Nope � that's the setting for our 6 mile tunnel adventure. Chang Kok Kai led a 36 member strong contingent to one of the limestone hills in the Tambun area. Participants came well prepared with floats, tyre tubes and the non-swimmers even had their life jackets on � thanks to Ng Chang Chai's slide show and talk a couple of weeks earlier.

The first part of the trek was made easier by an earlier fire that had burnt off most of the sharp leaves, leaving the stems for us to walk on. However one mis-step means being knee deep in mud! The 100 metre swim was tiring as we had to tow floats which were used to keep our food, cameras, etc dry. Mercifully we encountered only a few spikey lotus stems. The non-swimmers had to be pushed and pulled along. From a distance, we looked like a convoy of multi-coloured ships with accompanying tug-boats as we made our way to the tunnel entrance. Despite the difficult trek, some of us could still notice and admire some begonia plants, with their attractive tortoise-shell patterned leaves (Begonia kingiana), growing precariously on the vertical limestone walls*. Fresh water mussels about 12 cm. long could be felt lying on top of the mud in the shallow part of the pond.

The tunnel runs almost straight. Initially the water level was chest deep but gradually it dropped to ankle level at the end. Likewise the headroom was claustrophobic at first but soon we could walk erect easily. There are limestone formations in this tunnel. In the middle section there is a chamber inhabited by bats (unfortunately no photographs were taken to facilitate identification). A small waterfall here broke the monotony of the hike � there may be an exit higher up but we were not equipped to explore that. In certain sections of the tunnel, stones are neatly stacked on both sides. Long-legged cave spiders and white millipedes about 5 cm long were seen among the crevices.

The light at the end of the tunnel led to a 'wang', a 'Garden of Eden' totally enclosed by hills. We found that a small lake, teeming with tilapia, was the source of water running through the tunnel. Surrounding this lake was lush vegetation. The wang seemed to be the domain of ginger plants � Torch Ginger (bunga kantan, Phaeomeria speciosa), Scarlet Earth Ginger (Achasma megalocheilos) and Yellow Earth Ginger (Achasma macrocheilos). They were all in bloom as if to welcome us. The solitary clump of giant bamboo appeared to be dying. Begonias adorned the surrounding limestone cliffs. An unusual gesneriad** with creamy white flowers beckoned us to identify it. Several species of bracket fungi were found growing on some fallen branches.

According to some MNS veterans, the tunnel was the result of miners excavating a tin ore-rich vein. The lake in the "wang" and the lotus pond were abandoned mining pools. In the olden days the miners used candles in the tunnel and to them the tunnel appeared to be 6 miles long, hence the name. A 100-metre hike through this garden led to a small cave, 3 metres above the ground with almost ice cold water flowing out. A belly crawl in a single file over 10 metres led to the first waterfall in this cave. This 2-metre high obstacle was easily scaled because the rough walls provided a lot of foot and hand holds. Another 10-metre crawl brought us to the second waterfall.

This was indeed a nightmarish 2-metre high waterfall. It was almost vertical and the walls and sides were smooth with only one foothold. The long-legged ones among us could just manage to clamber up. The short ones needed someone to pull from the top and another to push from below. Compounding the problem was that the water channel was very narrow. When the person who had ascended sat down at the top of the waterfall, his butt blocked off all the water. When he got up he released a torrent of cold water on the chap who had pushed him up! Teamwork was definitely the order of the day! In this section of the tunnel, the walls of the waterfall were smoothly-polished white marble with grey striations. A couple of bends and twists of the body took us to the third waterfall. The passage was very narrow there and we did not attempt to proceed further. After relishing the cold shower for a while we made an equally arduous retreat.

After the trip, as we gathered by a small stream to wash away all the mud from our tired bodies, we felt a sense of achievement. We had survived a most unusual and challenging MNS adventure.

Cheaw Hon Ming's jottings:
*Chirita caliginosa and Paraboea capitata (not in flower) were also seen growing on the cliff walls.
** A terrestrial gesneriad with leaves (about 14-16 cm wide) growing in a rosette form with creamy white flowers but with many axillary fruit capsules very similar to some Cyrtandras which are normally shrub-like plants. The leaf stalks were long (30-35 cm), succulent and broke off easily. Can somebody out there please look at the plant on the homepage and throw in some light?

This trip was also reported in The Star Online Feature 19th Dec 1998 - Limestone Wonders