Tempurung
Cave Write Up by Kim
Gua
Tempurung, Gopeng – (8th
December 2001)
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Tempurung Cave
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The
trip
was my first caving experience after
reassurance from Michael our cave
guide that it is the 'easiest' for
first time cavers.
The
entrance to the cave is very
impressive, well lighted, so we
didn't have to use our torchlight's.
There are proper walkways and steps
and the rock formation is a
feast to the eyes! As we
walked along, Michael gave a very
interesting educational guided tour
and frankly, it made us appreciate
the beauty of whatever we saw.
A bit of survival skill was taught,
like observing a rock formation to
find a wind chamber or an escape
route if we got lost. At
almost the end of the lighted
walkway, what we thought was
graffiti on the cave wall was
actually writings by the communists
who used this cave as a hide-out,
wow!
It
was at the end of the walkway that
our 'adventure' began. We
switched on our torchlight's and went
beyond the railing not knowing what
to expect as we saw glimpses of
jagged rocks. We got to a
smooth rock about a few metres high
and Michael wanted us to be
Spiderman/woman! Most of us
struggled to climb up and down.
He made sure all of us tried rock
climbing.
Most
of the time we walked in shallow
water which is not as cold as I
expected. There are no creepy
crawlies at all, thank goodness, but
it is sad to see discarded plastic
bottles floating at a few corners.
After about 2 hours we went to an
exit to have our packed lunch. It
was here that I realised the water
in the stream is crystal clear, what
a beautiful sight.
Then
we went back to more walking,
climbing and sliding. Once I
was so engrossed looking at another
person, I slipped and landed on my
knees, ouch!! We got to a high
and sharp angled wall and down there
is a small hole to get to another
chamber. Michael grinned
wickedly telling us that it is our
ONLY way out! It is so much
more fun from here on. At the
last leg of our 'adventure', the
cave roof got smaller as we walked
in the stream. Michael looked
to see who was still dry from our
waist up and then made sure we
weren't so he started splashing.
We were going to be totally wet
anyway as we crawled through a
narrow opening. Things got
wild as soon as we got out and we
started splashing at each other in
the dark!
We
finally emerged from the cave
totally drenched after about 4
hours. It was indeed an eye
opening experience to have walked
through a cave and looked at it from
the inside. I am sure each and
every cave is different but I think
is truly fun and 'friendly'.
Written
by Miss Kim
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