# General > Member's Lounge > Nature and Conservation >  Tang Raya cave expedition

## kuching

March 22, 2009. I was invited to join a group of outdoor people for a dangerous expedtion into one of the longest cave passages in southern Sarawak. 

We took almost 2 hours to find the cave mouth which is hidden in the dense limestone forest. 

In this expedition, I found the glow worm inside the dark cave for this first time in my life!!! Glow worm is the insect larva and adult larviform females which can glow in the darkness through bioluminescence. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my macro lens....so need to find it again in other cave.




Cave mouth




Our organiser. He used to explore this cave about 30 years ago...but now he couldn't recall the exact location, so we're lost in jungle for a while.....but we finally found the cave at 1pm.






Dense limestone forest.....





The limestone rocks are razor-sharp! Need to wear hand gloves.





Green jungle.

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## kuching

I found this mushroom again (_Mycena illuminans_) which can glow in the darkness....
















Stick insect.

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## Captain Telecredible

WOW  :Shocked:  :Shocked:  :Shocked:  The Glowing mushroom is very quite  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:  
Well Singapore doesnt have this type of area for us to enjoy. Nowadays, its hard to find getaways in urban cities like Singapore.  :Well done:  Like all your expedition. Hopefully next time i go malaysia for hiking expeditions, you can become our tour giude  :Blah: \
Cheers

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## kuching

The cave passage is so long that we even lost our way a few times inside the cave. We took 3 hours to climb, crawl, jump,....whatever to walk pass the cave passage to another exit. 

I suffered minor cuts on my both hands....but one of my friends was not so lucky; he got cuts on both hands & legs.



Before entering the cave, we took 25 minutes time to rest & eat our meal. Nobody is allowed to eat anything in the cave as one of our members got very strange disease before when he was caving & forced to stay in hospital for a long period of time. The doctor couldn't tell what bacteria which made him so sick.....probably new to science.










Interesting rock formation....





Abseiling or rappelling into a big sinkhole.....

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## kuching

> WOW  The Glowing mushroom is very quite  
> Well Singapore doesnt have this type of area for us to enjoy. Nowadays, its hard to find getaways in urban cities like Singapore.  Like all your expedition. Hopefully next time i go malaysia for hiking expeditions, you can become our tour giude \
> Cheers



Ya, no problem.
 :Grin:

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## kuching

Abseiling.....










Column.





The humidity is 100&#37;......sometimes, it looks like the mist covering the cave chamber!

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## kuching

Mind your steps! sinkholes & holes are everywhere...so we have to move carefully in the cave passage.











This cave was used to be a hideout place for communist guerillas.....

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## kuching

The stalactites and stalagmites are joining & it will become a column in hundred years later.....










Taking picture.










Cave Whip Scorpion. (NOT a scorpion)

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## kuching

Long-legged cave centipede.






It was raining heavily when we reached the exit point on the other side.....so we had to descend the steep limestone hill slowly. I was feeling cold and hungry....but i never regret to join this expedition.





THE END.

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## richardesc

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Great pictures.

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## blue33

Thanks for sharing.  :Well done:   :Smile:

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## Shadow

> Hopefully next time i go malaysia for hiking expeditions, you can become our tour giude \
> Cheers


would you like to organize AQ Sarawak visit?  :Grin:

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## kuching

> would you like to organize AQ Sarawak visit?


If somebody paid me for a fee, then why not?  :Smile:

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## benetay

Damn solid! Well done, those are just like what we have seen at National Geographic.

Certainly amazing!

Cheers!

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## kuching

> Damn solid! Well done, those are just like what we have seen at National Geographic.
> 
> Certainly amazing!
> 
> Cheers!


Thanks.... :Grin:

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## kuching

This is the glow worm that I found in the cave....maybe different species from the one showing in this video:

YouTube - Interessing Glow Worms Caves

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## benetay

Thanks for sharing! It's mesmerising and i have not seen them eating anything, now that i know they eat insects for a living. 

Cheers!

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## kuching

Glow worm is my next "hunting" target.

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## genes

That goo is disgusting!  :Laughing:

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## kuching

June 6, 2009. My senior schoolmate, Irene invited me to join their hash run group for visiting the Tang Raya cave again.









Cave mouth (big one).





Entering the small cave mouth





Humidity is very high....

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## kuching

This time, there were more than 100 people joining this trip!

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## kuching

In this trip, a lady was fainted inside the cave due to the humid & stuffy environment. And a few guys fell down after stepping on the loose rocks & cut by razor-sharp limestone rocks on hands & legs.....

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## kuching

The worst part was I fell down on a muddy trail inside the cave....& my Nikon D90 was covered with some muds! I almost got "heart attack"....but luckily, after cleaning it using the wet towel, it is still ok. Phewwww....

Btw, Tang Raya cave passage is the longest passage in southern Sarawak.

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