Gua Tempurung : Slide Slide Slide

26042014 - Today, I entered Gua Tempurung which is a cave located in Gopeng, Perak. I paid RM60 for this event and we were joining the extreme level i.e. Tour 4 - Grand Tour. When I looked at the signboard, I saw that the price was for RM22 with a minimum of 8 adults. Hence, you may want to go with your own group of friends. I have no qualms despite paying a slightly higher price because this will be a one-off event for me, and all I had to do was present myself today. 

This cave is about 3 km long, and it is one of the longest caves in Peninsula Malaysia. Part of it has been developed as a show cave with electric lighting and walkways and there are a range of tours of different lengths and difficulty. There are 4 levels of difficulty. You can click on the photo to see each level.

We got a sticker with the word 'GT' which stands for Grand Tour. At 10.30am, the Cave Ranger gave us a short briefing on the do's and don'ts during the tour. I have not the slightest idea what to expect in the cave. We went in at about 10.45am. The initial walk is easy which also caters for Level 1 and 2. There were lots of stairs to climb. We stopped a lot to hear the descriptions from the Cave Ranger. And of course snapped lots of photos.

  

This pathway is covered with a canopy to avoid bats' droppings.

Now, this cave is not spared from the drawings of visitors. It is very unfortunate that Mother Nature is marred by insensitive humans. The Cave Ranger told us the top 3 universities that draw on the rocks - University Teknology Petronas, UITM (can't remember which branch) and UTAR. Educated but ignorant.

There was a gate that separates Level 1 and 2 from Level 3 and 4. So, I proceeded on.

The Chinese writings on the rock was carved by previous miners. It actually warns people of the water in the cave. If it rains, the miners are not to proceed further. Today, the Cave Rangers apply this warning too. The tools for mining are displayed in front of the rock. At this junction, there were no lights in the cave. The cave was lit up by our head lamps. We were told to switch off the lights and to experience the darkness of the cave. The Cave Ranger explained that the communist used to stay in this cave to hide from the Japanese soldiers. When the Japanese soldiers entered into the deeper part of the cave and it become too dark for them, they need to use lights and the communist could easily see them and shoot them. Finally, the Japanese soldiers put up a steel barrier at both entrances of the cave to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the cave. The Communist eventually left the cave as there were no food for them and caught by the Japanese.

Then, we reached the first slide of the tour. It was too slippery to walk down the slope. So, everyone took turns to slide down. It was a pretty good slide.

The steel barrier at the entrance of the cave. Or you can call it the exit of the cave.

Inside the cave, there was a lot of water wading too. Crawling, floating and walking in the water. Well, instead of crawling in the water, one can actually opt to not crawl, but the Cave Ranger blocked our route, and mentioned that as we paid to get wet, we will get wet. Haha!

The next slide in the Cave. There are 2 slides only. For this slide, the Cave Ranger and another volunteer has to wait at the bottom to catch hold of each one because the last 2 meter is a 90 degree drop. So, if you slide too fast, you may land too hard.

Then, we have to climb down a small hole. It is suitable for all sizes. No worries at all.

There is a mini waterfall in the cave right before we exit the tour. We took turns to 'shower'.

Ta-da, the end of the tour. It was 3.45pm. It took us 5 hours in total. Well, if you don't travel in a huge group, it could take you 3.5 hours only.

We exited below the entrance of the cave.

Oh, don't forget to bring snacks and water into the cave. I brought bread and biscuits. Light food which can be consumed while walking. Overall - OF COURSE I HAD FUN!