Batu Maloi Cave: Journey to the Top

Gua Batu Maloi (Batu Maloi Cave) is a wild cave, which is visited on regular spelunking trips.

The specialty of this cave is its unique geology: it is a tectonic cave, formed by a landslide in granite. The boulders were relocated and have now numerous gaps between them. As a river is flowing through this pile of boulders, it had to find its bed, and the result is a river cave. While the water is not the origin of the cave, the energy rich whitewater transports debris out of the cave and keeps it open. It also works on the rock surfaces and so there are now some erosional signs. Nevertheless this is a true tectonic cave.

The cave tours follow the river uphill, so they are actually a very wet experience. As sweet water in the troipcs may cuase a great variety of diseases we are not really sure if we should recommend the trip to foreign tourists. However, the locals have little problems and a lot of fun. Be carefull with the fauna in and around the cave. There are poisonous millipedes, scorpions and much more.

The gaps beween the granite boulders are sometimes narrow, and there are chimneys which must be climbed in a waterfall of warm water. Other parts require to swim under a low ceiling, which is pretty claustrophobic. There are various drops and ascents, some with wood poles, others with a simple rope.

The cave is rather narrow and so heavy rain will cause it to flood. As a result a visit requires care and an eye on the weather forecast. This danger is the reason why the can can only be visited accompanied by a guide. Every group is accompanied by a guide and three helpers, one leading the group, one at the end taking care that no-one is left, and one in a lookout always having an eye on the weather.

According to the guide the cave is occasionally the home of orang bunians or orang halus (jungle spirits). Once a member of the group got lost and 70 policemen were searching for her for days. Finally she was found inside the cave, which had been searched many times before, and claimed she had tea with some short people.

Source: https://www.showcaves.com/english/my/caves/BatuMaloi.html

The Safety Briefing

 After having our breakfast, the staffs introduced themselves and gave us our safety briefing in order for us to know the Do's and Dont's during caving. They made sure that all of us had our headlamps while wearing the proper attire to protect ourselves from danger, which can come from sharp rocks, insect, leeches etc.

Adventure, Friendship and Bonds

Let's be honest, climbing the Batu Maloi cave was not an easy feat. Aside from having enough stamina to keep on going we must have focus and awareness so that we can keep sight of the person in front and in our back, and at the same time carefully climbing or crawling inside the cave so that we can reach the next checkpoint.

The Treasure

After finishing our exciting expedition, we head down to our camp to have lunch. We then talked about each other on what we felt and different experiences while we were inside the cave. And despite being our second time in experiencing caving at Bato Maloi cave, the thrill and joy of overcoming obstacles together with your friends will never fade away. And if I were to describe the whole experience with one word, I'd  say, with out a doubt... breathtaking. Peace out.