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Caving in Anak Tempurung (Sunday 14 March)

    Caving coordinator Chang Kok Kai led a group of 42 to Anak Tempurung. Three Penang MNS  members and veteran Selangor MNS Caver Liz Price were our guests. Six non-members came to join in the fun. The Perak MNS cave group last visited this cave in March 1997.
    This less known ‘Son of Tempurung’ is literally situated in the shadow of its ‘mother’, Gua Tempurung. Entry is via a rivulet running through a low passage, initially requiring a bit of a waddling and stooping. Except for a short stretch where crawling is required progress is quite pleasant. The water sloshing at your feet, the darkness and the featureless walls of the passage give a deja vu feeling — like walking through the Six-Mile Tunnel! Only this time the passage has lots more twists and turns. After about 200 metres a shower marks the end of this passage, with an opening a short distance further on.
    After a short break, the group bid farewell to the rivulet and started to climb up a dry passage about 80 metres long. The steep climb ends in a narrow opening overlooking the North-South Highway. We were about 20 metres above the base of the hill. A short walk on a narrow ledge leads to another cave opening about 4 metres above the ledge.
    The cave entrance is accessible by scaling a vertical rock face to reach a small chamber below it and then by pulling yourself up through a hole in the floor. Just to make life more difficult, there is a limestone saddle right across the passage just before the small chamber. To cross this obstacle, you have to swing your legs astride as though you are going to "ride a horse" to quote Chang Kok Kai, who waited patiently in the small chamber to guide us up.
    The hole in the floor of the cave entrance has the size and shape of a toilet seat. Michael Liew and Ong Boo Kuan who went up earlier had a busy time playing ‘midwife’ to subsequent cavers coming through. About half the group decided not to make this difficult climb. They thought it would be safer to sit on the ledge and enjoy the scenery as well as to watch the contortions and exertions of  those who went on.
    For these few brave ones there were some interesting formations to be seen in the upper cave. After a couple of S-bends and a climb up a slippery ramp, the passage opens up to a chamber about 20 metres in diameter with a 4 metre-high roof. Light from a small skylight illuminates the chamber, which is home to about a hundred bats. A three metre-high flowstone in the shape of a jellyfish is a distinct monument on one of the walls. The dim light has allowed the growth of some algae, giving it a greenish hue. Several pure white flowstones can be seen in the darker recesses of this chamber.
    As we retreated we explored another side chamber, about 6 metres in diameter. On one end of  the floor, there is a formation that looks like the two famous peaks of Mount Kinabalu – the South Peak and Low's Peak. Walking across them gives you the sensation of flying over Mount Kinabalu. On the roof at the other end of this chamber are numerous limestone curtains that look more like guil-lotines. In the centre of the chamber is a mire of soft white mud. One caver sank to his knees in it!
    The group made their way home by descending the steep slope from the ledge to the base of the hill instead of backtracking through the lower cave again. A few of us journeyed on to Phillip's country home several kilometres away. In his chalet-like house, which has five dogs, a cat and an orphaned monkey, we found a crate of ice cold beer waiting for us – fitting reward for a challenging hike! Thanks a lot to Phillip Leong and Lee Su Win for their kind hospitality! (Dr. Chan Ah Lak)

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Created on 26th April 1999.