Jelawang Part 2 - Cave Tour

1st Feb 2011
cave tour

From Uncle Adam's Shop, it took about 15 minutes to these caves. Kita orang naik Van yang telah disediakan oleh Uncle Adam. All you need to bring....as usual...torchlight or headlamp (better), suitable hiking shoes cos they were places where you need hiking, snacks (option), drinking water and last but not least camera to capture unexpected moment.

Gua Ikan... kami tak sempat ke Gua Ikan for caving since not enough time

We arrived at the cave gathering area around 1.30pm, actually by this time it's already late for us yang nak gi Camp Baha to do caving. If you want to do the caving, you need to spend at least 2 hours to really feel the adventure. So, we had been given 2 choices by Uncle Adam... the tough one or the relaxing one. Emmhhh...frankly speaking, actually if we had enough time of cos we wanted to do caving but since we're already running out of time plus the late arrival of our train... we had no choice other than to choose the easier and relaxing tour. Semua pun agreed. Ok, let's go.

Briefing by our guide... Uncle Adam yang memang Best lah

After a short (not really actually) briefing by Uncle Adam, kita orang pun proceed to gua yang hendak dituju... you need to cross the road to these cave and then masuk semak samun dulu... only then you will find the track to first cave. Wow, seriously challenging too... you need hiking to get into cave's entrance. It's OK we already get use to it.

Starting of tour...

Need trekking on the way to First cave... Gua Pagar

The first entrance to the cave we had been briefed by Uncle Adam about the cave do's and don'ts you have to follow while you were in the cave. For example…you cannot touch the formation inside the cave... why? I think I already explained this in my previous entry on Mulu cave tour. The reason still the same... it will change the color of the formation if it is in contact with human skin. Uncle Adam ade cakap juga, kalau nak wat caving you kena pakai macam angkasawan... so, faham2 lah maksud dia.... ayat tersirat.

While tour inside the cave, you may found so many unique and fantastic limestone formation… welcoming frog, Michael Jordan Shoe, Cave curtain, Elephant’s trunk and so many others. And not forgetting “Guano”… not limestone formation but kind of bat’s output. Uncle Adam did explained everything unique, we could find inside the caves and His explanation really-really interesting and useful… especially to young generation like us.

Beautiful Stalactites formation you could see at the entrance of the first cave

Unique flora you may found at this cave... Vaughan's Balsam

Spider web on the ground... one way of protecting themself

Welcoming frog at Gua Pagar

Can u imagine this

After the first cave, we proceed to Gua Keris. On the way to Gua Keris you need to walk about 10 minutes from first cave to reach the next cave entrance that will lead you the Gua Keris. Kena trekking lagi. Before nak reach Gua Keris, kena pass another cave... not sure what its name but after tangga jer kena jatuhkan badan skit and meniarap nak melepasi laluan sempit dipermulaan nyer saja. Kejap jer pun. Lepas tu boleh berdiri secara normal balik yea and proceed.

Entrance to Gua Keris

That is why...it is called Gua Keris... fantastic limestone Keris formation, combination of Stalactite & Stalagmite

Unique Formation

Cave flow... cause the formation of the above Column limestone formation

You could see the cave flow is in the middle... the darkened side

Not only the unique limestone formation, you could see the beautiful of stalactites and stalagmites during you tour inside the cave.

This formation looked like an elephant... the trunk maybe

Ukur kasut di kaki sendiri

View from inside Gua Keris... Awesome haa

Can u imagine this... nampak mcm rahang haiwan jer

In front of Gua Keris

Crystal Deposit Land.... it will sparkle if you pointing the light, minerals + salt

On the way back from Gua Keris, I found Pinnacle formation just like Pinnacle in Mulu. Exactly the same. I think any limestone cave will have this kind of formation. Hahaha... I really missed Mulu's Pinnacle.

Kat sini pun ade pinnacle juga

I felt bit disappointed because the cave was not properly taken care as we could see so many vandalism here and there. You could see so many unwelcomed notes inside the cave…. Aku rase ini keje budak2 muda kita lah ni. I think kelantan state should take these thing seriously because the caves could become potentially world heritage area…who knows right….could be. Macam kat Mulu, the caves are properly taken care, thus, you cannot easily enter without guide and it was locked all the time and can only be visited if there is cave tour.

The caves here maybe different from the one in Mulu but still it has its own unique value and special characteristic which we should appreciate and be proud to.

Our cave tour ended around 3pm and after that we proceed back to Uncle Adam's shop for lunch and preparation for next trip to Baha's Camp. I felt really regret after having lunch while enjoying the very powerful sambal... seriously kick. Macam mana lah aku boleh lupa aku nak kena hiking lepas tu... errrggghhh... merana tak sudah malam tu kat Camp Baha.

Julie... teringat kat Abang Baha Airforce juga.... hehehe.

To be continued...

Mulu Day 4 - Deer & Lang Caves, Bat Exodus

Saturday, 15th Jan 2011

2.30pm-6.30pm

We arrived Mulupark around 1 p.m. and check-in again. Mase check-in, I was entertained by other person pulak. Mase tu tak tahu lagi nama dia tak sempat tanye... tapi bila dia check activity kita orang petang tu... dia cakap kat aku nanti kumpul 2.30 petang ya... and He introduced himself as our guide for next trip to Deer n Lang cave...OK.

This time we need to move to another Chalet just next to our previous chalet. Anyway this one also nice.

The next activity after returned to Mulupark... Le tour to Deer & Lang caves. This time you don't need a boat ride but you need to walk from Mulupark to these two caves. It takes us about 45 minutes juga lah to get there through plank walk. Kebetulan masa tu hujan so kita orang no choice other than to proceed... with our raincoat. Best juga jalan dalam hujan nie....sesekali kan but carefull the plank walk might be slippery if you walk with unsuitable shoes.

Emmhhh....jalan lagi. Mase on the way to Lang cave sempat juga lah aku borak2 dengan our guide, Harison... kata jalan sekali kan. He's very friendly and quite kelakar juga. His from Miri actually cuma after finished His studies dia keje dengan Mulupark. Lepas tu, Bos dia siap hantar dia gi Australia sambung belaja dalam bidang batu. Dia cakap dulu dia tak pandai cakap Bahasa omputih tapi lepas keje situ tiap2 malam dia belaja dengan Bos dia sampai lah jadi pandai... sampai jadi world heritage guide. Best nyer. His stories not end just like that....banyak lagi dia citer tapi yang lain tu tak penting sangat pun.

Apa yang penting nak citer pasal Lang cave pulak. The first cave we entered.

Could see different colors of Limestone

Beautiful formation inside Lang cave

Water from stalactites.... ade pond lagi

Stalactites

Jelly Fish formation...Fantastic

Our guide of the day....cute Harison

Next is... Deer Cave. This cave was known as the largest cave passage in the world. Deer cave ni actually is home to more than 12 species of bats.

Why it is called Deer Cave... long time ago local deer discovered that "Guano" (or bats output) contains salt. So, they always coming here for that. But, since the local people know that the deer needed salt, so, they waited here to hunt them. So, that's how Deer cave got its name. ohhh....macam tu citer nyer.

Abraham Lincoln's Profile at Deer cave

The most popular cave formation in Deer cave... fantastic right

View from inside Deer cave

Eden of Pool Garden... could only be seen from far

View from inside Deer Cave...Awesome

Kami dah tour gua nie...sangat cantik

Kami nak pergi tengok kelawar plak

Place to see Bat Exodus

We're waiting for the bats...sambil2 makan

Ade satu citer kelakar mase kita orang kat tempat tunggu bats exodus. We met a few korean frens...actually dia orang ni High school student from Korean. Dia suddenly approached kita orang just to ask about the tudung Yat pakai... hahaha... kata nyer nak buat souveniers pulang to Korea nanti. Tapi citer kita orang bukan pasal tudung jer.... pasal benda lain juga. T-rah tiba2 over excited plak dah jumpa org Korea ni....mula lah start siter....Marry me Mary lah...Shinee...semua citer kt Channel kt KBS tu lah dia nak citer. Apa lagi over excited juga lah Korean students nie... siap melompat-lompat lagi. Kita orang pun apa lagi tumpang gelak besar lah...especially aku yang memang suke gelak-gelak ni. Dia pun macam terkejut giler kita orang tahu semua pasal Korea. Dia tak tahu among kita orang nie, T-rah tu fanatic. But, it was really a very kelakar moment with them.

With our new Korean Friends...dia org nie memang kelakar lah

Kita orang sempat mengabdikan kenangan dengan Korean nie...walaupun dia orang tak pandai cakap omputih tapi kita orang layan je lah. Our story end when suddenly a millions of bats started to came out from the cave.

The formation was really fantastic and beautiful. Lambat juga kelawar ni keluar... dah dekat2 pukul 6 baru nak keluar. So, we had to return back to Mulupark a bit late....and by that time dah gelap pun.

Anyway, I really enjoyed.

Bats formation

Fantastic formation.... How they do that

To be continued.

Mulu Day 2 - Clear Water & Wind Caves

Thurs. 13th Jan 2011
Clear water and Wind caves

Cost: RM10pp
Transport: Long Boat (approximately 15 mins)

Things you may need to bring:
- Torchlight/Headlight
- Raincoat (in case of raining)
- Suitable walking shoes or sandals
- Drinking water
- Snacks/foods
- Camera

Our next destination after Penan Market. Still we need a boat ride to get here. From the Penan Market, it took around 10min to reach the Boat Jetty. From Boat Jetty, you need to walk on a plank walk to reach the caves. Our first cave tour was Wind cave and it took 10 minutes to get there. On the way to wind cave, the view surrounding was very nice, cool and windy… maybe because we’re about to enter the Wind cave or Malay name nye "Gua Angin".

Menyulusuri Sungai Melinau to the next destination

We’re accompanied by our Guide, Eugene. He’s very OK and his explanation about the cave’s history also very interesting.

All the way inside the windcave we’ve been introduced by Eugene to the various spectacular formation of limestone cave. It was very unique and fantastic. Eventhough, the formation are nice to see but you’re strictly not encourage to touch it. The true story was I’ve been told by Eugene after he saw me touching stalactite just above my head. Reason, the contact with human skin can cause the color of the surface limestone to be changed. Emmhhh... Interesting.

I quoated this from wikipedia:

....“Stalagmites should normally not be touched, since the rock buildup is formed by minerals precipitating out of the water solution onto the old surface; skin oils can alter the surface where the mineral water will cling, thus affecting the growth of the formation. Oils and dirt from human contact can also stain the formation and change its colour permanently” ...

The cave was named "wind cave" because of the cool breezes which can be felt at the narrow parts of the cave. We've been told by Eugene that if you open your mouth a bit you could feel the cool breeze. I did try but didn't really feel it...maybe need a little bit concentration. But, honestly I did't really feel the wind. Maybe... because there were too many people inside the cave produced heat from everyone. Whatever lah. But, I really enjoyed the beautiful formation inside the cave...It's really different from the other caves I've been to before.

View from Inside Wind Cave

Wind Cave was actually part of the Clearwater Cave system and you could see many unique and impressive stalactites, stalagmites, flowrocks, helitites and rock corals and... so many other beautiful formations.

Ade tangga juga

Continue to Clearwater Cave


You may find Mini Pinnacle also here


Tangga ke Clearwater cave


Formation of Limestone Clearwater Cave

Kena naik tangga nak ke Clearwater cave ni

Eugene...our guide of the day

From inside Clearwater cave

The water inside this cave is really crystal clear and very cold

Inside Clearwater Cave

After Clearwater cave, we proceeded to the next cave known as Lady Cave. Why it is called "Lady Cave"....because the formation inside of this cave more or less looks like a lady. Actually not all the formation, only a few. Also, you could find the Pinnochio formation and people kissing....opppsss....it's only formation but actually you can use your imagination to create your own formation character. All you need is just to be creative and use your imagination...like what Eugene always says.

Entrance to Lady Cave

Spectacular Clearwater

To be continued...