19th August 2009 - We had our fantastic adventure in Gua tempurung ,Ipoh, Perak. Exploring the deep dark caves of Perak. Our journey started of from Kulim , Kedah at 8.00am , where we reach Gopeng exit at around 10.30am. Just a couple minutes from there we are already at the entrance for the cave. It had all the facilities required such as bathroom , mini mart & lockers to facilitate visitors. There was even a lake there which looked like a great place to fish.
There were 4 packages available to suits visitors of all kind. A guide will be provide with the minimum pax of 8 people. Our group of 40 was split in 2 where some choose package 2 which brought them to Platform 5, or Top of the world. The other package was the package 4 which was a Grand tour of the caves & river. It started of like package 2 where we were kind of window shopping, looking at all the great formations from a walk way constructed of concrete & sand from the cave itself. Great stairwell were build leading up till the Top of the world. It's the highest part of the grand tour.
Next was the journey down deep into the silent caves formed by the powerful underground river. Here's where the adventure begin. There was no sun light in, your torch light becomes your best friend as it's pitch dark environment would scare any man. Large stalactites & stalagmites formed on the ground & ceiling of the caves, some were at least 12 feet long. It takes 100 years just to form 1 inch of this formations, imagine how long it would have taken to form this huge blocks. The name Gua tempurung came from it's 5 large dome like ceilings inside which looked like the inside of a coconut shell hence it's tempurung name.
As we journey deep and deeper into the caves our feet gets wet by the icy cold mountain river, water trickling down from the sharp formations above giving relive as our tired feets gets cooled down. Water level wasn't high as we were still early into the day, any later would mean that the water level will be too high & dangerous to continue the journey. The water level would rise up to cover the entire cave if it were to rain.
As we get deeper the space becomes smaller and smaller, some parts we had to crawl through till we reach a clearing which was the other side of the mountain. It's an opening to the jungle which is said to face the highway. We thought most of the journey was over and we were through the hardest part. It just seemed like a long walk.
We were to double back after that but will be using a different part which showed us the true meaning of adventure. The water level was higher, we had to swim under some formations with just a head room to breath just to get splash by friends at the other side. None of us made it dry.
There was one part we had to go through a hole small in the ground to reach an underground cabin. In such a small space 30 of us crammed in, not enough space to stand so we had to sit or squat meanwhile waiting for the rest to come in before continuing through. Another splashing session to welcome those who made it through.
Another memorable moment is when we had to slide down a smooth slope. It was like 8 feet high and it was a pretty sharp slope. We manage to tackle it with 2 stages, one stopping point in the middle to slow down our momentum. Those who went first had to grab the rest when they come down to prevent the drop in the end. It was a coordinated team effort with plenty of helping hands.
Sharing moments together as a team & having fun really brings meaning to having a team building activity. We work as a team to get things done. Help each other through difficult tasks & really had fun doing it. Treasure these moments we shall, an forever Gua Tempurung will always be in our hearts.
