Perak: Explore Gua Tempurung Cave in Malaysia
Calling all adventurers / caving enthusiasts out there! If you ever find yourself in Malaysia, make sure you explore Perak’s Gua Tempurung Cave!
I know; it’s not something common when we think about when visiting Malaysia. When we think of Malaysia, we tend to think about the incredible food. Pan mee, lo shi fan (black sauced noodles shaped like worms that tapper off into little tails), roti canai (an Indian flatbread dish often accompanied by curry) and durian (that infamous fruit) provide a delightful palette of tastes that you will either enjoy or abhor.
Malaysia is multicultural. Evident in how a typical day necessitates the use of my trilingual skills: Mandarin when climbing into the back of a Chinese Grab driver’s Perodua, Malay when purchasing five fried bananas from a tudung-wearing ‘aunty’ for RM 2 – we call anyone older than us, regardless of blood relations, aunties and uncles – and English at the workplace of an international conglomerate. There are the gargantuan malls that dominate our skyline and finally, our natural resources.
When you think of Malaysia, the words “adventure holiday” or “ultimate outdoor travel destination” doesn’t exactly spring to mind, does it? And yet it should. And this travel guide will tell you why!
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Gua Tempurung Cave: Malaysia’s Best Kept Caving Secret
Gua Tempurung is one of Malaysia’s best adventure destinations and a lodestone for all thrill seekers. Believed to have existed since 8,000 B.C., Gua Tempurung is the largest limestone cave in Peninsular Malaysia. It is almost 3 kilometres in length with 1.6 kilometres of freezing cave river cutting through it.
With all those facts in mind, we were determined to explore Gua Tempurung Cave. It was not hard to find with the help of Waze – just enter “Gua Tempurung”.
You will find plenty of car park space just outside the Gua Tempurung Cave. The Gua Tempurung car park is located beside the public toilets (RM 0.50 per entry). There are also local shops selling necessities like torchlights, local batik clothes and ice-cream.
To enter the Gua Tempurung cave, we had to purchase one of the 4 tours available as can be seen in the table below:
Purchasing Caving Tickets & Headlights
The staff were incredibly friendly and explained that caving tours were run every day of the year but that there was a cut off time of 11.30am. Since we had arrived at 9.30am, we waited until 10am in case other adventurers wanted to explore the Gua Tempurung Cave. We had opted for the Grand Tour, which was the most thrilling tour on offer. We were given bright pink helmets to wear. There were also some shoes drying on the nearby racks for those who had come without the proper footwear.
The wait was perfect for us to drop by the washroom, load ourselves up with water and purchase the essential headlights.
The headlights were purchased from one of the stores located beside the Gua Tempurung carpark. A nice Malay lady sells a large collection of them at a range of prices: RM 10, RM 15 and RM 20. I went for the RM 10 and found it to be powerful, lasting me well past the entire outdoor caving expedition.
Entering Gua Tempurung Cave
Gua Tempurung was breathtaking right from the get-go.
Coloured lights and metal steps were built into the sides of this mammoth cave. We traversed through 5 immense, coconut-shaped domes dominated by stalagmites and stalactites. Through the judicious use of our headlamps, the shadows cast did not look dissimilar to the cephalopod-like head of Davy Jones, the silhouette of a woman and an elephant rearing in the corner.
We learned of the markings left behind by the Communists that had once lived in the cave. And further along, we entered a wind tunnel that felt like an ode to Spring with its chilly air.
After 20 minutes of steep climbing, we arrived at a gate that warned, “NO ENTRY Only Level 3 & 4”. The steps beyond the gate led to pitch darkness broken by the gentle chimes of the flowing cave river and my excitement burgeoned. The Grand Tour.
This was what we had come here for!
The Grand Tour Commences
All geared up in our bright pink helmets and headlamps, we ventured beyond the gate. The steps soon petered out and left us with nothing but rock, marble and loose soil to grapple with.
Our faces were soon enshrouded in white fumes. The consequence of us breathing in the heavy humidity within the cave.
The obstacles were aplenty. No one ever said the Grand Tour was easy!
Steep Slide
This was the steepest portion of the journey, where we had to get down on our backs and slip and slide downwards. The final portion had no grip so we have no choice but to slide down at speed!
Cracks in Between
Some cracks were so small, we had to suck in our bellies to crawl through.
There was one portion where I had to use my arms to pull myself through.
Wet & Wild
We crawled through quite a number of tight crawls, some of them following the path of the cave river. At some points, it just became easier to doggy paddle through as the ground was littered with sharp small pebbles.
Throughout our spelunking adventure, evidence of Communist habitation remained. Heart-shaped declarations of love, rusty shovels, and deep holes in the ground that once functioned as a “loo”. Our caving guide even point out a hole in the ground that used to hold the most valuable Communist treasures!
We were also not alone. Ants the size of our thumbs, black agile spiders and a carpet of bats hanging onto the ceiling greeted us at many turns. Thankfully, the rumoured snakes and scorpions never made an appearance!
A Mid-Spelunking Break
The entire, anfractuous journey was broken up into two parts. After almost 2 hours of unrelenting adventure, we were led to an opening in the middle of a lush, green forest.
What a well-timed break!
Most of us took the opportunity to capture the perfect Instagram pose or to wash the pebbles and grime out of our shoes and clothes. Of course, the pebbles and sand never fully came out but the break was still amazing. It was even a little weird to realise that there was daylight outside!
It was also at that moment in the glaring sunlight that I discovered the enormous rip in the back of my pants!
Our caving guide came to my rescue, gifting me with a black plastic bag to wrap around my waist as a sarong but suffice to say, I could hardly wait to plunge back into the darkness.
Final Part of the Grand Tour
Our final leg was uneventful, but wet. It was almost easy, and we took the time to sample cave water fresh off a stalactite while we made our way through crack after narrow crack.
At one point, we paused as our guide shimmied up a column to collect some fresh cave water for us to sample. It was cold, fresh and incredible!
After another 1.5 hours, we saw the light (literally). The same artificial lights we had seen in the caves of Tours 1 and 2 (remember those?) appeared.
Soaked and bruised, we were quite the bedraggled lot as we emerged into a wide-open space. A mere short easy walk would lead us out of the tunnel and into the open.
We had done it!
We had ventured into the depths of the earth and emerged, victorious and whole.
Essential Caving Purchase
To save you the trouble, I have come up with a list of essentials to purchase in the event that you opt to go on this caving adventure.
Headlights
This is an absolute MUST HAVE if you are doing Tours 3 or 4. There are no lights available within the cave, and no reception, so every participant will need to have their own headlight. You can’t bring a torchlight because you will be using your hands a lot.
As mentioned earlier, the little shops right beside the cave do sell really cheap headlights that are durable and powerful for the price. I have never had any problems with them.
However if you are looking to purchase your own headlight before hand, you could consider this.
Dry Bag
Another BIG essential but this time, you can’t purchase it anywhere near the shops outside Gua Tempurung (I didn’t see any being sold the last time I was there in early 2019).
Dry bags are so important for the wet adventure tours because you will get drenched. Unless you have a car parked outside that you are willing to leave your phones & wallets in, and even then I would be wary because you will be gone for 4 hours, I would still want to bring at least my phone with me for pictures.
Hand Gloves
This would not qualify as essential to me, but it would help. You will be crawling on your knees and the cave river bed is full of sharp pebbles and rocks. To avoid the pain, having your own gloves would be very helpful. Just make sure your gloves have thick padding to give you sufficient cushion.
I didn’t use any but the guide himself did!
Shoes with Good Grip
The proper shoes are important. You will want shoes with a good grip especially when you are climbing up steep, wet limestone facades. There are certain parts where you will just have to slide but for the most part, a good grip is essential particularly in the first part of the journey, which I have always thought to be the hardest.
Personally, I used my trusty Salomon shoes and never had a problem. The guide on the other hand, used his kampung Adidas shoes and was dashing up and down the rocks like he was on a flat terrain!! Make of that what you will.
Detailed Grand Tour Itinerary & Guide
I hope you found this helpful and that you are now inspired to visit one of Malaysia’s best kept outdoor adventure secrets!
Before I end, I have created some easy printable cheatsheets for you detailing all the essential must-knows, things to bring and itinerary (like the one above!). Click the button below to download these FREE cheatsheets NOW!
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P/S: Follow me at @Iuliya so that you will never miss out on any of my crazy adventures, be it spelunking, white water rafting or otherwise!
P/S:
For an alternative recount of my spelunking adventures, see my Zafigo post on Spelunking in Gua Tempurung.
This caving adventure can be paired with an afternoon spent along the Gopeng River – white water rafting, waterfall abseiling, rafflesia hikes and tubing are all options available to ensure that you have a day you will not forget!
22 Comments
Briar
Beautifully written! This makes me want to travel to Malaysia right now! 🙂
admin
I’m so glad to hear that! It’s absolutely worth the trip 🙂
Disha Smith
I haven’t been to Malaysia and I’m looking forward to my trip there later this year. I’m adding this to my list of places to visit. It looks beautiful!
admin
Hooray! Feel free to reach out for tips 🙂
Nyxie
This looks magical! Definitely needs to be added to my bucket list!
admin
You absolutely should!!
Katlyn Brown
These photos are amazing!! That cave looks so cool.
admin
It’s pretty much one of the most exciting things to do in West Malaysia!!
ChocHands Hazelnut
I agree the photos are amazing
admin
Thank you!! 🙂
John M Cutler
What a wonderful story about a very fascinating Malaysian cave, and what an adventurous and exciting blog you have! I immediately subscribed the moment your front page appeared. I love your theme, style, and topics of interest. Great Job!
Iuliya
Wow! Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words (Gua Tempurung is my absolute most favourite activity in West Malaysia) & subscribing!! I’m all about adventures & hope to bring more to you soon 🙂
Shirley
Malaysia is totally on my travel wish list. Your article makes it look amazing!
Iuliya
Thank you for your kind words! I hope you get to visit Malaysia one day 🙂
Scott
This looks amazing, I was in Malaysia for a few days, Kuala Lumpur but never had the chance to venture out, may have to go back. 🙂
Iuliya
I hope you had a good time in Malaysia! Gua Tempurung is a little unknown even for Malaysians, but hopefully that changes over time!
Sara Kendall
Wow, I enjoyed reading your informative guide. Mother Nature’s is amazing and should be explored in a respectful way. Thanks for sharing.
Iuliya
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Nomads RTW
Wherever we go we try to see caves because we find them really interesting. We recently went to Phong Nha in Vietnam where the 3 biggest caves in the world are, and is fascinating! These ones also look really appealing 😉
Iuliya
Oooh I’ve been meaning to visit Vietnam and do some caving! They look absolutely amazing. What would you recommend? 🙂
Channy
Amazing! I would have a dry bag so do you think it would be ok to bring my camera, not just my phone?
Iuliya
I would be concerned about your camera getting knocked about just because you’d be crawling and going through tight spaces & sharp corners. You’ll definitely be crawling along the cave river too. I really won’t recommend it if possible!