Toh Sembilan Cave on 4th Dec 2005

nospam@example.com (Robert P) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:57:03 +0800

Thirteen intrepid cavers, including some from Penang, gathered on Sunday morning to explore the Toh Sembilan caves. A reporter from the magazine, Vicinity Perak, also joined our group to find out more about caving activities in Perak to include in their magazine. Access to the hills is quite easy by driving thru Kg. Kepayang. There are 2 hills, side by side, and our plan was to explore the caves in the first hill. A short walk thru a Durian orchard and we were at the base of the hill. Gamblers seem to frequent this area as there were some mats and playing cards strewn around the ground. Hungry mosquitoes came out by the dozens to greet us and enjoy the feast we were providing.

Entrance to the Cave

A short climb up a slippery slope and we reached the first cave. There were Taoist writings on the walls of the cave and some broken cement structures on the cave floor. It is said that monks used to live in this cave many years ago as some of the writings are dated 1905. A sparkling flow curtain can still be found in this cave although it is now a dry cave. In one of the inner chambers can be found a group of large toads living there. There were hardly any insects in the cave so we don't know what these toads live on. Even the mosquitoes stopped following us once we entered the cave.

From the first cave, we crawled thru a low passage to get to the 2nd cave. This cave also has a large chamber and a small opening at the back of the hill which leads to a steep slope down to the base. Dr. Gong entertained us with some Western and Chinese classical music from his MP3/RadioAmp combination which he carried along. The volume was kept low so as not to disturb the animals and spirits in the cave. We then proceeded to the next cave which is the smallest. This cave also has Taoist writings on the walls. If it is true that the writings are 100 years old, then they have survived the passage of time quite well, as they are still very clear.

Our next target was a climb to the top of the hill from which we could see the quarries in Simpang Pulai and the surrounding terrain. After a short rest there, we made our way back down to the base of the hill. On the way back to our starting point, we spotted a narrow passage into the hill and decided to check it out. With some squeezing and crawling thru this twisting passage, we came to a chamber occupied by numerous bats. The bats were not happy with our presence and started to fill the chamber with their flapping wings. We then continued thru the cave and finally emerged on the other side of the hill, muddied but satisfied with our caving adventure.

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MKS - TOH SEMBILAN

Toh Sembilan Cave on 4th Dec 2005

Entrance to the Cave