Gopeng - Gua Tempurung

First timers and those with young kids chose to go on either Levels 1 or 2.

Fai having been in the cave before opted to go along with his sister and father for Level 4. We had with us head lamps and were wearing either sandals or sport shoes. Fai's feet ended up badly blistered by his sandals, so proper shoes are advisable. Keep your hands free as you will need to crawl and grab.

More info on tours available in Gua Tempurung here

Han and Ean were not keen, so I played by the stream with them

We were joined by those who completed their quick tour of the wonderful cave.

There were lots of fish but were very difficult to catch.

After 4 hours, JY finally emerged from the underground stream. First thing she did was to wash her shoes.

The rest strolled out with clean shoes as they had used the gushing water to wash their footwear before coming out from the cave.

Fai said he had a great time.

They had to crawl through narrow crevices, slide 20 feet down huge boulders, got to see a secret garden and much more.

Here's what DH wrote in FB:

" I encourage all families to go for it, the young ones will like it too. A bit scary, a bit dark, dangerous to some, let some imagination run wild, feel the fresh cold water, wet, dry, muddy, sandy and rocky earth with your bare hands, legs ...and soaked body. Its 4 hours of fun and thrills! Ask for the new extended route also. The feeling of danger is so invigorating. If your life is too safe its time to face some danger for a change. Experiencing team work with strangers and making new friends in the group is a bonus. "

There was a large crowd as it was a national holiday. There were at least 50 in their group and most of them had torches, so it was well lit - like a party in the caverns. Although only one guide was with them, the tour went smoothly with many willing to lend a helping hand.

I was most impressed with a young man who made it through Level 3 minus one leg and using crutches. Salute!

Gopeng -Earth Camp

photo from Learning Beyond Schooling

We spent the night in a treehouse

photo from Learning Beyond Schooling

The smaller treehouse comes with 2 thin mattresses, 1 light, 1 fan and a tree to hug.

photo from Learning Beyond Schooling

The treehouse up close.

The treehouse was about 8 feet above ground, planks for flooring and walls with gaps big enough for pesky bugs to fly through. Mosquitoes were easily avoided by lighting mosquito coils and some treehouses were lucky enough to have fireflies fly in when the lights were off.

The toilets were fashioned out from water tanks with a hole cut out for the door.

Clean and functional. No complaints from me.

An old derelict building claimed by a Banyan tree

I spent the night getting close and personal with a rubber tree. Tapping scars could be seen on its bark.

Han peeking out.

Luckily it didn't rain heavily or we would have surely gotten soaked.

The kids held secret meetings away from the adults, inspecting each other's treehouse and had a grand time.
More info on Earth Camp here.

Gopeng - whitewater rafting, playing with fire, henna art

Sungai Kampar - Perfect for whitewater rafting

All aboard!

The lorry that took the group from Earth Camp to Ulu Geroh for the Rafflesia Trail. It was a first for all on board and was very thrilling - especially at steep slopes.

While waiting for the trekkers, the rest of us relaxed by Sungai Kampar.

The boys making sandcastles

Another group with their rafts

Life vests are tricky to put on.

After lunch, JY and Cora started off with water safety tips.

If you fall overboard, stay away from the raft. Kick or push yourself away!

Hang on to my precious equipment. Don't let it float away!

Carrying the raft to the river.

The man with the blue helmet and light blue canoe is the safety marshal that followed them throughout.

JY and Cora body floated down the rapids to a sandy bank around the bend. photo by Amrita

Lie down feet first and let the current carry you away

Catch a rope that is barely visible in the water and haul yourself up.

JY didn't need the rope, all she did was reach out and she was by the bank. The advantage of having long limbs.

How to throw up?

More safety procedure followed

a few more pointers...

And they were off!

After settling in in our respective treehouses, we whiled the time away by the river located next to the Dining Hall. Dinner was a 2 hour wait, so the girls did some Henna art

Han dipped his toes into the cool water

The fathers started a fire to chase the mosquitoes away

Father on left could relive his scouting days.

Cora tried to skip stones.

The fire - mosquito deterrent but attracts children

Multilegged pet from Ulu Geroh

Sungai Kampar and Gua Kandu, Gopeng 8thFeb2011

From Gua Tempurung, we followed Mustafa's car. He led us along a dirt road and we passsed mining ponds before reaching his kampong.
Mustafa's treehouse is shown above as promised.
Run by an adventure company that conducts white water rafting on Sungai Kampar. My kids loved the sight of the treehouse. JY intends to organise a camp to this place later this year. So it looks like I will be able to make another trip to Gopeng this year. Hooray!


Halim, my guide into Gua Tempurung last year was enjoying the sight of carefree kids leaping into the river.

1,2...jump....run back up the river bank and leap once more. So much joy and laughter. No PSP or any other electronic gadgets required.

Kampar River. We just had to take off our shoes and dip our toes in.

A fisherman on the bridge took us into his recently cleared land and told there is a plant we have never seen before...and sure enough, we have never seen such a flower before.

The white flower looked like a tulip and was as big as a football.

An unopened flower bud.


We were informed by the fisherman that there were chalets and a nicer spot down the road. We followed his directions and came to a lovely river.

It had a swimming pool made by damming the side of the river with river stones.

Chalets and dormitories run by a former headmaster from Subang.

As we made our way back to Ipoh, we stumbled upom Gua Kandu. It can be seen from the North-South highway.

Looks interesting.

As it was nearly dinner time and the sun was about to set, we gave the cave a miss.

I will be back for Gua Kandu with proper equipment another day.

I love Gopeng. For all my trips to Ipoh and Gopeng, I have only encountered friendly and helpful guides who were more than willing to share their knowledge with us. I came away with more than what I expected.

Noticed this' For Sale' sign next to Gua Kandu.....so tempting :)

Gua Tempurung revisited 8thfeb2011

We were too late for everything but the Level 1 tour. I had gone it the previous year but decided to go for another round of it because I absolutely loved the majestic beauty of the cave and wanted to share it with my hubby.

The moment we entered the cave, the air instantly felt cooler. What a nice respite from the blistering afternoon heat

towering stalagmite

As before, the guide would point out shapes such as "Mona Lisa', 'Monkey driving a car', 'Elephant's head', 'Squating woman washing her long hair' and even 'Osama bin Laden'

Marble.

We were advised to come back during the rainy season to witness the waterfalls in the caves. All wet tours in the cave commence between 9 to 11am.

Being the last group in the cave, we managed to have a long chat with our guide, Mustafa, who has explored most caves in Malaysia and warned me against visiting a cave I had planned on exploring next - it is a crystal cave. He said that particular cave was so thick with dust that when you clap your vision is impaired. It was also full of guano and thus had high nitrogen content in its atmosphere. So my plan was aborted.

Mustafa asked us to wait for him, as he wanted to show us his kampung.

He said "I am sure you have never seen a house on a tree!"

He managed to pique our interest.

So we waited a while and the beauty of the area around Gua Tempurung was revealed to us......