GEOGRAPHY TRIP

Trip to Gua Kandu

On Wednesday, the 2nd of September, the Geography teachers organised a trip for the Year 8 students to Gua Kandu. This excursion was aimed to teach us about limestones, which will be our next topic in Geography. Initially, we were supposed to go to Gua Tempurung but the cave was closed for maintenance. So, the organisers of the trip decided to change the location to another cave nearby named Gua Kandu. This cave is also known as the 'cousin cave' of the Gua Tempurung and is situated only about an extra 15 minutes away from it. 

On the day before the trip, we were asked to gather at the school's basketball court for a brief briefing. (hoho see what I did there? *wiggles eyebrows*) There, we were separated into groups of 21 people from different classes. I was lucky enough to get my classmate, Tania and a few other friends in my group. We were told that each group would be assisted by one teacher and one facilitator. My group was led by my Geography teacher, Puan Sarah and a male facilitator. (whose name I did not catch)

On the day of the trip, we assembled in the secondary school canteen at 6.30 am and got into our groups. Our attendance was taken shortly after and we all boarded the bus. We had to wait in the bus for quite a while as there was some confusion and fuss among the organisers and teachers. We ended up leaving at around 8 o' clock for our 2 hour journey.

When we reached the cave, we were told to go to a little shack there to fill in a form stating that we do not have any medical issues. After that, we lined up in our groups and were briefed again by one of the head rangers there. What he told us about the cave made it seem very scary and dangerous, which totally did not calm our nerves and, in fact, made it worse. In spite of that, his warnings made us more mentally prepared and cautious of our safety.

We were told that each group was only allowed to bring three bags into the cave as it would hinder with our climbing. My group, however, did not bring a single bag into the cave and only brought torch lights. None of us considered how long we would be stuck in that cave without any water. We only realised our mistake a few hours into the journey, but we'll get to that later. 

When we finally started our journey, my group was shocked to be the second last group to leave the waiting area. Being group number 1, we thought that we would get the privilege to go first. Little did we know, the teachers decided to let the last group, group number 10, to go first. This wasn't much of a problem for us other than the fact that there was a massive human jam in the front which made us have to wait for quite a long time.

The first part of the climb was to walk up the side of the hill in a forest area. The ground of soil was quite uneven and unstable, making it difficult for us to climb. We did not mind it too much as it was quite cool there due to the large number of trees and plants. We also noticed that there were many insects there too, such as butterflies, ants, mosquitoes and beetles.

After passing through the tree-covered area outside, we finally made it to the mouth of the cave. From then on, it was no longer a walk in the park (literally and figuratively). The cave was much more hilly than we expected and we had to do a lot of climbing. It felt like we were rock climbing on a steep, sandy slope without any harnesses or safety gear. There were only ropes for us to hold on to and it was actually quite scary.
Furthermore, some parts of the cave were quite cramped and we were required to squat and bend down to avoid hitting our heads on the low 'ceiling'. This was one of the few times I felt happy to be short as I did not need to bend down in those areas. (short people rule!!) Also, due to my lack of balance, I had two facilitators assisting me throughout the journey, making sure I was alright. :)

Halfway through the journey, I started to feel tired and uncomfortable. The culprit for this was THIRST. My group members were all facing the same problem and we realised that we had made a BIG mistake by not bringing any water in. We still managed to pull through and complete the journey despite all of this.

On the positive side, we managed to see and learn more about the limestones located in the cave. We saw a few stalactites hanging from the roof of the cave and there was actually still water dripping from it, showing us that they are still 'alive'. Despite the treacherous and painful climb, the beauty of the cave was magnificent, especially the opening of the cave. Imagine walking in the dark for a solid thirty minutes then seeing a bright light shining in from the outside world, where the tall green trees can be seen. Pretty stunning, isn't it?

Photo Credits to Xiao Wen

After climbing for about four hours in total, we finally exited the cave. It took especially long for my group as we were the last ones to leave. We walked out to see everyone deliciously munching on their lunch while we were standing there half-dead. I had never been so happy to drink mineral water in my life. We were told to assemble at the waiting area after our lunch for a quiz. Each group was given a sheet of paper filled with questions regarding things we learnt and saw in the cave. Group five emerged as the winners but everyone was given the presents.

At around 5.30 in the evening, we boarded the bus and left to return to school. After about less than 3 minutes of driving, we all heard a loud 'thump' from the back of the bus. We turned around to see that the emergency door on the roof was detached and wideee open. It took about 10 minutes and 3 men to fix this problem but in a while, we were back on the road.

Photo credits to Aaron Ho

Although this trip was extremely exhausting and painful, it was definitely a wonderful experience. We all gained a lot out of this trip, from teamwork skills and new friends to knowledge about limestones and a great workout. I do not regret going for this trip, BUT I don't think I will ever do it again. (my legs weren't made for so much CLIMBING).

That's all I have for you guys today. Thank you very much for reading my loooong story about our trip. This has been Wei Ling and adios, Wonderers!

P.S. None of these pictures were taken by me as I did not bring my phone or camera into the cave and I was WAY TOO TIRED when we got out. The images are sourced from Google unless stated otherwise. Sorry HEEHEE~