A trip to Gua Tempurung
Early in the morning, on 18 June 2011, the librarians who stayed overnight in the
library started to wake up and the
toilet was once again flooded with impatient girls. Other librarians were seen
packing their bags in the Access Room and some were just enjoying the scene
before dawn. At 6.30 a.m. En. Aidil , the teacher-in-charge, started to hurry
us down to wait for the bus to arrive.
We waited some time until the society
and club committee members all arrived and we were separated into 2 buses. So
we, the librarians had a bus all to ourselves except the 2 librarians who had
to ride with the committee members. After all the fuss of settling down and our
breakfast was in safe hands, we started our bus ride at 7.30 a.m.
We have just gradually quiet down from
the excitement when we stopped for breakfast in Tapah, Perak after an hour. We
got down and found ourselves sitting by the road, enjoying the fried rice we
brought from the school canteen. We were parked in the heavy vehicles’ bay and
the petrol gas station was nearby, so another toilet break for the girls. While
we were there, we witnessed a crawler excavator spoiling the fence while doing
its job. The fence was bent under its mighty robotic strength. We witnessed how
dangerous it was to work with such gigantic machinery. We boarded the bus and
soon on the way again.
Another sleepy hour in the bus until a
stunning view of giant rock that stood like a solitary mountain woke us up and
the excitement escalated. We got down and walked all the way to the entrance of
Gua Tempurung. We queued according to our groups under the blazing sun. Electrical devices had to be kept at our own risks as the
adventure would be wet so some were facing the conflict of bringing along the
camera and taking beautiful picture or putting it in the hands of strangers and
paying for it. Our group has only 1 camera
and the owner, Fathin, was worried that the camera might get spoiled
during the river adventure that teacher had mentioned earlier. So we produced a
plastic bag and a rubber band to put her at ease. She can seal her camera in
the plastic bag whenever she wants. We took some pictures at the front and the
waiting resumed. There were lots of other schools that were also taking part in
the tour, so we had to wait for our turn. As we stared at young boys coming out
with wet shirts, the tour guide started to give us the safety speech. He
mentioned that there would be a lot of steps and a torchlight would be
compulsory during the river adventure. Finally, at 10.30 a.m., we can get into
the cave.
As we walked the steel walkway which
was very congested by the number of students, our group broke up and the
teacher allowed us to walk with our friends. So as we continued into the cave,
we passed by the cave window and took a glimpse at the last sunlight we will
see in the next four hours. We were
combined with the koko girls so there was too little space for all of the
students in the first platform. The first batch had a good look at the dark
flowing stream below and the limestone wall. The tour guide with a torchlight
pinpointed a cat face, a big elephant, a seahorse, a cow head and zorro eyes
that seems menacing. Our eyes played tricks on us as the walls with different
hues and special shapes combine with our imagination.
We continued walking and from far, we
saw a staircase leading into a rock that seems like a snail’s gigantic shell. We were amazed by the giant
jellyfishes that seems to be swimming on the walls of the cave. As the water
flowed down the limestone that looks like a jellyfish, we noticed we are in a
big and vast cave with a very high ceiling that we cannot even see with the
light from our torchlights.
Then the climb began, and we stopped at
a lot of platforms as the tour guide
moved very fast and we urban schoolgirls in desperate need of exercise
struggled with countless steps. We lost
track of time and the dizzying amount of steps were perplexing. The tour guide
urged us on with the promise of cool wind for in the cave, there was no air
circulation, so we felt small in the vast area of the cave and were suffocating
from the smell of bat guano. We climbed and climbed the steep stairs until we
suddenly stopped. The Wind Tunnel was really cooling! We felt the air blowing
in from the way we came and it was as cool as the breeze in Genting Highlands.
The tour guide explained that we could enjoy this cool wind because this little
passage is the only way between the big cave and the another section we were
going to explore. So all the air had to go in through this small passageway
otherwise we cannot breathe later in our adventure. The tour guide reminded us
that we had already climbed 640 steps! Unbelievable!
We went through a small passage and on
the wall, some of us noticed a smiley face! After a long flight of stairs, we
stopped to rest. Only then we discovered we were facing a vast and dark cave
and the air was thick and it was harder to breath. On the ceiling a peculiar
giant rock was sticking out. The dark cave was named the Giant Cavern and it holds
a huge column that looks like a spaceship. We rested and some of us enjoyed the
view, it was so dark and vast, the light cannot even reach the bottom. Some of
us noticed a stone that looked like skeletons of pirates just opposite us. We
saw columns of moving light at the bottom as the tour guide gave us the last
warning for this was the point of no return. Nobody gave up so we continued.
Like just now, the flight of stairs
were endless, the only difference was the stairs were going down, not going up like
just now. Staring down on the slippery steel steps were worse as the air
thickened and the light of torch blinded our eyes. The shadows on the stairs
were hypnotic and the fear of toppling over in the steep stairs were
terrifying. The crowd behind who were tight on our heels, were not helping us either
as we all wanted to end this long journey of stairs as soon as possible.
Finally, we reached the bottom and we walked leisurely on flat passageways. The
tour guide directed our attention to some small hoe heads that were left behind
by the tin mining activities in the old days.
We reached a dead end and we got out of
the passageway and sat on the hills we were not sure what it was covered with.
The tour guide demonstrated how to slide down the slope later. The first to
demonstrate was our president of the board of librarians, Kak Hasanah. She slid
down the hill twice for us to have a good look on the technique needed to land
safely. We had to straighten our legs and keep it closed and rigid. We rested
while waiting for our turn. The tour
group which came before us hadn’t cleared the area so we took up a lot of time at this section. One
by one, we slid down the limestone slope. The tour guides would help us down
the slope. One of them waited in the middle and made sure we had our legs close
and straight. Then he would release us and we had to slow down by putting our
hands on the hill for it was very steep. The last part of the slope was
particularly dangerous for it was a straight drop. Luckily, there were two men
there to catch us. Though some of us fell down and may go back with some
bruises, other than that, all of us reached the bottom safely.
It was a cramped space at the bottom,
there were no visible pathways except a hole in the floor. As the other tour
group went down the rat hole, as they call it, Puteri Ampang girls were all
gathered around and waiting for further instructions. When the last teacher
slid down the slope, the tour guide led us into a hole on the side of the wall
that we did not notice earlier. It was so small, we had to crawl on all fours
to reach the other side. Luckily, the
passage was short and soon we were on our two legs. The tour guide explained
that we were tight on time and needed to take the shortcuts. After walking some
time in small and cramped space, we finally reached the water, though it was
just ankle deep, it thrilled us. We then had to bend down to pass through the
small passage with our feet cold. That was when the real adventure starts.
On and off, we would be ankle deep in
water and on dry land a while later. But as time goes by, the ankle deep water
started to become thigh chilling height.
Plus the ceiling of sharp marbles and fragile stalactites that pop out
on the most unexpected place were hazardous to us. To make things worse, at one
point, we had to crawl on all fours elbow deep in water with the freezing water
threatening to destroy our only source of light, the vulnerable torchlight. We
struggled to keep up as the tour guide was proceeding very fast and we were not
mentally or physically prepared to face such an extreme condition. No
wonder our teacher wanted us to wear
gloves because we had to crawl along the way and the riverbed gravel were harsh
on our knees and palms. The teachers were also braving the elements with us.
After getting up on our two legs, we walked
through a cramped opening between two rocks and we had to go sideways. The
stones in our shoes were very uncomfortable but the rushing river water would
not allow us to remove those annoying pebbles. We also could not afford to be
cut off from the group, as the shine of light disappeared at the next crook in
the river catacombs, we had to shout for them to wait for us, so no
dilly-dallying. When we thought the
worse was over, we had to crouch down and had our whole torso wet, dipped in
the icy cold stream water into tunnel with an opening that looked like
a crocodile’s mouth. It was brief but enough to make us shivering cold and
numb. We went on, prepared for anything ahead, but the tunnels gradually became
wider and the water level maintained at our ankle.
Surprisingly, we walked under the first platform that we were on
hours ago when we first came into the cave. We were so happy for we know soon
we will be out of this living hell. As expected, we were welcomed by the lush
jungle greenery and rays of sunlight. There were other tour groups there
resting on the river rocks. But we proceeded to the front entrance and went on
to a nearby porch with food and drinks prepared for us. We were tired , wet and
hungry by the time we came out , which was about 2.15p.m.. Some of us decided
to eat first change later, while some were not hungry and wanted to get out of
the wet and sexy attire as soon as possible. The food was delicious - masak
merah chicken, some vegetables and an omelette each. With a cooling drink of
orange juice, the food tasted heavenly with a beautiful view of the lake next
to the porch. Though there were cats bothering us, we enjoyed ourselves none
the less under the warm sun.
There was a problem though, we Puteri
Ampang girls had no place to change our wet clothes! The toilets were filled
with girls all taking their time to shower and tidy up their looks. Plus we had
to pay to get into a toilet or changing room that has barely enough space for
privacy. So we took up a lot of time going to and fro between the bus in the
parking lot far way to pick up our change of clothes and money. We also had to
wait long queues for our turn. Some improvised and changed on the bus. The
teachers tried to bargain with the bus driver to allow us on board with wet
clothes for we were going to get wet in the next destination anyway. But the
bus driver insisted we change our clothes to prevent his bus from getting
smelly. It was so ironic for the bus itself had a dripping air conditioning and
now they are demanding to keep their bus dry. Nonetheless we finally took off
and said goodbye to the gigantic limestone with fringes of greenery that houses
the Gua Tempurung at about 3.15 p.m. and proceed to our next destination.
Though we did face problems on the way
but this trip really gave us a chance to gain new experiences and knowledge. It
was indeed an enjoyable trip where we, the librarians get to foster closer
relationship with each other and to maintain the team spirit.
Source: Journal of a student librarian in SMK Puteri Ampang (2011&2012)
