughly the size of half a soccer field. People are not allowed in amongst the limestone formations but two viewing platforms exist for tourists. There are numerous versions of how Hell received its name, but they are generally variations on "a local official exclaimed, 'This is what Hell must look like.'"

It is also claimed that the name "Hell" is derived from the fact that if a pebble is thrown out into the formation, it echoes amongst the limestone peaks and valleys and sounds as if the pebble is falling all the way down to "Hell."

Regardless of how it first came to be called Hell, the name stuck and the area has become a tourist attraction, featuring a fire-engine red hell-themed post office from which you can send "postcards from hell", and a gift shop with 'Satan' passing out souvenirs while greeting people with phrases like 'How the hell are you?' and 'Where the hell are you from?'.

Ironically, some of the stores in the area feature prominent quotations from the Bible on their sides. This is due to the pious nature of Caymanian society.

Hell can be quite busy as it is a stop for cruise ship tours.

I got this registered cover by writing to the postmaster at the Hell post office, who was kind enough to accommodate my request for a registered letter from Hell. I wonder if he receives many other requests from collectors for a postmark from his station like the postmaster at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica does.... I have read on the internet that many people on cruises make sure to visit the Hell Post Office to send their friends and relatives correspondences from the place.

The stamps used show scenery of the Caymans, I suppose. It seems that the Caymans would be a very nice and relaxing place to visit.

Thankfully, the postmaster was thoughtful enough to include a chop from his own office that reads "Hell," because the chops used on the stamps do not read "Hell." I guess it is a regulation in the Cayman Postal Service system to cancel registered letters with the generic red cancellation instead of the post office-specific cancellation.

Now, if only the postmaster had handwritten the addresses instead of cutting and pasting the ones from my letter, this cover would truly be a complete gem in my collection!