Malaysian caves are filled with mistery and some of nature’s most beautiful sculptures. Most of the caves in the country date back to the Stone Age and have yet to be fully explored. As such, they offer an alluring and enticing adventure for those that enjoy nature.

One of the largest limestone caves in Malaysia, Gua Tempurung in Perak, promises visitors an intriguing excursion. The river that flows at the base of the hills is teeming with fishes while rare ferns, and birds, which normally nest in caves and cliff surfaces, also in abundance. The subterranean stream that meanders under the limestone hills is a special attraction itself. When rain comes, the stream turns into a churning river, adding to the air of adventure that permeates throughout the caves.

In one of the larger cave systems, visitors will also encounter majestic columns of marble inside huge caverns honeycombed with a smaller caverns of different dimensions. Walkways have been built within some parts of the caves, allowing visitors to gape in awe at the beautiful underground waterfalls and stalactites and stalagmites. A closer look at the rocks will reveal closed communities of microscopic life-forms many of which depend on food brought in by bats and birds to the cave.

Gua Tempurung has its fair share of myths and stories as well. It is believed that Lee Meng, the notorious communist courier hid here, a myth supported by the fact that his name appears on one of the walls deep inside the cave. Another story speaks of the cave being used by the Japanese as a prison during the World War II. Remnants of a gate-like structure made of horizontal steel bars can be found in one of the caves.

The cave is divided into several sections, with the lower cave passage called the Molesworth Allen Tunnel, named so in honour of botanist Betty Molesworth Allen. At the end of this tunnel, the cave opens up to Alam Cavern, the largest of the three major caverns, which is more than 130 meters in width and towers 72 meters high.

In Tin Miners’ Cavern, the cave splits into two levels, the upper about eight meters above stream, while the lower passage follows the stream. The Gergasi Cavern is the last of the cave sections. It is so named because of a huge column measuring 15 metres in height and 17 meters in length that stands sentinel-like at the end of the chamber.
 

Tempurung Cave