sign in a cave in Laos

7 December 2012

Ceremony Cave & others, Gunung Tempurung, Perak

Gunung Tempurung is the southernmost limestone hill in the Kinta Valley, Perak, Malaysia. Gua Tempurung is a well known show cave. Gunung Gajah is connected to Gunung Tempurung and there are a few caves in that part of the hill. However I have never looked for caves north of Gua Tempurung.

So when Kevin Pearce from the NZSS emailed me about 2 caves he had visited in 1989 I was curious to find them. In early Dec 2012, accompanied by Hong, we went to ask the guides at Gua Tempurung and one of them led us to the approximate area.
Over the course of the afternoon we found 4 caves. One of those I think is Ceremony Cave which the NZSS guys surveyed, but their 2nd cave description didn't match any caves we found.

The first 2 caves were rather small, each about 10 m long. The 1st cave -



Walking to the 2nd cave, Gua Kulat, we passed some nice tree roots -





There were various types of fungi in the cave and also outside. After I climbed up to what looked like a cave above, but it was nothing
The next cave was the best find so far. Miners Cave has been dug for tin. The main chamber is about 40 m long and at the top is what looks like a rest area with seating and the remains of a fire.


A lower side passage has been dug for tin. The floor is very muddy -

Looking in and out of the entrance
From there we walked back to our starting point and climbed up a cliff to a cave about 14 m above. When we got there we realised there was a much easier path up from the other side! I think this is Ceremony Cave that the NZSS visited.

The cave is on the corner of the hill.




There is a lot of graffiti. A smaller passage leads off and has been dug -





© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

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