Excerpts of onhand experience
Where the sun Never Shine
It was almost eleven at night when we piled into the
beaten up off-road trucks,and another twenty minutes to
arrive at the foot of Gua Kandu. The night air was cool,
and even the slightest breeze sent shivers through our
skins.
Marching single file, our group of thirty just-turned
amateur adventure cavers made our way through waist-high
shrubs to a steep hill of roots, oddly formed trees and
earth. Uphill jungle trekking was one thing. Uphill
trekking in the middle of the moonless night brought the
expedition to a whole different level. Almost
gracefully, we made our way roughly a hundred meters up
the hill to the mouth of Gua Kandu, and skidded our way
through its dusty opening.
Gua Kandu spans 1,100 meters in length. Besides a
good torch, (the stronger the beam, the better) you
might also consider bringing a headlamp, because
exploring this cave is a hands and-knees experience.
Long pants are almost a given and gloves are advisable.
That, a small bottle of water, a good pair of shoes, a
can-do attitude, and sheer guts was what was needed.
Caving or spelunking, is more than just a walk in a
dark tunnel. The cave immediately descended from its
entrance and as we picked our way between odd moulds of
rock jutting from every direction, I could actually feel
the sensation of us move deeper and deeper into tons and
tons of massive rock. Luckily for us, there are no bats
in Gua Kandu at this time of the year, or we would have
had to contend with their droppings or guano.
Then came our first obstacle. It was a 10-foot rock
cliff, which fell straight down, not good…. Our guides
dropped a helicopter ladder and promptly disappeared
into the chamber of darkness below! One byone, we
followed suit. The ladder hugs the cliff, so to get
proper footing on the rungs, a guide at the bottom of
the cliff would sway ladder, with me on it of course,
while I held on maybe just a little too tightly for
comfort to it.
That was nothing however, compared to the second
obstacle. Forty-five minutes into Gua Kandu, were giant
moulds of smooth rock, which was far too dangerous to
walk on, and with hardly enough grip to stand on. To our
sheer horror (and excitement, really!), our guide sat
right at the very top of the circuit of moulds – and
pushed off - sliding into its dark bottom!
Then, we were made to sit at the very same spot,
straighten our legs and trust the rock to give us the
slide of our lives. To be perfectly honest, it was
pretty steep, and the speed we went was gut-wrenching
and exhilarating. Trust is one of those things you’re
quickly forced to learn on this obstacle – trust in the
rocks not hurting you and trust in your friends who are
there to break your fall at the bottom of the rocks.
Our third obstacle really was literarily speaking, a
series of obstacles. The cave roof got lower and lower,
or was it that the cave floor got higher and higher?
Before I knew it, I was crawling on my hands and knees,
trying not to bump my head on the solid rock above. A
damp patch appears and we cross the path of a small cave
river.
That was when we arrived at the cave’s main chamber.
It was massive. Nothing as huge as the caves in Sarawak,
but when you consider that it is a pod of air in the
middle of a giant rock, it is still immensely
impressive. As we sat in a circle in the cave’s chamber,
we turned off all our torches and headlamps, and
observed an eerie silence, and let nature have her
moment.
There was the dripping sound of water, and faintly
echoing through the cave, a buzzing insect. I imagined
that this was how cave dwellers lived. Perhaps a fire
was lit at the mouth of the cave, but in here where the
air was still, how could they have made their way
around? Human determination to survive is one thing.
Human perseverance is a whole different level of
instinct, which we learnt to admire that night.
It is just past 1am when we exited Gua Kandu – about
an hour earlier than expected. That was when our guides
put forward the idea of going to yet another cave – a
crystal cave! And we thought since we were already muddy
and dusty, why not?
Gua Angin is located fifteen minutes from Gua
Tempurung. It is evident that Gua Angin is a more
frequented byvisitors. A makeshift wooden staircase has
been built into and against the cave entrance. A far
less challenging cave as compared to Gua Kandu, Gua
Angin is a simple walk with just a few narrow tunnels at
its mouth. The sights within the cave nevertheless,
would literarily bring a sparkle to one’s eyes.
The stalactites and stalagmites of the cave glitter
with millions of sparkling crystallites – the kind you
can find at expensive Chinese gem shops. They shimmered
as the beam of our torches fell on them. Gua Angin was
named such because it is also a wind tunnel. This was
evident from the hollow echoes heard from inside the
cave.
Gua Tempurung, later that morning, was almost easy
compared to the previous night’s adventure. The thing
about this cave that makes the visit worthwhile are the
rock formations naturally found within the cave. This is
where getting a really good guide is almost essential.
There are basically two kinds of trails in Gua
Tempurung – the completely dry ones, and the ones with a
water element. Naturally, we had to go on the wet one.
After almost two hours of immensely interesting rock
formations, we come to what adventure cavers call, a rat
hole – a tiny crack on the cave chamber floor that we
needed to climb through. The crack led to a lower
chamber in the path of a shallow cave river.
We followed the river route, practically walking on
the water as the cave roof got lower and lower… and
lower and lower. Eventually, we were on our hands and
knees again, crawling through the low arches of the
cave, almost completely soaked in water.
According to our guides, during the monsoon season
when the river level rises, hardcore adventure cavers
would have to go underwater in these very tunnels to get
to the connecting chambers.
A host of other extreme activities are also available
at Gua Tempurung, such as rock climbing, flying fox and
abseiling. There is also a camping site just at the foot
of the cave. We camped out for two nights there,
motivating each other and learning a great deal about
one another along the way – proof really, that although
physical fitness is required to complete these extreme
tasks, strength of heart is what it takes to appreciate
its essence.