Caving at Gua Musang - Star

Surprises aplenty caving

By Liz Price

THE STAR Lifestyle
Saturday July 15, 2006
[also on All Malaysia]


There are two popular stories, and both relate to the huge cave in the hill behind the town. One account says that a group of superstitious hunters were camped out here, when a storm destroyed the hunters’ attap huts. A bolt of lightning struck the hill and almost split it in two.

The hunters thought the guardian spirit of the cave was angry and begged for mercy. As they prayed they saw a pack of civet cats run into the cave, so they lay in wait for them to come out again. However, the animals never reappeared. The hunters then named the hill Bukit Gua Musang and the town, Gua Musang.

The second story refers to a rock formation inside the cave, which reportedly resembles a civet cat, hence the name.

Today, this famous cave in Gua Musang, Kelantan is a fairly popular attraction. When we, a group of cave explorers from the Malaysian Karst Society, went up for a weekend recce, we were pretty sure we would see no signs of musang here.


The entrance to Gua Musang. — Pictures by LIZ PRICE

But imagine our surprise when one in our party went into a small passage in the cave and came face to face with a furry creature. At first we assumed it was a civet, but it turned out to be a porcupine. The porcupine was also startled and disappeared into a small dark hole.

The cave of Gua Musang is located immediately behind the town’s railway station and is reached by a steep scramble up the hillside. We got some funny looks for our caving helmets and lights, and our muddy clothes.

After a steep climb following the track up the hill, which was slippery from a recent shower, we reached the cliff face and saw a small slot. This is the cave entrance. The main cave chamber is huge, but the entrance passage is a very narrow ascending rift. There is an amazing amount of graffiti adorning the walls of the entrance chamber – it’s a shame that so many were so thoughtless in defacing the cave.

Inside the cave, we found lots of wings belonging to Atlas moths strewn around the floor in some places. Probably the porcupine had eaten the moths, leaving just the wings. We explored all the passages we could find. The chamber goes through the hill to a back entrance and you can climb up to the top of the hill, but we felt it was a bit dangerous to attempt it as the ground was slippery.

The next day we ventured out to Pulai. Pulai, south of Gua Musang, is an old gold mining area. It is said that Pulai was founded in 1425 by two brothers, Lim Pak Yen and Lim Ghee Yee, who fled China.


A narrow passageway that holds a surprise.

The brothers came here in search of gold. Once word got out, there was a gold rush and a small settlement was created. As the gold supply slowly diminished, people started planting padi to survive.

Pulai has a temple reputed to be 400-500 years old, reportedly the second oldest temple in the country after the Cheng Hoon Teng temple (1646) in Malacca. The Pulai Swee Nyet Keung Buddhist temple and its surrounding village was burnt down by the Japanese in 1941.

The temple was rebuilt in 1970 and is quite small, but it has an interesting collection of ancient cannon parts.

Across the river from the temple is a limestone hill with a new temple. Bukit Tok Cu is also known as Princess Mountain and a temple is being constructed on top of it. The workers told us that a man had a vision of steps being built up the hill in 1984, but work on the temple only started in 1997.

However, a shrine was already in existence in the upper cave when an archaeological team dug there in 1991. The upper part of the cave is not very extensive but we were able to look straight down some open shafts to the cave chamber back down at ground level. We couldn’t see any obvious way down so we retraced our way down the steps and entered the main chamber at ground level.

Looking around, we found an easy climb up inside the cave and found ourselves back in the new temple again, much to the surprise of the workers.

We had our base in Taman Ethnobotani, where there are rooms and chalets for rent. The park was set up in 1997 for the collection and propagation of medicinal herbs. This recreational and nature park is administered by the Kelantan Selatan Development Authority (Kesedar).

Some 3km from Gua Musang, the park covers 38ha of lush greenery and limestone outcrops. One small hill is located right at the entrance of Taman Ethnobotani, and here we got to watch climbers practise their moves.

The park holds many climbing routes. Apart from climbing, there are other outdoor activities like rope and wooden obstacle courses, and flying fox and abseiling. Visitors can also learn to make traps and pick up jungle survival skills. Nature lovers will enjoy visiting the deer and ostrich farms and the medicinal herb garden.

Gua Musang has three limestone hills that run parallel to the main road leading into town. One was burnt by a fire last year, and its odd appearance with the patchy vegetation growing back made it look like a mangy dog. And that’s what we called it: Mangy Dog Hill.

Most of the Gua Musang limestone hills house caves, but they tend to be quite short. Gua Madu, located on the edge of town, is now in a recreational park. Further away in the Sungai Nenggiri area are the famous archaeological caves like Gua Cha, Gua Peraling and Gua Chawan.

The Nenggiri is also a place for white water rafting.

Taman Ethnobotani
KM3, Jalan Persiaran Raya
Gua Musang, Kelantan
Tel: (09) 9126829

Gold mine in Negeri Sembilan - Brunei Times

This article was published in The Brunei Times.
© Liz Price  .  No reproduction without permission

For more photos see gold mine .

Looking for gold and finding bat poo

Seeking adventure: The writer at the entrance to the cave.Picture: The Brunei Times

Liz Price
TAMPIN, WEST MALAYSIA

Sunday, June 8, 2008

WHEN I heard there was an old abandoned gold mine in Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia, I wanted to take a look as I have an interest in caves and mines. I knew there would be no gold lying around for the taking, but I was curious to see the site.

According to a newspaper report, the locals want to turn this mine into a tourist attraction and they claimed the tunnels extend 80 kilometres. I knew this was not possible but could find very little information about the place except that it was worked many years ago. I didn't even know if the tunnels are still accessible. We drove to Tampin which is south of Kuala Lumpur and then headed to Air Kuning as I knew the mine should be in that area. Of course there was no sign of it so we asked some locals and luckily found someone who knew the mine. When I mentioned I was a writer for a newspaper, he seemed pleased and immediately called a friend and asked him to lead us to the mine. Halim and his two sons took us to a rubber plantation, and having parked the cars, we set off on foot, soon being attacked by mosquitoes. After just a few minutes walk we arrived at the entrance to one of the tunnels. We all went into the entrance chamber and could immediately hear the sound of hundreds of bats. It was also apparent we would need shoes and torches, so we went back to the car to get prepared, saying goodbye to Halim who didn't want to join us, even though he had never been in the mine before.

Back inside we realised we had a choice of two passages. Both were wet with dubious looking muddy water so we chose one and plunged in. Luckily the water was initially only ankle depth. The Bomba or fire department had been here recently for a tour, and had left plastic tape marking a route through the tunnels, and closing off some passages. So we followed their path. As we ploughed through the water we stirred up a foul smell which reminded me of human sewage and was unlike anything I'd ever smelt before in a mine. I hoped it was just natural impurities in the water.

The tunnels are now home to hundreds of bats and they were flying all around us, disturbed by our presence. As the tunnels are not much larger then ourselves, a few of the bats collided with us in their attempts to pass us. Since there was a network of passages the bats were soon able to get out of our way. The bats are harmless and there was no need for us to be frightened of them.

The rock seemed quite soft and there was little sign of how the miners dug out the passages. Halim had told us the mine closed down by the Second World War and had been worked by the British. The tunnels were of uniform size. In a few places there were shafts leading down to lower levels, and some going up to daylight. After walking around for a short time we came back to the entrance chamber, having done a circular trip. So we decided to go back in and this time check out some of the passages taped off by the Bomba. This was actually far more pleasant as the water was cleaner and less muddy and that awful smell disappeared. I reckon it was due to having dozens of feet passing through recently which had stirred up the mud and sediments, including the bat poo in the water!

As we walked through I wondered what life was like for the miners who worked here. As none of the passages seemed far from an entrance or an open shaft, the air was fresh. I'd heard that the miners transported the ore out by rail, but now there is no sign of any rail tracks. When we emerged out from the mine our shoes were plastered in mud so we went down to the nearby stream to wash. Then we climbed the hill above the mine and found lots of shafts had been dug. Some were just trial holes, whereas others led down into the mine below, and we could see bats flying underneath our feet.

It had been an interesting visit, to see the old workings of this historical site. It is good to know that bats have taken up residence, as bats are important to humans, as they control the insect population and help to pollinate fruits and other crops. Despite the mud, it had been a fun day.

The Brunei Times

---

Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2008/06/08/looking_for_gold_and_finding_bat_poo

Gold mine near Gemas

LOOKING FOR GOLD AND FINDING BAT POO !!

I heard about the existence of an old gold mine in Negeri Sembilan but could find very little information about it, although it has been mentioned in the New Straits Times 2007 as it seems the local villagers want to turn it into a tourist attraction.

I was unable to find any accurate history about the mine. The NST says it was worked in the 19th and 20th century and has a series of tunnels which stretch 80km. This of course I didn't believe. Talking to the man who led us to the tunnels, he said the workings closed before the Japanese arrived in the Second World War.

Anyway I wanted to take a look so made a suggestion to Jan that we do a day trip there and he readily agreed.

The day started too early for me when a rooster started crowing at about 6.30am so I was up to see the sunrise. Even though I live in a suburb near to KL it's rural enough to have chickens and roosters!

We drove to Tampin where we stopped for brunch and also visited the Gurdwara Sahib Sikh temple.

 I knew the mine was somewhere near Kampung Air Kuning Selatan, which is in the direction of Gemas, so we headed there. We got sidetracked when we stopped to take photos of a Chinese cemetery and the Kuil Sri Maha Mariamman Indian temple.

 what fruit is this?

In the village we found someone who knew about the mine and he arranged for a friend to lead us there, so we had some chicken rice whilst waiting.

The NST report suggested that the mine tunnels may no longer be accessible due to cave-ins, so I was very happy when we reached the entrance and found we could go in. First sight of th entrance with rubbish left by the Bomba -

From the entrance chamber we had a choice of 2 routes, both of which were wet with some dubious looking water. Jan took the plunge and stepped in and I quickly followed. I hate that first moment of having to get my shoes wet. The water was initially ankle deep but I didn't like the smell we stirred up, which reminded me of human sewage. I couldn't believe it was sewage, but it definitely wasn't pleasant.

Jan goes in led by the bats

 

The Malaysian Bomba (Fire Dept) had been here recently and had taped off a route through the tunnels. Unfortunately they had also left boxes of rubbish outside the cave and up on the hill. It was mostly water bottles and polystyrene containers. If they had bothered to collect their rubbish in boxes, why on earth couldn't they also remove the boxes, rather than leave them for the animals to scatter.

The passages were full of bats, which were flying all around us, and several of them gently collided with us. However as most of the passages led on, most of the bats were able to fly ahead of us. Incidentally the bats are harmless and there is no need to worry about them or to disturb them.

cockroaches

The water was slightly deeper in places. We went past some shafts both down and up.

shafts down

The tunnels were a uniform size and there was little sign of how they had been dug out by hand, but the rock seemed quite soft.

 low flying bats

The tunnel came back to the entrance chamber, so we decided to go in for another round, this time exploring some passages taped off by the Bomba. Here the water had no smell so I guess the bad smell in the other passages was due to the mud being churned up by previous visitors.

 cleaner water

 coming up a climb

yet more bats

Having explored the tunnels, we washed out feet in the stream outside, then we climbed up the hill where we saw many shafts which had been dug. Some were just trial shafts, but others connected to the mine below.

It was an interesting visit, and now I am curious to know the history of the place and to know if there are similiar tunnels in the area.

You can see Jan's photos

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission