Over the years a lot of money had been poured into projects to try and save the dredge and restore it for tourism. In Oct 2015 a piece was published in NST saying a company had been entrusted to again restore it. See article in Ipoh World blog.
sign in a cave in Laos
28 October 2015
Tin dredge Tj Tualang, Perak
The tin dredge at Tanjung Tualang in Perak, Malaysia was open to the public for a few years, from 2008. I visited shortly after it opened for tours. It then closed in 2012 and there were fears that the dredge was sinking. Last time I saw it, in Aug 2015, the whole area was fenced off.
Over the years a lot of money had been poured into projects to try and save the dredge and restore it for tourism. In Oct 2015 a piece was published in NST saying a company had been entrusted to again restore it. See article in Ipoh World blog.
Over the years a lot of money had been poured into projects to try and save the dredge and restore it for tourism. In Oct 2015 a piece was published in NST saying a company had been entrusted to again restore it. See article in Ipoh World blog.
27 October 2015
Development at Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand
I'm back in Krabi again. I'm in Ao Nang and it's been a year since I was last here. Each time I come there is more development, but it's still not too bad. However I notice they are now developing the areas by the hillsides.
One main feature of Ao Nang is the large limestone hill running parallel to the main road leading to Ao Nang beach. There is more development closer to this hill. And this means more roads cutting through the land. Google Earth image -
I always take more photos of the hill every time I come to Ao Nang! The view from my room -
The view from the beach -
One main feature of Ao Nang is the large limestone hill running parallel to the main road leading to Ao Nang beach. There is more development closer to this hill. And this means more roads cutting through the land. Google Earth image -
I always take more photos of the hill every time I come to Ao Nang! The view from my room -
The view from the beach -
3 October 2015
17 July 2015
Rubbish dump at Gunung Lanno, Perak
I had a letter published in Ipoh Echo, No 216, 16-31 July 2015, about the rubbish dump at Gunung Lanno, in Perak, Malaysia.
Tags : Ipoh Rubbish Dump, 216,
Rubbish Dump At Gunung Lanno
Topic > Letters
The article on waste management in the last issue of Ipoh Echo, 215, mentioned 1629 illegal dumpsites. I wonder if the rubbish dump at Gunung Lanno is a legal one. I first noticed it last year, when I saw a lot of egrets flying around and resting in the trees. I went to look at the birds and realised they were all flocking around the site of a huge rubbish dump. It is located in a secluded valley of Gunung Lanno. I can remember when that valley was in its pristine natural state. It was a beautiful place. Although no caves are known inside the valley, so are some in the surrounding area.
I went back again this year and the dump was still in operation with lorries going in and out. There is no signboard outside so I don’t know if it is an authorised site.
Liz Price
4 May 2015
Gua Tempurung price increase
Gua Tempurung has jumped on the greed band wagon and has introduced dual pricing, for Malaysians and foreigners.
Since the introduction of GST on 1 Apr 2015, Gua Tempurung started dual pricing, for locals and foreigners.
For example the cost of Tour 3 has increased from RM11 to RM40 and add on GST at 6% makes the price RM42.40 for foreigners.
See letter on Ipoh Echo 211.
I hope foreigners will boycott the place!
Pre GST prices -
20 April 2015
Bukit Bunuh meteorite site, Lenggong, Perak
Not a cave site, but it is related to Malaysian archaeology and the Lenngong Valley in Perak, so I will post it here rather than on my non-cave blog.
Bukit Bunuh is in the Lenggong valley, Perak, Malaysia. The excavation site at Bukit Bunuh was dug about 2000 and revealed stone artefacts, and the litho workshop was dated at 40,000 years. Prior to these finds, the oldest site in the Lenggong Valley was said to be at Bukit Jawa, up to 200,000 years old -
The Bukit Bunuh site later revealed stone artefacts such as handaxes and chopping tools. They were found embedded in suevite rock, which formed as a result of the impact of meteorites.
These were then dated at 1.83 million years old. The Malaysian researchers then claimed that early man had existed in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia more than 1.8 million years ago. They then suggested rewriting the "Out of Africa" theory.
The Universiti Sains Malaysia researchers said this is evidence of the oldest prehistoric man in Southeast Asia, at 1.83 myo. It is older than the Sangiran site, Java, Indonesia, 1.2 to 1.7 million years ago.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mokhtar, the handaxe, made from a type of quartz found in river beds, is the first of its kind found in this region, making it the oldest artefact found in the world.
The whole thing is controversial. USM are making these claims but they haven't been independently verified. Nothing seems to have been published in international journals.
The date of impact is given as 1.83 million year ago, "using a fission track dating method in Geochronology Lab in Japan, Tokyo". In most reports there is no error margin given. So it could mean between 1.825 and 1.835 million year ago. There is however an error margin in this report from Archaeology News , 1.83 ± 0.61 million year ago. It means that the meteorite hit earth between 1.2 and 2.4 million year ago.
In July 2012 (USM) announced they would "register the archaeological location which is of international status, Bukit Bunuh as one of the world’s meteorite impact sites". However by mid 2014 it was still not on the PASSC database. And as it didn't make the Malaysian news I guess it hasn't happened. It seems they are having to get new data before they can register it.
The site is in a huge oil palm plantation and there is no access. I was able to go there in 2014. There is no mention of it being the Bukit Bunuh site except for this sign.
Once inside the gate it was a case of pot luck in choosing the right track to take through the vast estate. We stopped to look at rocks
We saw a man doing some work and he kindly directed us to the dig site where the original excavations were done -
We then drove around
Looking towards Bukit Bunuh from the Perak River -
© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission
Bukit Bunuh is in the Lenggong valley, Perak, Malaysia. The excavation site at Bukit Bunuh was dug about 2000 and revealed stone artefacts, and the litho workshop was dated at 40,000 years. Prior to these finds, the oldest site in the Lenggong Valley was said to be at Bukit Jawa, up to 200,000 years old -
The Bukit Bunuh site later revealed stone artefacts such as handaxes and chopping tools. They were found embedded in suevite rock, which formed as a result of the impact of meteorites.
These were then dated at 1.83 million years old. The Malaysian researchers then claimed that early man had existed in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia more than 1.8 million years ago. They then suggested rewriting the "Out of Africa" theory.
 |
| labels L-R hammer stone, hand axe, flake tool |
 |
| hand axe 1.83 myo |
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mokhtar, the handaxe, made from a type of quartz found in river beds, is the first of its kind found in this region, making it the oldest artefact found in the world.
The whole thing is controversial. USM are making these claims but they haven't been independently verified. Nothing seems to have been published in international journals.
The date of impact is given as 1.83 million year ago, "using a fission track dating method in Geochronology Lab in Japan, Tokyo". In most reports there is no error margin given. So it could mean between 1.825 and 1.835 million year ago. There is however an error margin in this report from Archaeology News , 1.83 ± 0.61 million year ago. It means that the meteorite hit earth between 1.2 and 2.4 million year ago.
In July 2012 (USM) announced they would "register the archaeological location which is of international status, Bukit Bunuh as one of the world’s meteorite impact sites". However by mid 2014 it was still not on the PASSC database. And as it didn't make the Malaysian news I guess it hasn't happened. It seems they are having to get new data before they can register it.
The site is in a huge oil palm plantation and there is no access. I was able to go there in 2014. There is no mention of it being the Bukit Bunuh site except for this sign.
Once inside the gate it was a case of pot luck in choosing the right track to take through the vast estate. We stopped to look at rocks
We saw a man doing some work and he kindly directed us to the dig site where the original excavations were done -
We then drove around
From the Lenggong Museum -
No reproduction without permission
16 April 2015
Little Foot & Lucy v Perak Man and Niah skull
Malaysia's oldest human remains are the skull at Niah, dated at about 40,000 years, and the complete skeleton of Perak Man which is about 11,000 years old. See my website.
The oldest 'confirmed' site of human inhabitation in Malaysia is in the Lenggong Valley in Perak, said to be 200,000 years old (Bukit Jawa). And there is the controversial Bukit Bunuh meteor impact site that Malaysians claim to be 1.86 million years old, although as far as I am aware, no scientific reports have been published since the find in 2000.
Even if the age of Bukit Bunuh is correct, it is still far younger than the finds made in Africa.
The most famous African fossil is Lucy, from Ethiopia, a species of Australopithecus afarensis.
Little Foot, a member of the species Australopithecus prometheus / Australopithecus africanus, was found in the 1990s in the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa. The nearly complete Little Foot fossil skeleton has recently been re-dated with new techniques and is roughly 3.7 million years old. It was the hardened sediments surrounding the fossil that gave this reading. If the skeleton is the same age, this means South Africa has the oldest existence of human evolution! However there is the possibility that the skeleton itself is not as old as the sediments that surround it.
Both species blended ape-like and human-like traits but with different features. They lived about the same time. However Lucy herself lived about 500,000 years later than Little Foot. Little Foot is also female and according to researchers, was bigger and taller than Lucy.
Little Foot has well over 90% of its bones intact, whereas the Lucy skeleton is only 40% complete and lacks a head.
They both come under the Homo genus. Our species of Homo, Homo sapiens, only appeared about 200,000 years ago.
It is interesting that at least two Australopithecus species lived at the same time in different parts of Africa, about 3.67 million years ago. Maybe there are more waiting to be found...........
See full reports in Nature (published online 1 April 2015 and Nat Geog News.
The oldest 'confirmed' site of human inhabitation in Malaysia is in the Lenggong Valley in Perak, said to be 200,000 years old (Bukit Jawa). And there is the controversial Bukit Bunuh meteor impact site that Malaysians claim to be 1.86 million years old, although as far as I am aware, no scientific reports have been published since the find in 2000.
Even if the age of Bukit Bunuh is correct, it is still far younger than the finds made in Africa.
The most famous African fossil is Lucy, from Ethiopia, a species of Australopithecus afarensis.
Little Foot, a member of the species Australopithecus prometheus / Australopithecus africanus, was found in the 1990s in the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa. The nearly complete Little Foot fossil skeleton has recently been re-dated with new techniques and is roughly 3.7 million years old. It was the hardened sediments surrounding the fossil that gave this reading. If the skeleton is the same age, this means South Africa has the oldest existence of human evolution! However there is the possibility that the skeleton itself is not as old as the sediments that surround it.
Both species blended ape-like and human-like traits but with different features. They lived about the same time. However Lucy herself lived about 500,000 years later than Little Foot. Little Foot is also female and according to researchers, was bigger and taller than Lucy.
Little Foot has well over 90% of its bones intact, whereas the Lucy skeleton is only 40% complete and lacks a head.
They both come under the Homo genus. Our species of Homo, Homo sapiens, only appeared about 200,000 years ago.
It is interesting that at least two Australopithecus species lived at the same time in different parts of Africa, about 3.67 million years ago. Maybe there are more waiting to be found...........
See full reports in Nature (published online 1 April 2015 and Nat Geog News.
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